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Posted on May 7th 2022 at 08:00:00 AM by ( MetalFRO) Posted under Shoot the Corecast, Salamander, Life Force, Konami, shmup, shooter, STG, shoot em up, shooting game, arcade game, classic game |
[img width=500 height=499]http://rfgeneration.com/podcasts/shmupclub/images/2022-04-17_stcc_ep_045_salamander_life_force.jpg[/img]
In Episode 045, Addicted and MetalFRO dig into the Konami vault once more and take a close look at Salamander, the non-sequel follow up to the wildly popular Gradius. Salamander and its counterpart Life Force have a storied history of revisions and ports that we dive into in more detail, and discuss the differences between them.
You can listen to the episode right here on RF Generation:
https://www.rfgeneration.com/podcasts/shmupclub/?name=2022-04-17_stcc_ep_045_salamander_life_force.mp3
Or check out our Linktree page to find our feed on your favorite podcast service:
https://linktr.ee/shootthecorecast
Check out the original discussion thread for the game here:
http://www.rfgeneration.com/forum/index.php?topic=19644.0
Thanks for listening!
Hello again!
Over the past few days, we have made a lot of progress on the site functionality so I wanted to give an update!
Submissions/Approvals
These are now working as expected! We found some settings that were keeping this from working that have been temporarily changed to allow things to function properly. This has also allowed the "All Collections" list to update as expected as well.
Forum error messages
This has been fixed as well with the changes we made. Again, this is another band-aid fix to the root issue, but it will let things get back to normal while we continue to make the changes.
https
I have heard the question a few times, so I figured I would update here with the status of this. The server is currently already https enabled. The reason why it isn't enabled site-wide at this time is largely due to the forum software being out of date. I have plans to set up a sandbox page at home, run the required forum upgrades, then begin developing a new theme. The new software supports https, so this combined with the other efforts of updating/auditing the code for hardcoded paths should allow us to finally enable https site-wide.
A huge thanks to everyone for reaching out to report issues over email, site PM, or Discord. Having a lot of data points helped to determine what was going on better. Another big thanks to the staff members who were helping me to test the various functions as we made changes to verify functionality.
And, naturally, thank you to everyone for your patience and understanding as we worked through this. I know it took longer than I hoped, certainly, but we're certainly on the road to making a lot of progress in updating the site for the future.
Hey everyone! We recently went through a server migration for several reasons (OS no longer supported, security updates, space, etc), but, as you may have noticed, we have had some issues since the migration. I am trying to correct all of the issues as quickly as possible, but it certainly hasn't been easy.
Thanks to everyone in Discord who helped report the current issues. If you would like to reach out, please join the Discord where we have a site issues channel for people to report the issues. I also plan on posting those issues on a Trello board here so I can more easily track them. You can find the board here: https://trello.com/b/Jxj3...rf-generation-site-issues
Finally, I can't say enough how much I appreciate the patience from all of you while we make the required changes to get the site up and running fully again.
On your marks, get set, and go watch this month's "A Brief Look At" with Neo!
This month, we check out Horizon Chase Turbo for PC and modern platforms!
[img width=700 height=277]https://i0.wp.com/evercade.info/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/EvercadeVS-Hero500.jpeg?w=1260&ssl=1[/img]
When the Evercade portable first released in 2020, there were many who scratched their heads in bemusement. Surely in this day and age of the Switch, the various cheap emulation portables, and now the Steam deck, a new cart-based budget portable game machine was unnecessary? What was this newfangled British toy, and was it fated to be another nifty but niche Game Gear or Lynx? Or a comical disaster by way of Game.com or N-Gage? Well, now that the Evercade has had a few quality of life updates and almost two years of cartridge releases, a better evaluation may be given. Especially now that the Evercade VS, a home console version of the Evercade ecosystem, has finally arrived here in the US. After spending a few weekends with the VS and the entire current library, here are my thoughts on everything Evercade.
Continue reading Thoughts on the Evercade Ecosystem, Including the VS Console
For those of us who collect games, we all understand that we have a few stinkers in the collection. Looking at the library of releases for any game console or platform, there will always be games that are objectively terrible, a lot of stuff that's just not very good, a lot of middling releases, a fair number of solid titles worth your time, and usually a small number of absolutely outstanding games that are among the best on offer. Unless you're curating a small collection of only games you enjoy, you're bound to have a turd or two on the shelf. Why do we pay money for these things? Let me offer a few ideas as to why there's nothing wrong with owning some bad games.
Continue reading In Defense Of...Games That Suck
After a brief hiatus from working on new content for my channel, I finally made my return with Dark King, the final boss theme from Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest! I know this game has its fair share of haters, but I quite enjoy the game for what it is, and everyone knows it has a rocking soundtrack! I hope you guys enjoy this one!
[img width=700 height=466]https://i.imgur.com/8sKlhGI.jpg[/img] Photo by MART PRODUCTION from Pexels
I replied to a tweet a few days ago from @gamesyouloved that went like this:
"if someone wants to start a retro game collection
what's the best way to do it?"
My reply:
"If I were starting now, I'd go for quality over quantity and buy like, one good game every paycheck or something."
I've been thinking about this tweet and its replies for a few days now, and I'd like to elaborate on it. Of course, to answer this question, there are so many variables to consider, and each person will have his or her own set of circumstances which will dictate what can be done. Note that the question is about collecting specifically, so while I'd naturally lean on emulation, this article will be about how I would build a physical collection from scratch today if I had to.
Continue reading How Would You Start Collecting Today?
[img width=553 height=550]http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/games/J-060/bf/J-060-S-01775-A.jpg[/img]
Developer: Konami
Publisher: Konami
Platforms: PC-8801, MSX2, PC Engine Super CD-Rom^2, Sega/Mega CD, Saturn, Playstation
Years of Release: 1988 (PC-88), 1988 (MSX2), 1992 (PC Engine CD), 1994 (Sega/Mega CD), 1996 (Saturn), 1996 (Playstation)
Snatcher is a legendary game in the modern era. Today it is considered a great opus of interactive fiction, and it largely stands above most of its contemporaries among those that have played the game. In its time, it was heavily overlooked by most of the international audience despite a wealth of rave reviews. Snatcher was originally developed and published by Konami for Japanese computers, releasing on the NEC PC-88 and MSX2 in 1988. Development was quite lengthy and expensive for Konami and shows many of the trademark behind the scenes issues with projects led by Hideo Kojima that would eventually lead to their fallout decades later. The project suffered from an unrealistic scope, as roughly half the story was condensed or axed altogether. Despite this, development still took far longer than most projects of the era. All of this would not pay off in Konami's eye, as the game's initial PC sales were underwhelming. A cult following developed around the game, and this likely led to Konami issuing later ports. The first one being 1992's port to NEC's PC Engine Super CD-ROM^2. What is interesting is that this PC Engine CD release was not just a straight over port, but it included the game's 3rd Act as a mostly cinematic experience. 1994 would see a strangely Western exclusive port released for Sega CD that allegedly only sold a few thousand copies. This Sega CD release further expanded on Act 3, adding some extra exploration and action. The final ports were released in 1996, exclusively in Japan, for the Sony PlayStation and Sega Saturn.
Continue reading Snatcher
On 2/18/2022, Nintendo announced that they would be shutting down the 3DS and Wii U eShops. As an aspiring game collector (wow wonder where that came from), I would like to delve into that.
Now, what they are actually doing is removing the ability to purchase games "as of late March 2023". However, they have set specific dates for specific things being removed; namely, the ability to add funds using credit cards will go away in May 2022, and with a Nintendo eShop Card in August 2022; the ability to use download codes and purchase free software will go away in March 2023.
I have loved the 3DS and Wii U since launch, and have dwelved several hundred (heck, maybe even thousand) hours into both systems. There are still several digital games which I intend to buy for them.
But what I want to go into is the apparent piracy issue. With the ability to add funds going away in just six months, people will start pirating games because of low stock. Piracy will increase rapidly among these systems.
I see this issue going in one of two ways. 1): Nintendo bans the Nintendo Network ID of pirates as they have been doing for the past decade. 2): Nintendo gives up and focuses on Switch anti-piracy.
If #2 happens, then there will be no reason to buy physical games for the average homebrewed 3DS / Wii U owner.
If #1 happens, then people will be upset because Nintendo is maintaining anti-piracy measures on a system that they discontinued the ability to buy most of the games for.
I think the only silver lining is if Nintendo follows in Sony's footsteps about the closure of the Vita and PS3 stores. I do not expect that to happen, but you can always hope for the better.
I've been koola, and I've had like 3 article ideas this month.
(They're all probably going to be pushed back by at least 4 years.)
Step right up and win a prize with this month's "A Brief Look At" with Neo!
This month, we check out The Coin Game for PC (early access)!
[img width=638 height=437]http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/games/U-005/ss/U-005-S-05200-B.jpg[/img]
Formulating a digital avatar, a representation of a player's interaction within a video game, is a construct often taken for granted. Given the importance placed upon player agency in many modern games, from customization and features in Skyrim to vehicle selection and colors in the Forza Horizon series, great effort is often taken to connect the player to what is on the screen. Upon reflection, four games I've played recently paint a fascinating picture of the evolution of where we started and where we are now.
Continue reading A Brief Tour of Avatars Through The Gaming Ages, From The Last Four Games I Played
[img width=251 height=377]https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/finalfantasy/images/4/4a/FFTSWPoster.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20130405010722[/img]
Summer 2001 was an interesting time for me. I had moved out of my home state to the East Coast and was trying something new in the work arena. Previous jobs had come and gone, and nothing really stuck, so rather than continue to flounder, I thought I would change my course. I quickly found out that my newly chosen path was a huge mistake, and within just a few short months, I would move back to my home state and get back on the career path I started on, albeit in a different direction. But for a few months in the middle of 2001, I lived about 45 minutes from the ocean, and had a fairly eye-opening experience learning about the differences between small town midwestern life and what life was like in the south.
During my stint on the coast, I spent a fair amount of time on my off days looking for entertainment. Whether it was browsing music shops, used video game stores, pawn shops, etc., I found ways to occupy my time when I wasn't working. And of course, there were also movie theaters. One of the more highly anticipated releases the summer of 2001 was Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, which was to be the debut film from Square Pictures. Having played and enjoyed Final Fantasy VII just a year or so prior, I was looking forward to the movie. I thought the idea of using full computer animation for everything was novel at the time and assumed the storytellers at Square had a good chance of coming up with a good story.
Continue reading In Defense Of...Final Fantasy - The Spirits Within
Well, it's been a while since I've done one of these! I was replaying Final Fantasy VII recently, and this track really stood out to me when it played in the game. I've heard it plenty of times while listening to the soundtrack on its own, but something about hearing it in the context of the game really made it hit that much harder. On the Other Side of the Mountain is already a pretty straightforward acoustic piece, so my cover is just a 1:1 recreation. Nothing fancy, no frills, just a quick playthrough of a nice tune. A little bit different from my usual metal covers, but I hope you all enjoy this one just the same!
So I'm finally doing it. I'm writing an article about one of my favorite games ever so far, an article I've put on the backburner of my writing for forever, a game that I have loved ever since I heard about its creation, DELTARUNE.
Now that's pretty high praise, and (I think,) deserving praise. Now, why do I love DELTARUNE so much? It has a really good sense of humor, has amazing music, and is a turn-based RPG. Those are all aspects of games I enjoy. Oh yeah, and it's made by Toby Fox. That too.
So let me elaborate on them all.
The sense of humor is mostly slapstick, and is really well timed for the moment. Everything is checkable, and either leads to a punchline or IS the punchline. Take this beginning segment of DELTARUNE Chapter 2. You just fell into a garbage filled area. There is a trashbag with an eggplant shape. When you see it, you think, "Oh, that's weird". Eventually you walk around and find "an eggplant shaped like a trashbag". I find these little gags funny, and can help relieve the "constant feeling" that most RPGs give.
The music is my next point. DELTARUNE and UNDERTALE's creator, Toby Fox, has an amazing musical talent. So much that I have listened to the soundtracks so much that my own music bears significant resemblance to it.
(Here, try comparing it.)
The music is so good it even earned a spot on Nintendo's list of games with the best soundtracks.
Turn-based RPGs have always been one of my favorite genres. Something about them is so relaxing, but it doesn't have the complete and total "lack of game" that a visual novel does. DELTARUNE follows in UNDERTALE's footstep for the most part (I mean, it WAS made by the same creator) in the battle system. It is a mix of turn-based RPG and bullet hell.
DELTARUNE is one of my favorite games ever, and I can't wait to see what comes of it in the next few chapters.
I've been koola, and one of my New Years' resolutions this year was writing more. Can you tell?
(I composed a whole song for an RFGeneration article.
It will be on Spotify sometime soon. Like, 2 days soon.)
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We are a community of collectors, gamers and the likes, and some of us enjoy to let the world know what is on our mind. For those members, we have the community blogs, a place where they can publish their thoughts and feelings regarding life, universe, and everything. Some of those members might even choose to write about gaming and collecting! Whatever they write about, you can find it on their blog. You can either see the latest community blog entries in the feed you see to the left, or you can browse for your favorite blog using the menu above. Interested in having your own blog hosted on RF Generation? It's rather simple, first be a registered member, and then click the "My Blog" link that you see in the navigation above. Following those two steps will certainly get you on your way to blogging.
Sit back, relax, and enjoy our entries, rantings, and completely unrelated series of thoughts. We write for you to read, so we certainly hope that you enjoy our material.
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