Ah, Final Fantasy.
After a long and, frankly, ridiculous series of confusing events, the Pixel Remaster compilation of the first six Final Fantasy games became available physically for Switch and PS4 for under forty bucks total. (This was during the end of 2024, and the price has jumped up again since then.) I will readily admit to some FOMO during the initial sold-out launch before it was later confirmed to be re-released for a cheaper price. By the time it became more widely available I was comfortable waiting until a further sale.
Why did I want the compilation? It is kind of absurd, as we have in our collection possibly every other physical NA release of almost every game in the series. SNES, PSP, PlayStation/2/3, GBA, DS, 360, PS4, PS5, etc. We have the CD soundtracks to at least half of the games, several versions of most of the guides, and the Spirits Within and Advent Children movies. We already have the ready ability to play all six of the first games in several ways. Why on earth would we need another?
The short answer is that I just like the series! The best (IV and VI in my opinion) are some of my favorite games, the middle tier are generally better than average RPGs, and even the least preferable often have some interesting ideas. Some of my favorite characters, music, and story beats come from Final Fantasy games. Having six games (with orchestrated soundtracks!) all on one disc/cartridge with a few extra bonuses and QoL improvements (although missing some added content from other releases) was enough to get me to bite, although as mentioned I definitely waited for a sale.
My history with Final Fantasy goes all the way back to the first game on the NES. (I stil have my second CIB copy, although the poster is hanging up in our basement.) I had already finished Dragon Warrior and a few C64 dungeon crawlers, and when Nintendo Power hyped this new release and even published a guide for it, I was pumped. It didn't disappoint, although my thirteen-year-old brain would have been forever stuck without that Nintendo Power Strategy guide. I grinded for hours and hours after school, determined to 100% the game. I would put it down for other games and then pick it back up, but I often forgot where I was and just kept leveling my characters and wandering around.
And then, the Super Nintendo was announced. I was simultaneously delighted and saddened; it looked amazing in magazines, but I was a poor kid and my parents had scrounged years before to get me the NES. I had traded and hunted garage sales with chore money to build up the meager twenty NES carts I owned, and they would be my only possible method to acquire a new console.
A friend got his SNES and our friend group was amazed. It sealed the deal; I was determined to find a way to get one. In the back of a gaming magazine (Electronic Gaming Monthly, I think) were lists of dollar amounts FuncoLand offered for Nintendo games. After some simple math, I found I could trade my NES and all of my games to get a shiny new SNES. My parents would buy F-Zero so I had more to play than Super Mario World (which I had already completed at a friend's house long before I got my own copy.)
I got $14 for Final Fantasy. I remember because I debated about letting it go, but there was no other way. I tried to finish it but by then I just didn't have the time. I reluctantly mailed off (!) my NES and all fourteen games. The next few weeks felt excruciating, but one day the mail delivered the gaming console I still have to this day, yellow tint and all. And I played Super Mario World and F-Zero for hours every day after school, loving every minute and scrounging to rent every title as it came in to our local store.
About a year later, I overheard a classmate discussing an epic narrative of dark knights and redemption, of chivalry and summoners, of dragoons and magic. I literally thought they were discussing a movie, but I later found they were gushing over the epic story of a game of which I was only vaguely aware; Final Fantasy II for the Super Nintendo (actually IV, but that's a different story.)
I waited and waited until our local rental store got a copy, and then waited more as it was always checked out. When I finally got to play it, I was amazed! I fell in love with the story, I found the combat much more interesting and entertaining than the first Final Fantasy, and even my dad (who never had interest in any video game) commented about how much he enjoyed the music. I had my progress reset a few times in-between rentals, but I never minded too much. When I finally secured my copy and eventually saw the credits roll, it cemented itself as one of my most cherished gaming memories.
By the time Final Fantasy III (actually VI) released on the SNES, my High School friends and I were racing to see who could get a copy and complete it first. We swapped copies of SNES games back and forth to play through, including FFII, but this one we each wanted for ourselves. It did not disappoint. Once again the music, characters, story, and gameplay simply elevated the experience to a sublime epic. To this day I still give both SNES Final Fantasy games equal billing as all-time personal favorites. (Yes, there was also 'Mystic Quest,' but I consider that a spin-off.)
As the years went by and more Final Fantasy games came and went, I played most near the time of release. Some I really liked, some far less so. While personally those two SNES titles remained the height of the series, I've still liked the majority of the games and I think pretty much all of them were worth my time.
There are more Final Fantasy stories to regale, such as when my beloved wife surprised me with a new copy of Final Fantasy VIII on the same day I didn't tell her I went and bought a Dreamcast (we were realistically too broke to have bought either) and sleeping my way through Final Fantasy VII, but this is already getting away from where I wanted to go with this write-up.
I never did go back and finish the original Final Fantasy, even as I bought another copy to complete our NES collection. I also wasn't import savvy and couldn't read Japanese, so I never played through the Famicom Final Fantasy II (which is completely different that the SNES game.) I always intended to correct that, and though the GBA Dawn of Souls release would have been perfect I still hadn't gotten around to it. Then the Pixel Remasters were announced, and I was determined to play through them.
I have to say, at my age and stage of life the Pixel Remasters are the ideal way to play these games. The built in maps, the EXP and money boosters, the quality of life improvements such as retargeting after a monster dies, the absolutely gorgeous music, all work to give a 'seasoned' gamer like me the experience I want while respecting my time. I was able to truly enjoy the original Final Fantasy and I was surprised at how it was simultaneously primitive and revolutionary for the time. The story was simple but had more content than I remembered. The flexibility of the party system made it fun to tinker. I still liked the fantasy tropes lightly mixed with sci-fi. It may have taken 35 years (gulp!) but I am very glad I 'finally' played through it.
Next up was Final Fantasy II, based off the original Famicom version. I had always heard of this as the black sheep of early FF games, primarily due to the complete overhaul and changes to the traditional leveling system. Perhaps due to the Pixel Remasters tweaking this system, I didn't find it more difficult, just different. (I know this is at least in part due to the original penalizing stats while others increased, such as when casting enough spells a character's intelligence would go up but their strength would go down. The Pixel Remaster version does away with such penalties.) To my delight I enjoyed it completely! Once again I was impressed with a much fuller and more detailed story, though still simple by later standards. The music is as good as the rest of the series. The characters, while set, are extremely flexible in their builds and less defined by roles. Some of the puzzles and maps were very obtuse and the encounter rate is way over the top, although once again the Pixel Remaster comes through by allowing encounters to be turned on or off. Overall, I came away quite satisfied by the time I saw the end credits.
I'm taking a break and working through the Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana remake/port, Ys being another series with which I have a long and colorful history. It is serving as a fun palate cleanser before diving into the remake of the Famicom Final Fantasy III, the only other game in this compilation of which I have yet to experience. (I played through the PlayStation port of Final Fantasy V upon the stateside release.)
Maybe you don't have a history with these early Final Fantasy games, and therefore they won't hold the same magic. Maybe you are curious about 'classic' JRPGs and want to see where they came from. Many a gamer these days started with Final Fantasy VII or even later, and these games represent a completely foreign experience. What I can definitely say is, I'm very glad I picked up this compilation and 'finally' got to cross off a few on a backlog that started when I was a whole lot younger and had a lot more time on my hands...
Hello and welcome to the first RF Generation Dev Log!
For a quick introduction, I'm Misto, one of the volunteers working on bringing RF Generation into the modern era of websites. If you are not aware, dev logs are commonly used to document and bring awareness to the efforts, struggles, plans, etc of all the work that we are doing behind the scenes throughout a project. I'm hoping that this will be a fairly regular type of blog post just so everyone can see that, yes work is being done - whether its visible or not. There has been a lot of discussion and mentions in the recent blogs about the site redesigns but I wanted to use this first post to outline all the steps that need to be done before anything can even move forward. Also this post will be long so get ready.
First and foremost, as many of you know and what's been mentioned in past blogs, RFG is pretty dated. Not that its a bad thing per se but it does limit us from expanding or building on top of what is in place. Right now, much of the site is running on outdated software and we really don't know if any upgrades or updates will break current functionality. Most of the original developers have since moved on as well, so we are stuck with a bunch of hacked together legacy code. What I've been working on currently, is creating a separate server that mimics the current site configuration but running on the latest and greatest (operating system, hardware, PHP/Perl versions, and database version). I did manage to get the OS and database migrated successfully but I'm still working on getting the actual site code moved over. The test server I'm running on is in AWS (Amazon Web Services) which has some free tiers which are perfect for this upgrade test. Unfortunately, we have too many images in the database and they don't fit on this tier (free tier only has 60 GB of hard drive space and we have about 25 GB of games images alone!).
This brings me to my next point - costs. The unfortunate reality is hosting a website outside of a basic blog isn't cheap. A lot of software and hardware needs to come together to make anything run and it all costs money. Just knowing that we can't run the server on a small server with a 60GB hard drive, means we need to pay for more space on the server. I mentioned before that I'm using AWS to host a test server. I ran through multiple configurations to determine costs based on the requirements I think we would need in a worst case. Requirements are the obvious like CPUs and hard drive space, but also the less obvious - how many visitors does the site get per day, will the server be running 24/7 (yes for us), how many requests do we get, are there spikes in traffic (for instance does most traffic come between 10-11PM on a Wednesday), how big are each request size. All of this needs to be taken into account. Most basic and cheap webhosting are going to run into limitations for anything beyond a simple wordpress site.
The good news is with AWS (or similar cloud provider), I think a lot of the costs I calculated so far are around the current server costs. But it gives us a few benefits to move. One is scalability - did your server go down unexpectedly? Just spin up a copy of it. Need to make changes? Just spin up a test server and make changes before pushing them out and hoping for the best. There is also another potential benefit, the possibility we can get away from cPanel. cPanel is great for a lot of things, but as we grow, its hard to use and difficult to manage with a team of programmers and other volunteers. I can't find a good way to give access to other people without giving them full server access. Its also a completely managed service (meaning the software, site, databases, and images) are all stored on one server (remember the 60GB limit above, cPanel takes up about 20 of that alone). It also limits you to specific programming languages and other supporting software you can use. Its also about $30 a month for a license. We have discussed in the Discord a full site rebuild, using a cloud service like AWS, we can utilize services that could allow us to make a more robust site while also potentially coming in a bit cheaper than what we currently pay.
Moving on from server configurations, lets talk data. RFG has a fantastic amount of game and hardware data but it can be organized in a better way. A lot of you have pitched in with ideas and we've come up with a schema (how the DB is organized) that we think will address some of those issues. First is the games - we've built in a sort of hierarchical structure to better organize them all. I'm going to use an example for this of my favorite series - Resident Evil. First you have a "Franchise" or the "Resident Evil" franchise, this will have any shared game info (like creator, first game release, etc). Most of this is more for fun than anything but it could also be used to see how many games in a series you are missing. Then we have the "game", this could be "Resident Evil (2002)" for instance. This will have all the shared info for a specific game (alternate titles, descriptions, etc).
Under that is what we mostly care about - the "variant". The Variant will be things like the original GameCube North American release or the Wii re-release in Japan, etc. These are the games that are all in our collections. Variants will now optionally support a lot more data than we currently have
- Credits
- Multiple developers/publishers/distributors
- Listing for bonus physical goods for collector editions
- Flags for homebrew, digital only, full game on media, online only, cross platform support
- Print run of the game
- Inclusion of download codes
- Required or supported controllers
- Hardware or OS requirements for PC games
- An appears in option - tie games to compilations
- Flag as a pack in games for consoles
- Standardization of genres and game modes
- Multiple images for each "type", as in multiple front box images or cartridge images
I think that about wraps things up for this post. As usual, let us know what features/improvements/bugs/etc that need addressed. It may be a long time before we can get to it but I wanted to show that progress is being made behind the scenes. I'm hoping soon we can have a better idea on what path forward we are taking (some of this is dependent on costs and how much we get in donations) but in the meantime I'm working on getting a git repository of the current code setup to give developers access as well as somewhere we can document and submit issues or requests in a more formal way.
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Posted on Jan 27th 2025 at 10:36:18 PM by ( slackur) Posted under update |
The site continues to undergo backend revising and experimenting. Also, a new account is in the process of being set up for our server fees. That process sure is slower than we hoped, but it is moving along. My current goal is to start the raffling for donations as soon as we can, hopefully early next month.
Given that we are a nonprofit site with bills to pay (kept as minimal as we realistically can) we hope to re-engage community involvement and get some traffic back to the site. Yet I enjoy the tight-knit community of RFGen and consider it one of the last 'comfy' places left on the 'net where I don't have to worry about people and content. Thus, while we don't exactly predict explosive growth, we do want to keep everyone on the same page about 'generating' (wink) and maintaining a healthy place. As we gain members and interaction, we want to be welcoming and patient. We have had to kick folks out in the past, but only as a last resort. Members have come and gone and still occasionally stop by. Our question for the moment is, when the relaunch is more in full swing and new forums and tech are installed, what would you like to see here at RFGeneration?
I'm intending on spearheading a new "RFGeneration Nation" podcast. I'd also like to re-engage a forum for limited release physical media.
What else would you like to see on RFGeneration 2.0?
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Posted on Jan 21st 2025 at 05:51:46 AM by ( slackur) Posted under Update |
Our new tech team is going over our options moving forward, and the bad news is our current patchwork of code can't really be fixed past a certain point. RFGeneration, at least as I've been told, started as a learn-as-we-go project by a dedicated group of friends. The result is a bit of a snarl of loose ends and hard knots, patchwork elements and now-outdated programs. I'll be honest, hanging around the Discord as the smarter guys talk about it makes me feel like I'm eavesdropping on a foreign language conference call.
The good news is, we are all on board to create a better, more robust site using the pieces we can transfer (most importantly, the database) and re-establish our little home on the 'net! I've repeated a lot of this on previous posts, so this is a reminder that we aren't going anywhere. There will undoubtedly be some bumps in the road, as our current setup is kinda tricky to test any fixes. Just because a backup copy works with changes doesn't mean it will upload correctly, especially with some of the outdated backend stuff.
Our coders and consultants are evaluating what software to use to build a new site and import what we can. There is a good chance we may have to have the site go down unexpectedly when we are testing something new, but rest assured we are backing up everything we can before that would happen (and if possible, I'll try and warn folks here on the site) and we be back as soon as possible.
For those here and hanging around, thanks for your time and support, and keep the comments and posts coming!
It was the reveal to end all... eh, yeah, really it was just a teaser confirming the Switch 2 is a Switch Pro. Bigger screen, actual stand (although I think the OLED model is a smarter design for such), Joy-Cons that appear upgraded from baby-sized hands to small child-sized hands, magnetic connections to replace the rails that have failed in three of the five models in our household, and a few seconds of Mario Kart, which may be a new game or simply an upgraded version of the current (albeit fantastic) one that released almost two hardware generations ago. All while being backwards compatible for software but not hardware. Sure, there will likely be some great Nintendo games that will look prettier and that couldn't run on the regular Switch, but by all accounts thus far this looks a lot like a 1.5 rather than a 2.
I'm absolutely delighted!
Ours has always been a Nintendo household. We have every Nintendo generation thus far, including oddities like the Virtual Boy and most of the Labo releases. We have a Wii U demo kiosk whose loud fan lulled my sons to sleep in their youth. Every member of our family has their own Switch, and they all get played weekly if not daily. Sure, we play all sorts of other stuff (the PS5 is usually my go-to for my daily exercise bike workout) but if there is one shared gaming love in our family, it's probably... Jackbox party packs. But also Nintendo.
A friend of mine was sharing his disappointment over the Switch 2 reveal, grumbling that it wasn't going to be as powerful as the current PS5 and Xbox Series. However, I'm very satisfied that Nintendo is consistently doing their own thing. Why would I want the big three companies following the same path? The one feature I wanted in a new Nintendo system was highlighted in the announcement; backwards compatibility.
Being a physical collector, this is a huge deal to me. Out of the last several generations of gaming hardware, the PS3 stands out as having an excellent library that is currently locked to one console, a console known for hardware failure. Emulating the notoriously difficult Cell processor is still a work in progress, and I assume there will be more and better options in the future. But thankfully, it seems more hardware generations feature some level of backwards compatibility that do not. It makes sense, from a certain standpoint, as it allows for easier integration into a pre-existing software eco-system and helps consumers on-board to new hardware. I know from a salesperson point of view, explaining to customers that the newest PlayStation and Xbox can also play the previous generation has been a major factor in folks buying into the next generation of hardware.
Of course I want to see new Nintendo games in 4K at 60FPS, and hear all of the neat bells and whistles in 7.2 Dolby Atmos. But perhaps even more, I'd love to see some original Switch titles running on improved specs. There are so many Switch games I haven't gotten to yet, and the idea that they may be boosted up on a newer system by the time I get to them is quite the sales pitch for me.
Another factor in my expectations is that, like the original Switch and unlike the PS5 and XSX, the Switch 2 formfactor is portable. For many including my own family, that portability makes Nintendo's system the go-to just for the convenience of not being tied down to a TV. The Switch, I'd argue, is really is more of an evolution of the DS line than of the Wii or GameCube before it. We know our gaming laptops are generally underpowered, dollar-for-dollar, compared to their desktop equivalents. No one was surprised when the PSP, Vita, or other portables were less powerful than their console siblings. The Switch 2, like most Nintendo hardware, won't be near top-of-the-line tech when it comes out. But if history and rumors are true the price will likely be reasonable, and although I'm not looking forward to re-investing in more controllers and accessories the most important part (the games) will already be there and waiting.
The original Switch was quite groundbreaking despite the lower-than-competition specs, and Nintendo has pulled that trick off quite a few times now (the Wii, DS, and even the original Game Boy.) I'm kinda glad Nintendo hasn't tried to re-invent the wheel every time. The 3DS was a fantastic addition to the DS even without the 3D, and the Game Boy Color was a great upgrade to the OG, as was the Advance to the Color. Our Wii was playing as many GameCube games as it was Wii games.
There is more than enough room in the console video game industry for Nintendo to do their thing while Sony and Microsoft to do theirs. I can understand why the Switch 2 will be disappointing for some folks. As they say, not everything is for everyone.
Meanwhile, I'm having to figure out how to 'responsibly' upgrade five systems in the future...
Hey RfGen-ers! Its been... *checks notes* ...far too long since I’ve made a post, and with the website revitalization project under way, we all need to do our part to keep the content mill flowing!
(note: as imbedded images are currently broken, please use the attached links for images...i'll adjust once things are back to normal)
The past few years have been less than ideal for a number of factors, but for all of the bad, there has been a tremendous amount of good. One of those “good” things is that I finally bought my own home in late 2024, and figured this space would be a good place to catalog one of the coolest projects I have planned – a dedicated video gaming space!
https://imgur.com/NMubhy9
[break]
Here is the view from the door – not much of a looker yet, but when you move in between Thanksgiving and Xmas and have to make a whole bunch of repairs to get things livable, the “fun” places tend to take a back seat.
https://imgur.com/22l5EE5
Off to the left we have:
- A crappy plastic cabinet holding controllers and cartridge games for Genesis/N64/Atari
- Two large bookcases for NES/SNES/PS2/GC/Wii/NDS/3DS
I’m really fond of my RfGeneration Golf Competition medal hung on the side, along with another controller organizer, as well as my power glove in an acrylic case just barely in shot cause I’m bad at photography.
https://imgur.com/qiXYxBL
The centerpiece of the room is currently an IKEA Kallax that holds my Flat Screen and far too many systems. I’m still working on wiring, so I don’t have my cables hidden or even properly organized yet. It’ll look better later on, I promise. Off to the left is a CRT that I rescued from the trash that looks fantastic! Its one of the weird flat glassed ones and has a perfectly clean (no scratches) screen.
https://imgur.com/SvkNwyJ
Next, two IKEA Detolf cases hold (almost) all of our Amiibos. If you ever wanted to know what too many Amiibos look like – this is it. These were awful to move. Switch/PS4/Xbone all sit on a shelf behind a bunch of Kirby and Pokemon toys.
https://imgur.com/RgvJgQv
This section is the rest of the disc games (WiiU/PS3/X360/PSX – over on the bottom right)) as well as a small Vita collection. Two more Detolfs – one for handhelds and another for the minis from the god-awful Dark Souls board game. I’m working on 3D printing some more stands/extras for the handheld case, so it’ll be in better shape when I do a more in-depth look later on. The DS minis are my white whale: they REALLLY need to get painted and I’ve only done a handful. Having all of the gray minis out finally has been giving me the motivation to fix it.
https://imgur.com/gXfwkcT
Last and absolutely not least is my custom-made shelf/cocktail cabinet. This guys needs an in-depth review soon to go over all the cool stuff I had built into it (shout out to https://www.heydorksfurniture.com/ for doing an amazing job!).
That's it for now! Look forward to a bunch of changes as I start to unpack/fix more stuff!
~Neo
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Posted on Jan 13th 2025 at 10:33:03 PM by ( slackur) Posted under Update |
As RFG slowly rebuilds, we've got some thoughts to ponder. How do we want the database organized and configured? What is our balance of legacy compatibility, efficiency, and speed versus utilizing newer programs and systems that make the site better integrated with modern devices? What can we do to spur community involvement while maintaining our comfortable and friendly atmosphere? If Die Hard is a Christmas movie, does that put the NES Die Hard game technically in the same genre as Daze Before Christmas? Is the Games Advent Calender 2024 any good and will there be a 2025 dlc update?
Fortunately, I don't have to figure all of this stuff out alone. While our Discord channel has been essential, we want to open, drive, and keep conversations going here! In that spirit, I hope to soon introduce our new team working on the site, to give some more keys to those who can work on the backend, give more permissions to db editors, and welcome some new folks who want to help.
Feel free to chat in the comments if you want to be part RFG in a bigger way but are waiting to have access to do what you can. We are all volunteers here, so we understand that it is always a matter of getting to things when we can.
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Posted on Jan 9th 2025 at 03:50:06 AM by ( slackur) Posted under update |
I'm gonna skip intros for some of these updates, as by now I think we are mostly on the same (front)page. We are working on getting the imbed pictures functioning again, as they have been broken for a bit.
SNES2025 is pretty much a go! If you want to nab a game to play through, the ball is already rollin,' so git on that forum.
One more thing: Koola and I are planning on launching a fun little RFG podcast. Just ramblin' about gaming news, retro, the site, games we are playing, that kinda thing. If you are interested in co-hosting or being a guest, lemme know in the comments or via DM!
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Posted on Jan 5th 2025 at 02:21:30 AM by ( slackur) Posted under Update |
Here we are, gang. 2025.
If you've been here for a few years, you've seen it. The difference especially over the last half-decade. The post-COVID, economically difficult, mostly-digital future we are in now. Like so many other old haunts, the ol' RFG site isn't where she used to be and is in serious need of some time and attention. Many assume her glory days are long gone. Some folks stop by every now and then just to see if she's still around. Some have moved on altogether.
And yet, here we are! If you are an old-timer, welcome! If you are a curious newcomer, welcome! If you have no idea how you got here and your Amish family is out looking for you, go back to the front door and take a left, the hardware store is two buildings down.
When I posted over four months ago with our new plan for RFGeneration, I had not anticipated some of the difficulties we were facing. And new ones will undoubtedly pop up moving forward. But we are finally able to move forward! Here's some new updates:
I'll be opening a new account to cover server costs and related expenses: we are keeping everything free to all, and my plan is to always do so. To that end, we will be moving what we have left in the current account to the new one and begin fundraising to pay the bills. That has a hard date of before February. Once we get things up an running, I intend to put up some items for raffling to give that little extra kick for those kind enough to donate.
Here is where we get introspective. When going to the 'about' tab of RFGeneration, it is all about community. The database is naturally the main draw, but what else do we want for RFGeneration? Perhaps the site will primarily be a utility, but we have endless opportunities to grow and build a great place to visit online. Most if not all of the volunteers forming the new team to run RFG have very limited, get-to-it-when-we-can, time to work on the site. We have some great people stepping up, but we can always use more!
To that end, what 'vision' do we want for RFG? Even if the focus will always be the database, we still need to clarify our purpose. For example, are we building an archive for every 'official' game release with footnotes for homebrews, single event carts, and decades-late rereleases? Or are we an open 'everything goes' opportunity for collectors to build lists however they desire? What about variants, and what should be the limit? Should popular mods have any listing? How should we organize digital releases? Should the database be categorized by system, then region, then lists of game titles, or should each game title be the 'launch' page, and every system/region/variant have a listing under the game title?
So many questions! And that's where you come in. We want feedback; after all, the first focus of this site is community! Since we are having to rebuild on such a low level, now is the time to start planning ahead. Even the type of server and technology we are using to host the site will be informed by answering these questions. We don't want to pay for things we aren't going to need or use, but we also don't want to limit ourselves (and make more work for ourselves) by adopting the wrong approach.
We know we can't stay where we are, as the site can't really be patched up to keep going as-is, so how we rebuild is the first question we are working on moving forward.
Please join in the conversation!
Link: https://www.rfgeneration....20462.msg290824#msg290824
Hey, so RFGeneration, am I right?
This site has been decrepit for... a while now. I'll not waste my time going into the specifics, like how the copyright banner said "2008" for the longest time, how the latest episode of the Press Playcast will be two years old relatively soon, how there are many relics of the just-starting Web2.0 still found here, and the code that just keeps breaking, especially the images... oh wait. I just wasted my time going into specifics.
Let's not get ourselves down about the whole thing, though. slackur and some helpful tech-minded people have been working at giving the site a nice refresh (some of the aspects of which you can already see, such as HTTPS support, some fixed image code, and the removal of the "2008" in the copyright notice, among plenty of things going on under the hood). In the meantime (and hopefully continuing on into the refresh!) we need to breathe new air into the dust to get it living again. This breath happens to be video game flavored, due to how things work around here.
slackur put me on content creation duty when it comes to the refresh, and while I can certainly help with other things necessary (such as graphic design drafts; I am Gen Z), creating content is where I've found my best skillset for this website. This shows, since it's been a while since one of my articles HASN'T been on the Hot Community Entries list.
What better idea to both have new RFGen content and have something to do all year gaming-wise then stepping back in time to a console with a lot of very fun games known as the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and trying to beat all of its (North American, officially-licensed) games?
What started as a couple of jokes on the #nes2019 channel in the RFGen Discord has now become a full community challenge that hopefully will have several interested people and a lot of fun to be had.
As previously stated, our goal is to beat all of the officially-licensed North American SNES games on official hardware. A secondary goal is to use the forums as much as possible, because the best way to drum up interest in a site is to use it.
If you don't have official hardware, that's okay! Emulators are fine, as long as you don't use save states or abuse emulator-specific functions.
I really think that this will be a fun event and will help drum up interest in RFGen. Signing up isn't necessary - you only need to be an RFGeneration forum member, and have the ability to play SNES games, and considering that most of us are collectors, we probably have an SNES or two lying around (...or a computer that can emulate it...)
If you want to contribute to the refresh but aren't able to code or anything that Those Tech Wizards can do, then beating them SNES games this year and using the forum while doing it is a great way to contribute. It drums up interest in RFGen, and you're actively doing things for the site on the site, something that hasn't been done in many a year. With this goal, I really think many people would be interested in RFGen, give it a try, enjoy it, become lasting members, and then we can have a bigger community of collectors. Let's get this site out of the grave. Clear out the cobwebs! Refresh the site! having actual content is a great way to contribute. SNES games for the win, baby!
(Maybe I got a bit too excited there...)
...so what are you waiting for? Go out and join us! Play some SNES games! Go conquer the world (of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System...)
...oh, uh, claiming games? Yeah. That's fair. Claiming games starts on the the 12th (1/12/2025 if you're from the US, or 12/1/2025 if you're from a reasonable country that doesn't use a different system of measurement from the rest of the world. I'm an American...)
Let's beat some SNES games, RFGen!
Link: https://www.rfgeneration....20462.msg290824#msg290824
First, sorry about the long pause since last time; there were issues getting the front page to update. The great news is, we now have some new tech leads working in the background to move forward! The good news is that we also have a new team intending to keep the db updated and improved, and other folks to push new content and keep the site fresh.
The bad news is... oh boy, do we have our work cut out for us. Almost everything here needs some severe work or outright replacement. Think about those home improvement shows that need a complete demo before the real work can begin, and you're halfway there.
This is actually a great opportunity. We are not starting at the ground level (obviously keeping the db and rebuilding the forums) but we are having to rework at such a foundational level that now is the time for us to refashion the way the site works, focus on the content we want to develop, and gather input on the point and purpose of RFGeneration.
Please give us some comments and thoughts here so we can start the general conversation and start nailing down specifics. Also, our Discord server has been invaluable during this difficult time, so feel free to pop over there as well.
And Happy New Year!
Hi everybody! I'll skip the whole intro about how long it has been since our little internet home has been up and running to full capacity and the various reasons this place hasn't been dusted in a few years, or the garbage taken out, or the roof leak fixed, or where that 'Beware of Dingbats' metal sign came from.
I'm here with good news! I'll be taking over for the incomparable Mr. Singlebanana and doing my best, as time permits, to help a team rebuild the site over the next few months and beyond. Bickman 2K is going to help us transfer the site and we will be opening up the backend for a new team of volunteers to fix 'er up and refresh the site.
Some soon-to-future goals; a monthly raffle for donors to keep the servers purring (we are committed to the ethos of the site to be ad-free, free to all, and credit given to all who help,) some more steady front page content, the broken stuff fixed as we can and time permitting, and maybe even some nice surprises as we get there. Once our new team is up and going we will do some introductions (and re-introductions) but for now, if you are interested in helping with the coding, database work, front page content, web design, cross-country catering, or other skills applicable to improving the site and growing the RFG community, please comment or even toss me a message here.
I'm also thankful for the folks who have kept the lights on in the forum and database submissions! While it will take some time to get things going, the community has always been my favorite part of RFGeneration and I'm committed to helping us get back on our feet and running again.
One more thing; RFGeneration is 20 years old as of this past April! I'm hoping to set up some interviews with the original builders of the site, their memorial for Mr. Michael Collins, and some connection with the past and hopes for the future. I'll be reaching out to whom I can get ahold of, but even if you aren't a 'founder,' if you've been around the site in the early years I'd love to set up a simple conversation/interview.
Stay tuned and keep it on channel 3!
[img width=700 height=487]https://i.imgur.com/JFeJ8kQ.jpg[/img]
In this month's episode of the Press PlayCast, Rich (singlebanana) and Shawn (GrayGhost81) round-out their discussion of the entire Bioshock series as they breakdown Bioshock Infinite. Join us as we discuss the game's gameplay, graphics, music, and story. In this month's Concertcast, the guys pick sophomore albums that they consider the best album in each selected band's catalog. How does the somewhat controversial, 3rd installment in the Bioshock library stack up to its formidable forefathers? And how many Chambers did the Wu-Tang Clan actually enter? Tune in and find out!
As always, we are happy to hear your thoughts on the games we play on our discussion page (linked below). We will respond to your comments and are always happy to discuss the games in detail. Please be sure to rate and write a review of the show on iTunes and/or Podbean to help us increase our listenership. Thanks for the listen, we hope you enjoy the show!
Episode 92 Discussion Thread: http://www.rfgeneration.c...m/index.php?topic=19712.0
Get the show on Podbean: www.pressplaycast.com
On iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/...ion-playcast/id1038953364
On Stitcher: http://www.stitcher.com/p...ation-playcast?refid=stpr
And follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rfgenplaythroughs
And on Twitter: @thesinglebanana & @RFGPlayCast
Continue reading Press Playcast Episode 92 - Bioshock Infinite
[img width=500 height=501]http://rfgeneration.com/podcasts/shmupclub/images/2022-12-24_stcc_ep_053_fire_shark.png[/img]
In Episode 053, MetalFRO and Addicted are joined by Corkman for a lengthy discussion about Fire Shark! We pick apart the game a bit, and compare the brutally difficult arcade iterations to the much more approachable Sega Genesis and Mega Drive versions.
Check out the episode right here on RF Generation:
http://rfgeneration.com/podcasts/shmupclub/?name=2022-12-24_stcc_ep_053_fire_shark.mp3
Or find the episode 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=19693.0
Thanks for listening!
[img width=400 height=381]https://now.estarland.com/images/products/hr/29898/4988736070077.jpg[/img]
Sometimes a game takes a very different path than expected, before it is released. Most of the team who designed the Taito shooter Gun Frontier returned for another shoot-em-up, at the time tentatively titled "Project Gun Frontier 2" as a starting point for development. At some point, the game was considered as a possible 3rd game in the Darius series. In the end, however, the project became its own game, with some of its own unique mechanics. What we ended up with is the now classic, Metal Black.
Released in arcades in 1991, and later on the Sega Saturn in 1996, Metal Black has a unique power-up system that sees you collecting small particles known as "Newalone" to gradually increase the power of your ship, until you reach maximum power. Once you do, you can unleash a beam of destruction to take out enemies. You can also use your beam to duel with bosses who will fire a similar beam. This ended up being a major inspiration for Taito's later Darius series game, G-Darius. Join the RF Generation Shmup Club in 2023, and pilot the CF-345 Black Fly alongside us, as we play the Taito classic Metal Black!
If you'd like to participate, check the thread here:
http://www.rfgeneration.com/forum/index.php?topic=19705.0
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