What have you PLAYED weekly tracker 2024 (ALL GENERATIONS)

[carlsson]

Week 02 Summary

 

For the week January 8 - 14, we logged 6412 minutes of gaming, playing 118 games (of which 36 new) on a total of 39 systems.

 

Individual Top 20

 

1. Alien: Isolation (Switch) - 605 min.
2. Retro Bowl College (Android) - 500 min. (#19)
3. Tennis (NES/Famicom) - 499 min. (#6)
4. Spider-Man (PS4) - 450 min. (#2)
5. Might and Magic (Commodore 64) - 360 min. (#3)
6. Sonic Adventure (World & Jap versions) (Dreamcast) - 280 min.
7. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Genesis) - 188 min.
8. Marvel vs. Capcom (Dreamcast) - 180 min.
8. Sword of the Berserk: Gut's Rage (Dreamcast) - 180 min.
10. Sonic Adventure 2: Battle (Gamecube) - 172 min. (#9)
11. Dig Dug (Atari 2600) - 158 min.
12. Road Trip: Shifting Gears (Game Boy Advance) - 150 min.
13. Mayor of Sactuary, The (Game Boy) - 115 min.
14. Space Invaders (Atari 2600) - 104 min.
15. Shadow of the Beast (TG-CD/PC Engine CD) - 90 min.
15. Stupid Invaders (Dreamcast) - 90 min.
17. Suika Game (Browser based) - 89 min.
18. Mia Hamm Soccer 64 (N64) - 88 min.
19. Nuclear Submarine Adventure (TRS-80 MC-10) - 67 min.
20. F-Zero 99 (Switch) - 65 min. (#16)

 

Pre-NES Top 10

 

1. Might and Magic (Commodore 64) - 360 min. (PN#1)
2. Dig Dug (Atari 2600) - 158 min.
3. Space Invaders (Atari 2600) - 104 min.
4. Nuclear Submarine Adventure (TRS-80 MC-10) - 67 min.
5. Solar Fox (Atari 2600) - 56 min. (PN#3)
6. Crackpots (Atari 2600) - 54 min.
7. Kaboom! (Atari 2600) - 48 min. (PN#5)
8. IntelliVania (Intellivision) - 41 min.
9. Itazura Tenshi (Arcade) - 35 min.
10. Video Pinball (Atari 2600) - 35 min.

 

Systems Top 20

 

1. Switch (6 games) - 775 min. (#7)
2. Dreamcast (4 games) - 730 min.
3. NES/Famicom (11 games) - 602 min. (#3)
4. Android (6 games) - 595 min. (#13)
5. Atari 2600 (14 games) - 526 min. (#6)
6. PS4 (1 game) - 450 min. (#4)
7. Commodore 64 (2 games) - 370 min. (#5)
8. TG-16/PC Engine (8 games) - 255 min.
9. Genesis (2 games) - 213 min.
10. Game Boy Advance (3 games) - 200 min.
11. Gamecube (1 game) - 172 min. (#10)
12. Game Gear (5 games) - 155 min. (#20)
13. Browser based (2 games) - 148 min. (#18)
14. Game Boy (2 games) - 125 min.
15. iOS (3 games) - 113 min. (#17)
16. Arcade (6 games) - 105 min. (#12)
17. TG-CD/PC Engine CD (1 game) - 90 min.
18. N64 (2 games) - 90 min. (#13)
19. Handheld/Tabletop (3 games) - 80 min.
20. TRS-80 MC-10 (1 game) - 67 min.

 

Six of the top 20 from last week remain, but while the race is tight between #2 Retro Bowl College and #3 Tennis, neither quite can match Alien: Isolation this week. On the pre-NES list, Might and Magic retains first place. Systems wise, 12 of the top 20 still are on the list, which means we getting a good variation on that front too. The Switch is 45 min ahead of the Dreamcast, with all the rest to follow. Roughly speaking, the distribution of systems still is 70% classic, 30% modern including a few rarely seen ones outside of the top list, like Adventurevision, Gamate, Cougar Boy/Mega Duck, PDP-11 etc.

 

No new members in the 1000, 5000 or 10000 Minute Clubs.

[carlsson]

On 1/15/2024 at 6:15 AM, jgkspsx said:

Epoch AdventureVision:

Heh, you got me fooled for a while until something clicked in my brain, thinking this isn't an Epoch machine. It is an Entex system!

[+jgkspsx]

25 minutes ago, carlsson said:

Heh, you got me fooled for a while until something clicked in my brain, thinking this isn't an Epoch machine. It is an Entex system!

Eep! Just an ocean apart, hahaha!

[TheGameCollector]

I kind of wonder if for tracking purposes we retroactively should just group together the different revisions of the same game after all. For example last year I played a lot of Sonic World (fan game) and tried out R1, R7, R8 and R9 but then mostly stuck with R9. But really isn't the average person just going to say they played Sonic World (fan game) without bothering to really look up what version they're running?

 

The Sonic World DX team on the other hand have made it clear that DX is a different game from Sonic World because it has a lot of revamping of the way models, moves and physics work rather than just simply adding to what World was directly.

 

It doesn't matter if we're playing Sonic the Hedgehog 1.0 or 1.1 on Genesis for example because the only difference are some visual effects and one ring added to Labyrinth Zone. The only difference between Donkey Kong Country 1.0 and 1.1 is that they removed the level warp trick in the first world map.

 

Another game I've differentiated in the past was Super Mario Bros. Level-Headed. Does it really matter much if sometimes I played games generated by 0.3.8 and others by 0.3.9? It's still Level-Headed either way.

 

On the other hand The Fantastic Adventures of Dizzy with the differences was packaged in completely different formats. NES cartridge and Aladdin cartridge. I think in this case they probably are different enough but I don't know. This is just gameplay tracking, not speedrun tracking. So the different walking speed, item locations and star count differences don't really make a difference. If the Famicom version of a game counts as the same game, then maybe Aladdin carts should too. Super Mario Bros. 3 for Famicom has the difference in the number of hits a powered up Mario can take for example, but it is still Super Mario Bros. 3.

 

I'm just brainstorming ways to simplify it.

 

If a game jumps platforms, on the other hand I think that should be separate. Like Sonic Megamix for Genesis ends at 3.0, but Sonic Megamix for Sega CD begins at 4.0.

Edited January 17 by TheGameCollector

[carlsson]

Yeah, most of the time any version number is not indicated. I also tend to group demos of finished games with the game itself, but would keep early development versions that radically differ from the finished game apart.

[+jgkspsx]

12 hours ago, TheGameCollector said:

On the other hand The Fantastic Adventures of Dizzy with the differences was packaged in completely different formats. NES cartridge and Aladdin cartridge. I think in this case they probably are different enough but I don't know.

The US standalone original and the Aladdin release are very different games so those should ideally be tracked separately. https://tcrf.net/The_Fantastic_Adventures_of_Dizzy
 

However, the European cartridge has all the enhancements of the Aladdin version and should probably be combined with it.

[Hwlngmad]

Yesterday's (1/16) totals:

 

Android

1) Shattered Pixel Dungeon - 15 minutes

2) Snood - 15 minutes

 

PC

1) Mutant Football League - 30 minutes

2) Super Woden GP II - 30 minutes

[Hwlngmad]

Yesterday's (1/18) totals:

 

PC

1) Mutant Football League - 40 minutes

[Hwlngmad]

Yesterday's (1/19) totals:

 

Android

1) Retro Bowl - 45 minutes

[carlsson]

Atari 8-bit:
Mogul Maniac - 23 min.
Ski-It - 41 min.

 

More skiing adventures because it is winter. I completed at least the slalom event in Ski-It, at a mediocre time. Then I dragged out my PlayStation 2 dance mat, connected it through the PSX64 interface and played Mogul Maniac in the living room. After a while I came to the conclusion that the times I manage to achieve using the dance mat are roughly twice the times I can get using a regular joystick. I suppose the slower I go, the less difference between the two. Of course if I cheated and made a contraption that lets me push up (and perhaps fire) using fingers while controlling left/right with my feet, it would improve things quite a bit but it wouldn't be half as much fun as stepping and jumping to maintain speed while steering at the same time. Indeed Mogul Maniac would keep my speed until I crash so technically I don't have to put a foot there but unintentionally I do.

 

[Kurt_Woloch]

Here are my times for this past week (January 15th through 21st, 2024):

 

Arcade:

Crazy Kong (Galaxian hardware) - 4 min.

Crazy Kong (Moon Cresta hardware) - 4 min.

Crazy Kong (Scramble hardware) - 3 min.

 

Non-eligible:

Rubik's Cube - 11 min.

 

I didn't play much this week, but I did try 3 variations of "Crazy Kong" running on alternative hardware. Those have been butchered compared to the official release though, which runs on Crazy Climber hardware.

On Galaxian hardware, the sound has been compromised... apparently they don't manage to put out very pure tones. Also the number of sprites has been noteably decreased.

On Moon Cresta hardware, the game is pretty similar to the version on Galaxian hardware with basically the same sound, but they seem to have managed to retain a few more sprites.

On Scramble hardware, the game looks differently with different colors and vastly different sound. Actually I doubt it's really Scramble hardware since the sound sounds more like other Konami games like Turtles, also retaining some of Turtles' sound effects and background music... which means it has better music than the original Donkey Kong!

The way I explain this is that for the CPU ROM, well, all those games have a Z80 CPU, so the main code was not too hard to port over. However, the sound chip on "Turtles" is vastly different to that on Crazy Kong / Crazy Climber or even the original Donkey Kong, so they have re-written some of the music to work on that sound chip, but mostly retained the sound effects and music from Turtles. Since those machines have a dedicated sound CPU, I guess they only slighly altered the code for that CPU.

 

Finally, I revisited Rubik's Cube, which despite the new format of the tracker, is still in-eligible because it's not a video game. I struggled a bit remembering all the moves at first, but then I got my time back down to about 4 minutes.

 

[CapitanClassic]

Jan 15-21 times:

 

Android

RB College: 194 min

 

Atari 2600 - (Stella 6.2.1 & LegendsFB)

Berserk HSC - 85 min

Dig Dug HSC - 105 min 

Kung Fu Master HSC - 36 min

 

Neo Geo (LegendsFB)

Overtop - 10 min

Samurai Showdown 2 - 5 min

Spin master - 33 min

 

NES (LegendsFB)

Castlevania - 45 min

(The) Jetsons: Cogswell’s Caper 30 min

Kung Fu - 11 min

 

Nintendo DSi (Org)

Mario Cart DS - 45 - Fired up the real hardware. I hadn’t completed all the missions yet, so knocked out the mid 4 missions to the ending.

 

SNES (LegendsFB)

Hal’s Hole in One Golf - 34 min 

Ken Griffey Jr.

Out of Order - 15min

Shaq-Fu - 42 min

 

These weren’t my choices. Decided to use one of those online spin the wheel randomizers. I think in the future I just might choose the games myself. Hal’s HiOG looks great with the Mode7 hole flyby, and the 2x zoom showing the topography of the hole. Gameplay on the other hand is horrendous. The 3-click swing meter moves too quickly, making the results nearly random. Putting is just as bad. Shaq-Fu is hilariously bad. Developed by Delphine , the Out of this World devs. The characters are well animated at least.

Shaq: “Be careful Prince, you might hurt yourself with your swords.”

Prince: “My swords will make you think twice about that comment.”

 

Xbox 360 (Orig)

Minecraft (Update Aquatic) - 20 min

The youngest kid still likes to play this. The older kids have the updated Infinite versions for tablets, and the Java PC versions. 

Edited January 22 by CapitanClassic

[oyamafamily]

Atari 2600:

Space Invaders - 25 minutes

 

Atari 8-Bit Computers:

Deluxe Invaders - 60 minutes

[Skippy B. Coyote]

If you would have told me a year ago that in 2024 I'd be spending $400 on an Android handheld for emulation I'd have said you were nuts, but this week my new AYN Odin 2 Pro arrived in the mail and here we are.

 

 

What I got for that rather substantial chunk of change is a device about the size of a Nintendo Switch Lite that sports the most powerful Android processor on the market, a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, with 12 GB of RAM, a lovely 6" 1080p screen, both HDMI and USB-C display port video out, an enormous 8000 mAh battery that lasts around 20 hours of gameplay between charges, and an excellent suite of controls with drift-proof hall sensor analog sticks and hall sensor analog triggers. 

 

What all that translates to in practical terms is that it can play everything from Atari 2600 all the way up to just about the entire GameCube, Wii, and PlayStation 2 game libraries upscaled to 1080p without breaking a sweat; and can play most games upscaled to 4K through it's USB-C video output for playing on the big screen. It can also be docked and connected to a Dolphinbar and Wii remote for playing Wii games on the big screen with proper motion controls.

 

This week I put those features to good use and played a few old favorite GameCube and Nintendo Wii games! It was an absolute blast seeing my favorite GameCube and Wii titles upscaled to 1080p and being able to play them anywhere on a little handheld like this, so I think it's going to be a really fun year for gaming with this thing!

 

 

Atari 2600
Dig Dug (Game 1, B/B) - 53 minutes
Space Invaders (Game 4, B/B) - 31 minutes

Nintendo GameCube
Star Fox Adventures - 90 minutes

Nintendo Wii
Muramasa: The Demon Blade - 54 minutes
Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles - 25 minutes

Sega Genesis
Sonic the Hedgehog - 45 minutes
 

Edited January 22 by Skippy B. Coyote

[Keir]

Week of 1/15/24 - 1/21/24

 

Finally got 6th level Sorcerer spells in M&M which means I can cast Dancing Sword and make most combats go a lot quicker. I can also cast Etherealize now which opens up a whole bunch of areas for exploration, though I'm realizing now that I could have been using the 5th level spell Teleport for pretty much the same thing (it seems like it works everywhere but castles). In hindsight, I probably should have spent more time practicing Dig Dug and Space Invaders for the HSC!

 

Atari 2600

Dig Dug - 50

Space Invaders - 20

 

Commodore 64

Might and Magic - 305

 

iOS

Duolingo - 46

 

Total time = 421 minutes

[+wongojack]

5 hours ago, Skippy B. Coyote said:

If you would have told me a year ago that in 2024 I'd be spending $400 on an Android handheld for emulation I'd have said you were nuts, but this week my new AYN Odin 2 Pro arrived in the mail and here we are.

That thing sounds incredible!  I guess you get what you pay for.  How are those thumbsticks?

[+wongojack]

Arcade 

Lunar Lander 15 

 

NES 

Mike Tyson's Punch Out 165 

 

--- 

PC 

Neon Ships: The Type'em Up Shooter 17 

 

PS4 
Spider-Man 253 

 

Wii 

Punch Out 110 

 

Xbox S/X 

Atari 50 72 

The Expanse: A Telltale  Series 230

 

Finished off Spider-Man.  Started Telltale's Expanse game and poked around with Atari 50.  Also kept my Punch Out streak alive and even took it to a new console.

[Skippy B. Coyote]

2 hours ago, wongojack said:

That thing sounds incredible!  I guess you get what you pay for.  How are those thumbsticks?

 

I like 'em! They're similar in size to Nintendo Switch sticks, but concave on top instead of convex and feel a bit sturdier and more precise to me. 

[Atarian7]

Atari 2600

Dig Dug - 10 minutes

Kaboom! - 76 minutes

 

 

[Hwlngmad]

Here are my times from 1/19 to 1/21.  They were:

 

Android

1) Retro Bowl - 80 minutes

 

PC

1) Super Woden GP II - 20 minutes

 

2600

1) Bowling - 10 minutes

2) Gravitar - 10 minutes

3) Solaris - 15 minutes

4) Stellar Track - 15 minutes

[Skippy B. Coyote]

Whoops! Just realized I was so caught up babbling about my new handheld that I forgot to include my Nintendo Switch time for this week

 

Nintendo Switch

Alien Isolation - 125 minutes 

 

[agb]

Atari 2600. 
 

Dig Dug 18

Solar Fox 151

Tac-scan 13

 

 

[carlsson]

19 hours ago, CapitanClassic said:

SNES (LegendsFB)

Ken Griffey Jr.

Out of Order - 15min

Is that Ken Griffey Jr. Presents Major League Baseball or Ken Griffey Jr.'s Winning Run? Also I don't see a number of minutes.

 

Which game is Out of Order? Not previously in the tracker and no hits on Google.

[CapitanClassic]

@carlsson, forgot SNES got 2 Ken Griffey games, it’s Presents MLB.

 

It was Out to Lunch

Sorry for all the errors.

 

 

 

[carlsson]

No problem. When it comes to some of the oddball systems, I tend to just accept whatever all of you report, but for the mainstream ones which already should have the vast majority of the catalogues listed, I tend to double check every time an entry comes by that doesn't match anything previous.