63 posts tagged with games by JHarris.
Displaying 1 through 50 of 63.
10 Years of Jeremy Parish's Works Projects
Jeremy Parish, dedicated game journalist and Retronaut, and creator of design deep dives, has been covering Gameboy (1989, gaiden), Game Boy Color (1998), Game Boy Advance (2001), NES (1985, 1986, 1987, 1998, 1999, gaiden), SNES (1991, extra, gaiden), N64 (1996), Sega, Virtual Boy and Metroidvania games now for ten years! His terrific and scholarly videos don't get nearly the views that much less worthy series get, so please give them a try if you have any interest in this area.
Exploring the BABA IS YOUNIVERSE
Hempuli, the brilliant designer behind the rule-modification puzzle game Baba Is You ($15 for Windows, Mac and Linux, previously, again), hasn't rested since that came out. (Everything mentioned is free and for Windows unless otherwise noted.) Baba Is You was so successful that now we have to help Baba File Taxes! Covemount (Web) is a simple Sokoban clone with an interesting numeric gimmick. Baba Is You XTREME adds an extra feature to Baba for reasons of "fun." And there's a collection of 16 Solitaire games! And a little Neko-like Baba friend/desktop toy! And... Mobile Suit Baba, a mashup of Baba Is You and Into The Breach?! ($4, Windows) There's lots more i left out only for brevity's sake: the rest is on Hempuli's itch.io page.
No waka waka to be heard
Atari Archive, an excellent game-by-game video retrospective of the library of the Atari VCS (aka the Atari 2600) covers its infamous port of Pac-Man. (38 minutes)
Welcome to Crab Fragment Cay
Internet lore tells us the story of Cheapass Games, founded by prolific gamemaker James Ernest in 1996. Their gimmick was, they printed small and cheap games, sold in small folders, that came with rules and maybe a board and cards. You would then supply all the other parts yourself: tokens, dice, play money, playing cards and other commonly-available parts that you could scavenge from other board games you might have lying around. In 2020, Ernest reentered the publishing industry with Crab Fragment Labs, offering an array of both pay-what-you-want-to-print and paid-for-physical products: card games, board games, quick-playing and easy-to-learn pub games, solitaire games and a wide assortment of the best of the old Cheapass Games, in Cheapassic Park. [more inside]
The Pac-Man Dossier is Back
The Pac-Man Dossier is an extremely detailed description of the game logic of arcade Pac-Man. It explains why, once in a while, monsters will harmlessly pass through Pac-Man. It explains why they won't go up through the tunnels above the monster box. It explains why occasionally, after losing a life, monsters will refuse to leave the box . It explains when and why Blinky becomes Cruise Elroy, and why sometimes Pinky gets confused and loses track of Pac-Man. It even explains, as far as the player can continue to play, what to do on the kill screen. It is awesome. [more inside]
The Adventures of Captain Symptomo
It's not a double, but the videos are a few months old so I'm using that as an excuse to post Strong Bad playing old DOS games! So far, there's FriendlyWare, FriendlyWare update, and World Games.
1890: Caster's big toes become opposable like thumbs
𝕱or 𝕯oubles 𝕵ubilee, let us all revisit the Net Libram of Random Magical Effects (PDF), still a D10000 table a DM can roll on for incredibly random wild magic surge effects, now available as a site where you can roll on it by just pressing a button. (Previously, in 2019) [more inside]
スーパーマリオブラザーズ
U Can Beat Video Games
As the host of the YouTube channel U Can Beat Video Games will tell you, the NES is known for having dozens of games with a difficulty level way above what current-day players are used to. But what if he told you about strategies and tactics to get you through the worst the system has to offer? And demonstrated how to perform them, playing through the whole game in the process? But... is he really just a golden retriever? [more inside]
BAR-7-N-Grapes-Orange
Many slot machines on Native American reservations actually, and somewhat surreptitiously, play Bingo! Why? - What are "Class II" machines? - Some of its consequences. - Is it fair? [more inside]
Camera manipulation is ironically still important
Is it possible to complete Super Mario 64 blindfolded? Not only is it possible, it's a speedrun category, as recently demonstrated by Bubzia at SGDQ 2021.
Making Pokemon Not Fun To Play!
Speedrunning is more popular than ever, but inventive/crazy players are finding other unusual ways to play games. One is the search for ways to permanently soft-lock a game, that is, render it non-completable. Like: releasing all your pokemon, except for one Magikarp in the Pokemon League at the end of the game... wait, it's escapable? Fanbyte article: "Meet the Players Who Render Games Unplayable." Youtube playlist, Soft Lock Picking. A video from it, Escaping the Magikarp Trap.
It's Zelda Day in July!
Kleric (previously) posts entertaining YouTube videos showing off glitches and tricks in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Tricks like, how physics changes during 'bullet time' and how to make a 'spaceship' out of a Guardian and a boat, how to make a stable flying machine out of two minecars, information on causing 'glitched blood moons', shield sliding, hold smuggling, creating a flood of Ancient parts, what 'skew' is and how to take advantage of it, menu overloading basics and a better way to do it, how to ensure the day/night timer never begins, and how to make as many horses as your little equine-loving heart desires. [more inside]
7266: Target's heart turns to solid gold, potentially killing him
𝖂 hen playing Dungeons & Dragons, and a "wild magic surge" is called for, a blast of random magic, do you find the D20 or D100 tables usually supplied for these effects unsatisfying? I would point the interested/sadistic/madcap DM to the Net Libram of Random Magical Effects [PDF] which contains a D10000 table full of concerning, dangerous and otherwise odd results. [more inside]
Optimal Arkanoid
The new glitchless, tool-assisted speedrun of the NES version of Taito's classic arcade hit Breakout clone Arkanoid is 10% faster than the previous record. It was done in an interesting way: the runner simulated the game on a frame-by-frame level in a C++ reimplementation, then used it to brute force a solution to each level, which required a year's worth of CPU effort (split across six cores) to accomplish. Here are full details, including video (12m) of the result played back in an emulator. For extra fun, he made an ASCII-art version of the run!
"Super Mario Bros. 64"
After seven years of work, a reasonably accurate port of Super Mario Bros. has been made for the Commodore 64. YouTube.
Zelda Day 2018
An interesting physics glitch discovered in Zelda: Breath of the Wild:
- Jump towards a monster, preferably from a height.
- Still in the air, get your shield out and start riding it.
- Get out your arrows and aim, starting "bullet time."
- While riding your shield and in bullet time, land on the monster.
Magic Advice in D&D 5E for Players and DMs
For you D&D 5th edition fanatics out there, Youtube animator Zee Bashew makes a series of short cartoons illustrating different aspects of and ideas for the game (especially magic) called the Animated Spellbook. Spellbooks - Save Spells vs. Attack Roll Spells - Spell Levels and Cantrips - Casting Times and Rituals - Weak Characters are Better - Prestigitation - Sleep - Feather Fall - Goodberry - The Deadliest Thing in D&D - Detect Magic
NetHack 3.6.1
NetHack 3.6.1 has been released. Release notes. Downloads (so far the only ready-to-run version is Windows). Usenet announcement on Google Groups. [more inside]
Classic Mario music but... cHAngED
Super Mario Bros 2 with its music frequency table "reversed.". I'm not sure what that means exactly but it's certainly an, um, unique sound. The same thing done to Mario 3. [more inside]
PannenKoek's Mario 64 Videos
So it's "Mar10 Day," har har. How better to celebrate it than by looking at what PannenKoek, aka Scott Buchanan, the "A button challenge" guy (MeFi), has been up to lately? The channel to watch for that sort of thing is UncommentatedPannen, where you can find a pair of awesome videos detailing how SMB64's platforming collision detection works, the complete details of when characters blink their eyes, the internal units the game uses for its coordinate systems, everything about SM64's random number generator, the limits of SM64's floating point representation, what is pause buffering, the nuts and bolts of held items and the circumstances in which Mario will fall asleep. Meanwhile, the mobile versions of Google Maps will feature Mario in a go-kart for the next week. [more inside]
Zelda Day 2017: Breath of the Wild & romhacks
Link trolls the Yiga Clan (Twitter video links: you may want to unmute them): Basic level - Advanced level - Expert level - Overkill level - Assistance: On - But make sure you set it up right....
That's right, it's Zelda Day 2017! There's more.... [more inside]
That's right, it's Zelda Day 2017! There's more.... [more inside]
The Last Aztarac
One of the rarest arcade games out there is a color vector machine from Centuri, one of their few in-house titles, called Aztarac (more info - gameplay video). Designed by Tim Stryker, it was a color vector game and only saw a production run of 500 machines (some say more like 200). It is ultra-rare, and almost no units are known to exist intact. The machine failed in the market and Stryker got out of games, eventually finding success as the creator of the MajorBBS bulletin board software before tragically taking his own life at the age of 41.
This is the story of how Tim Stryker's lost, personal Aztarac machine was found for sale in an ad, and how it was restored.
This is the story of how Tim Stryker's lost, personal Aztarac machine was found for sale in an ad, and how it was restored.
XBox One and 360 Ownership and Usage Stats
Microsoft's Xbox API reveals a wealth of data about users identified via Gamertag. ArsTechnica built a list of 74 million Gamertags and randomly sampled from them to reveal a wealth of information about online Xbox One and 360 users. [more inside]
Predicting Hearthstone decks
Google researcher Elie Bursztein leads their anti-abuse research team. He sometimes posts articles of extreme interest to game players and computer security people. Such as using machine learning to predict Hearthstone decks: Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3. His list of publications leads to a wealth of interesting information, for people of various technical inclinations! [more inside]
"The sadness of the robot."
The always-excellent Shmuplations has translated a 2011 interview about the creation of classic NES game Rockman, known in the US as Mega Man, and its sequel. It's a great depiction of the creative process relating to game development.
DOMAIN OF PRIME FROG
"This blog is dedicated to discussing games where you play as a frog, but it might also talk about games which just have heavy frog presence in them. The borders are unclear and the road ahead is hazy. Come with me on the journey to be a frog."
♥FROG WORLD♥
♥FROG WORLD♥
RIP Douglas E. Smith
Douglas E. Smith, creator of the classic 8-bit computer game Lode Runner, which got a second life as one of HudsonSoft's most iconic Famicom titles in Japan, has died at the age of 57. [more inside]
An Observer's Guide To Pony Fanwork
How much My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic fan content is there out there? LET'S FIND OUT. A few highlights:
What I Learned Today, morals to episodes
Twilight adjusts to a Season 3 plot development
Apogee, random, catchy
Celestia and Luna play Resident Evil 4 (repurposed from Two Best Friends)
The best of Sweetie Bot, from Friendship is Witchcraft
Slice of Life, a very well done fan Tumblr
How much more could there be? Well.... [more inside]
What I Learned Today, morals to episodes
Twilight adjusts to a Season 3 plot development
Apogee, random, catchy
Celestia and Luna play Resident Evil 4 (repurposed from Two Best Friends)
The best of Sweetie Bot, from Friendship is Witchcraft
Slice of Life, a very well done fan Tumblr
How much more could there be? Well.... [more inside]
Q. Why are ducks hard to understand? A. It's because they're on quack.
The game that puts you on a first-name basis with third-world dictators
"Now the trumpet summons us again—not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need; not as a call to battle, though embattled we are—but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle [...]"
- John F. Kennedy, Inaugural Address
TWILIGHT STRUGGLE is a card-driven board game simulation of the Cold War. It has been called a game of crisis management; dealing with them yourself, creating them for your opponent, and their proper timing. There is a extensive blog about the game, Twilight Strategy. This is that site's article on starting out play. This page could help you decide if it's for you. ("Do you enjoy games that are extremely tense and nerve-wracking?") Here's a YouTube video on how to play it. And, although I suggest learning to play with a physical set, the online multiplayer wargaming client Warroom has a Java Twilight Struggle client/server program available. There is also a VASSAL module, but it currently doesn't work with VASSAL 3.2 or later. There's a lot more on the game after the break.... [more inside]
- John F. Kennedy, Inaugural Address
TWILIGHT STRUGGLE is a card-driven board game simulation of the Cold War. It has been called a game of crisis management; dealing with them yourself, creating them for your opponent, and their proper timing. There is a extensive blog about the game, Twilight Strategy. This is that site's article on starting out play. This page could help you decide if it's for you. ("Do you enjoy games that are extremely tense and nerve-wracking?") Here's a YouTube video on how to play it. And, although I suggest learning to play with a physical set, the online multiplayer wargaming client Warroom has a Java Twilight Struggle client/server program available. There is also a VASSAL module, but it currently doesn't work with VASSAL 3.2 or later. There's a lot more on the game after the break.... [more inside]
New from VIDEO Magazine, it's Electronic Games!
NEW from VIDEO Magazine, arising out of its popular "Arcade Alley" column, it's ELECTRONIC GAMES Magazine!(page of PDF links) Brought to you by editors Frank Laney Jr. and Bill Kunkel, and filled with all the latest news on programmable home console games, computer games (with special coverage for the new ATARI 800 system), stand-alone electronic devices and arcade gaming. [more inside]
"Sweagledactyl": swan stuffed in giant eagle inside a pterodactyl
Courtesy of that saint of old school gaming and dark god of the underworld Jason Sholtis, who runs the awesome, previously-posted blog The Dungeon Dozen, it's a new adventure to run using the game system of your choice:
THE SECRET PARTY-HOUSE OF THE HILL GIANT PLAYBOY (PDF viewer w/ available download). Looting, slaying, and party crashing beckon to the bold!
Also from Sholtis: the one-page dungeon FLESH FOR THE WITCH QUEEN. (PDF viewer with download) [more inside]
Also from Sholtis: the one-page dungeon FLESH FOR THE WITCH QUEEN. (PDF viewer with download) [more inside]
"All hands, prepare for MULTIBALL."
What is perhaps the best license ever applied to a pinball machine? Probably Star Trek: The Next Generation, which is surprisingly like playing an episode. Williams also released a special ROM of funny quotes from cast members that people can install into their machines. [more inside]
THANKS A MILLION. PRESS START TO REPLAY
For Zelda Day, some points of interest regarding Zelda II, the black sheep of the Legend of Zelda series of video games:
- Here is a remake of the beginning of Zelda II (including the first dungeon) in 3D. Requires Unity.
- The Cutting Room Floor notes there were a lot of changes between the Japanese Famicom floppy disk and US ROM versions of Zelda II.
- Here is a no-glitch, no-tool-assisted playthrough speed run of the game, skipping several key items, finished in 1:05.44.
- There is a notable glitch in the game, where the Fairy spell can easily be used to warp to other places anywhere you can jump off screen or there's an elevator. A lot of people don't know the Fairy spell can also be used to pass through locked doors.
- A bit of engrish in the game's translation, "I AM ERROR," gave rise to a minor meme.
- The site www.secrettoeverybody.com provides images and quotes from across the first four games, including the above and the game's weird ending message.
2 BZY 4 TROOF
PixelJam's new platformer, Potatoman Seeks the Troof, has a charmingly incomprehensible trailer. (PREVIOUSLY: Gamma Bros., Ratmaze 2, Dino Run, Mountain Maniac, Dino Run: Marathon of Doom, Snowball Pinball)
40 years of arcade gaming
Atari, the first successful arcade video game company, would have been 40 years old today. The blog Arcade Heroes takes the opportunity to look back over 40 years of arcade gaming (from Atari and other companies) with flyers and video. Part 1 (1970s & 80s) - Part 2 (1990s to present). (WARNING: huge pages ahead with lots of flash videos.)
Pony Gaming Roundup
Shards of Equestria is a set of 270 fan-made Magic: The Gathering cards based off of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. (made by MeFi's own XQUZYPHYR, via Projects)
Savage Worlds of My Little Pony (PDF version recommended, requires Savage Worlds game system books) is a roleplaying game based on the show, using Pinnacle Games' Savage Worlds system. Notable for its tenent against violence, which punishes characters who pursue violent solutions to problems.
MLP: Roleplaying is Magic (PDF) is another roleplaying game using a custom system.
MLP: Clash of Realities is a miniatures combat game played on computer. Game system plugin for Lackeyccg. Setup instructions
MLP: Fighting is Magic is a slick-looking, upcoming fan-made fighting game. Demo videos: Applejack test, general demonstration, Fluttershy is not OP
Ponykart is an upcoming, fan-made Mario Kart-style driving game. Demo video.
My Little Investigations is an upcoming, fan-made Phoenix Wright-style investigation adventure game. Playable demo.
Cutie Mark Crusade is also a work in progress, and a more traditional adventure game. Playable demo. Demo video.
[more inside]
Savage Worlds of My Little Pony (PDF version recommended, requires Savage Worlds game system books) is a roleplaying game based on the show, using Pinnacle Games' Savage Worlds system. Notable for its tenent against violence, which punishes characters who pursue violent solutions to problems.
MLP: Roleplaying is Magic (PDF) is another roleplaying game using a custom system.
MLP: Clash of Realities is a miniatures combat game played on computer. Game system plugin for Lackeyccg. Setup instructions
MLP: Fighting is Magic is a slick-looking, upcoming fan-made fighting game. Demo videos: Applejack test, general demonstration, Fluttershy is not OP
Ponykart is an upcoming, fan-made Mario Kart-style driving game. Demo video.
My Little Investigations is an upcoming, fan-made Phoenix Wright-style investigation adventure game. Playable demo.
Cutie Mark Crusade is also a work in progress, and a more traditional adventure game. Playable demo. Demo video.
[more inside]
I'm sorry!
VGJUNK looks at "Gonbee no I'm Sorry", a strange Japanese arcade maze game released in 1985 by Banpresto and Sega that mocked notoriously corrupt former Japanese Prime Minister Kakuei "Shogun of Darkness" Tanaka, who was convicted in 1983 of taking 1.8 million dollars from Lockheed Martin in exchange for letting them sell planes to the national airline.
Saving Zelda
Tevis Thompson writes about Nintendo's video game series The Legend of Zelda. Specifically about how it's gone downhill since Ocarina of Time. (via Kotaku) [more inside]
Remember to flush your Famicom after playing
??? WHAT IS KUSOGE ??? From the Japanese for "shit", kuso, and "game." They're relentlessly terrible video games that in some cases have attracted a following because of their awfulness. Here are some of the most commonly recognized examples: [more inside]
A long way to go to lose
Here is a video playthrough of The Legend of Zelda without a sword. It is possible to get right up to the last boss without one, although it requires knowing a lot of tricks. That is exactly what mev1978 does in his playthrough, without dying. And then he does it again in the second quest. First quest (1:61:31) - Second quest (1:13:18) [more inside]
Stencyl
Game Club 199X
Here is Game Club 19XX, a new monthly podcast from Hardcore Gaming 101 (previously) in which knowledgeable gamers discuss playing through old video games without FAQs or walkthroughs. Episode 1 is on Snake's Revenge, the forgotten NES sequel to Metal Gear. (MP3 download from MediaFire, 1:27:32)
Open source online board game engine with over 1,000 modules
Here is VASSAL, an open-source engine for playing board games online, by email, on forums or on a single machine. Which board games? These. (Requires Java.)
You feel yourself turning into a small fish! You flop three times then die.
Cheapass As In Free
Did you know that popular, absurdly inexpensive board game producer James Ernest's Cheapass Games has released some of their most popular games as free PDFs? Among them Deadwood, Devil Bunny Needs A Ham, The Big Cheese, FALLING and Unexploded Cow? [more inside]
The Gostak: An Interofgan Halpock
Finally, here you are. At the delcot of tondam, where doshes deave. But the doshery lutt is crenned with glauds.
Glauds! How rorm it would be to pell back to the bewl and distunk them, distunk the whole delcot, let the drokes uncren them. But you are the gostak. The gostak distims the doshes. And no glaud will vorl them from you.
Delcot
This is the delcot of tondam, where gitches frike and duscats glake. Across from a tophthed curple, a gomway deaves to kiloff and kirf, gombing a samilen to its hoff. Crenned in the loff lutt are five glauds.
> [more inside]
Glauds! How rorm it would be to pell back to the bewl and distunk them, distunk the whole delcot, let the drokes uncren them. But you are the gostak. The gostak distims the doshes. And no glaud will vorl them from you.
Delcot
This is the delcot of tondam, where gitches frike and duscats glake. Across from a tophthed curple, a gomway deaves to kiloff and kirf, gombing a samilen to its hoff. Crenned in the loff lutt are five glauds.
> [more inside]
Segaga... ga?
The video game SEGAGAGA, a Japan-only release for the Dreamcast, is an incredibly odd bit of gaming history. A business sim (of sorts) it tasks the player to lead Sega to victory over its rival the evil DOGMA Corporation (a thinly veiled analog for Sony). Loaded with in-jokes obvious and obscure, it is a love letter to Sega fans, and it was one of the last Dreamcast games made before Sega went third party. After a four-year hiatus, the Segagaga fan translation project has resumed work on localizing this most unusual game. Intro video. Edge Magazine interviews the director. [more inside]
I WILL kill you!
In 1979, gaming company Avalon Hill (since bought by Hasbro) released a board game based on the popular science fiction novel Dune. Regarded by many as a masterpiece of the form, it is an asymmetrical wargame designed by Bill Eberle, Jack Kittredge and Peter Olotka, the people who created Cosmic Encounter. Six different factions vie for control of the desert planet Arrakis. As WickerNipple notes in his Everything node on the game, “Instead of giving subtle differences to the various factions like most games, Dune gives huge differences and advantages, that don't over-balance things only because every faction receives them.” The thing is, each player has special rules that give them very different options and abilities compared to the other sides, and yet the game remains balanced (especially when played by a full six players). The game has been long out of print due to the Frank Herbert estate refusing to re-license. Fantasy Flight Games is rumored to be working on a release of the game without the Dune license. Importantly, all the necessary files are available on the game's BoardGameGeek page to construct a copy of the game. (Homebrew game board - Rules, cards, counters and extras - Windows freeware game client and server) [more inside]
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