Earth, 2147. The legacy of the Metal Wars, where man fought machines—and machines won. Bio-Dreads — monstrous creations that hunt down human survivors... and digitize them!
In 1987, before he created Babylon 5, J. Michael Straczynski was a writer for
Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future, a live-action sci-fi show for kids. 24 episodes were produced. Straczynski wrote or co-wrote 14 of them, including multi-episode plot arcs. A
line of interactive toys brought the battle into kids’ living rooms, and
Captain Power was also one of the very first shows on television to feature computer animation in every episode. But in an attempt to appeal to both children and the adults who watched with them, the campy show included some concepts and scenes critics deemed too violent for children and lasted only a single season in syndication.
The full run of the show has now been uploaded to Youtube. [more inside]
posted by zarq
on Apr 1, 2012 -
28 comments
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]
posted by JHarris
on Mar 23, 2011 -
24 comments
YouTube has a fair number of recordings of well-played classic arcade games.
Dig Dug,
Mr Do!,
Mr Do's Castle,
Do! Run Run,
Lady Bug Part 2,
Bagman,
Super Bagman,
Q*bert,
Venture,
Zoo Keeper,
Moon Cresta,
Scramble,
Make Trax,
Phoenix,
Rastan.
click through for more [more inside]
posted by JHarris
on Dec 23, 2010 -
35 comments
Confused in Catan? Conflicted about Carcassonne? Puzzled in Puerto Rico? You've heard about all these awesome new board games that are out these days, but don't know where to begin? Help is here! Scott Nicholson knows all about 'em, and will explain them in great detail in his video series
Board Games With Scott! [more inside]
posted by JHarris
on Aug 8, 2010 -
56 comments
La-Mulana is a Japanese homebrew game, with English translation available, for Windows that exhaustively replicates the experience of playing on an
MSX home computer, a machine not sold in the U.S. but was contemporary with the likes of the Commodore 64 and Amiga in other markets. (Fun fact: the "MS" in MSX stands for Microsoft!) Although it looks very much like retro warez, La-Mulana is freeware. It is also notoriously long and difficult, with a character who controls like old-school Castlevania, enemies that will frequently knock you around like a rag doll, puzzles of amazing deviousness, and traps that think nothing of walling up a player without escape, or forever restricting access to certain powerups.
That said, the game does have charm, and is basically a love letter to the MSX hardware. Those who want to see it without beating their hands bloody against the keyboard can watch
a guy play through the whole game in 85 installments, cursing at it all along the way.
posted by JHarris
on Jun 4, 2007 -
14 comments
Duelin' Firemen was originally conceived as a
3DO game. According to
this old subgenius post (
Rev. Ivan Stang was apparently part of the cast), it was slated to be completed in July of 1995. It never saw the light of day. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it), some of the game's video sequences survive,
edited together in all their seizure-inducing glory [YouTube]. Watch for cameos by Rudy Ray Moore, Mark Mothersbaugh, Tony Hawk, Timothy Leary, Steve Albini, David Yow, and a whole bunch of others... if you can actually bear to watch it.
posted by hypocritical ross
on Apr 17, 2007 -
26 comments
