[img width=560 height=347]https://hobbydb-production.s3.amazonaws.com/processed_uploads/subject_photo/subject_photo/image/21024/1487177367-24608-3767/Beam_20Software_20logo_large.jpg[/img] In the middle of the 1970s, there were small game development studios popping up all over the world. In Melbourne, Australia; in 1977, one of those companies was Beam Software. Their initial games were developed for the home computers of the early 1980s, and they scored a whopper of an early hit in 1982's The Hobbit. At the tail end of the 80s, they finally made the move into home console development for the NES. A couple early stinkers in the two Back to the Future games did not slow the company down, and they started to get contracts to port arcade games to the console. In the early 1990s, there was a shift in the company's audio staff which saw Gavan Anderson and Tania Smith working on music and audio, but Tania ended up leaving to go on a world tour, and she asked Marshall Parker to be her replacement. Marshall was already 38 years old when he joined Beam Software in 1990, making him one of the older composers even at that time.
Continue reading Composer Compendium: Marshall Parker
Nintendo truly has a great thing going with their Virtual Console service. You are able to get games from a wide variety of classic and retro systems such as the NES, Genesis, TurboGrafx, and Neo Geo. However, some systems are missing from the lineup. But don't you fear! Sega is here to save the day!
That's right, Sega has announced that they will soon be bringing over games from their 1986 system, the Sega Master System, to Nintendo's retro game download service. The first games from the system being ported over to the Wii are Fantasy Zone (500 Wii Points), and Fist of the North Star (600 Wii Points). Both games will be hitting the Virtual console this February in Japan. There has been no announced date for when these would be coming to America or Europe, but I imagine it will be fairly soon after, most likely in March or April. Also, I wouldn't be surprised if Fist of the North Star stays in Japan due to licensing issues, but I'm sure Fantasy Zone will be coming to America/Europe.
But that's not all! Sega will also be bringing games for the Mark III and the Game Gear to Nintendo's Virtual Console as well! Alas, no game details have been announced yet.
So, kudos to Sega for keeping your retro systems alive through this new distribution channel! Hopefully this leads the way for 32x (and possibly Sega CD) games to be added to the Virtual Console repertoire.
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