We interrupt your regularly scheduled turkey stuffing to bring you the November 2020 edition of RF Generation's Site News! In this issue, we announce our December Community Playthrough game, reveal our shoot 'em up club title, and of course, thank those members who sent in submissions to our site and registered approvals last month. Thanks for keeping it on Channel 3 and please continue to keep you and your loved ones SAFE!
REMEMBER: If you have any news about upcoming events or topics that you think the site needs to hear about, please PM singlebanana and put "RFG Site News" in the subject line. Who knows, maybe your news will make our front page!
Hey everyone, just wanted to give a heads up that there will be some down time soon. The OS that the server is on is going end of life soon, so we need to upgrade. Unfortunately, in this case, that means that we have to take it down and deploy a new server because of the version that we're moving to.
What does this mean? Well, I don't anticipate this taking an incredibly long time, but the site will be down while this is happening. We'll have the URL redirect to a Wordpress blog that we have set up for situations where there is an extended down time. You can watch for updates there in case something majorly breaks, but you can also hop in the Discord or follow the site on Twitter as well to get additional updates or if you want to hang with the community while this is being worked on.
Sorry in advance for the inconvenience, but hang with us while we get this done and we'll be back soon. So, while you may end up changing inputs temporarily, be sure to change it back to channel 3 when we return.
In Episode 028, MetalFRO and Addicted tackle the first console-exclusive entry in the Darius series! Taito brought the aquatic-themed series home after 2 entries in the arcade, and brought a 2-player experience to the SNES, when most shmups of the time were still single-player experiences. Is this game still worth playing in 2020?
Shortly after I bought my Nintendo Switch, I caught wind of the trend of ultra cheap games on the eShop (shout-out to our very own Russ Lyman for making a video on these which was one of the things that initially got me into them). Since then, I've been adding about ten bucks to my account every few months and checking the eShop weekly to see what games are on sale for under one US dollar. I have many games on my Switch now. Make no mistake, many of them are not very good, but the low risk and potentially high reward have yielded some diamonds in the rough that I have thoroughly enjoyed. Here are a few of them.
As a guy who has stood in long lines more than once for a new console, the impending release of the new gaming hardware generation this time around just had not lit the same fire. A combination of more strained finances, a gaming backlog of comical proportions, and a lack of day-one gotta-have-'em games meant while I would like to eventually own the new hardware, I was fine waiting. But it just so happens, I have a wonderful Beloved (and also several now-spent gift cards and rewards points) and after a sudden opportunity we now have a shiny PlayStation 5. As the title suggests, I'd like to offer my initial impressions.
Parasite Eve has been a favorite of mine since I first got it for Christmas in 1998. Here's a look at how it holds up now... and how much it could use a remaster.
In this month's gritty episode of the Playcast, Rich (singlebanana) and Shawn (GrayGhost81) lock 'n load and run for cover as they discuss the first installment of the classic XBox series, Gears of War. You'll get two perspectives on the game: one from a seasoned veteran of the series, and one from a first-time player. During this month's Concertcast, the guys cover a vast timeline as they come up with their Top 7 albums of the 1970's. Will Rich find another game that improves his opinion about modern, 3rd person shooters? Will Shawn have different feelings about this title after so many years behind him? And how does the original Gears hold up over the years with multiple additions to the series? Tune in and fine 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 more 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!
The successor to the Game Boy and Game Boy Color, the Game Boy Advance, or GBA, could reasonably be described as a portable Super NES. In fact, several games originally released for the Super NES made their way to the GBA as portable re-releases. With several hundred games to choose from, it may be a slight surprise that out of six participants, only 59 different games received a rank.
The participants for this list:
EZ Racer blcklblskt MetalFro Crabmaster2000 Disposed Hero Normatron
But while several games were on multiple lists, there was a lot more variety on exactly where they should fall. This also caused several logjams in the ranks. As you'll see below, there were several spots in which 1 or 2 points made the difference, especially in the mid-teens, where there was only a 4 point gap between 13th and 18th place. That's equivalent to the difference between a single 11th place vote versus a 9th place vote.
It's also apparent that strategy games and metroidvania games were prevalent on the system, as they took up 9 of the 20 spots. And for how many games received multiple votes, only two were on all six lists, not coincidentally falling into the #1 and #2 spots on the final list.
I was given two controllers from a friend to customize. He wanted a Freddy theme and a NES Jason one. I had a blast making these controllers for him. I use some epoxy sculpt and acrylic paint to create the look on both of them.
Here we are! It's already November and that means Secret Santa time is upon us again! Come and join the merriest retroiest fanboyiest Secret Santa on the internet! Rules and signup information can be found below.
The deadline to sign up is Saturday November 14th so ACT NOW!
I've been inspired, over the last few months, to play more video games. I assume my participation in the RF Generation Community Playthrough through the year has been a bit of an indication, at least in part. I would hope my articles through the year have signaled that, as well. One thing I haven't been spectacular at over the years is time management. As a more task-oriented person, I tend to focus on one thing, and then move on to another. But with anything in life, setting goals is important to getting ahead. As many games as I own at this point, I have more than I'll realistically ever really play through. But at least I can make some plans on how to begin evening the odds.
I decided I would take a different spin on my Halloween post this year and resurrect a dormant RF Generation topic that looks at the wonderful world of video game music. As we all know, music can play a vital role in setting the tone and atmosphere of a game, just as with movies and TV shows. And few genres are more enhanced by a quality soundscape than horror.
That said, as I was compiling the list of games below, I started to realize that most horror-themed games have soundtracks that are more orchestral and ambient in nature (Dead Space, Alien: Isolation, and Resident Evil VII are three recent examples that come to mind). Interestingly, a lot of the tracks I consider effectively creepy are from games that aren't particularly focused on being scary. But that doesn't mean they can't have a similar effect. Take a look at my list below, and let me know if there are any scary tracks from games that come to mind for you.
When we think of good games to play during the Halloween season, typically anything with a general horror theme comes to mind as a good fit for the holiday. Truth be told, there aren't many games that are specifically about Halloween, so if you wanted something tailor-made for the holiday, pickings are slim. However, the two Costume Quest games are the exact opposite, not at all scary but focused specifically on Halloween. Having played and enjoyed the first Costume Quest many years ago, I have always wanted to play the sequel and finally made it happen this October.
When it comes to classic survival horror games, there is no other developer with the same pedigree as Capcom. They arguably invented the entire genre with the Famicom movie licensed game Sweet Home back in 1989. In 1995 Capcom would publish Clock Tower for the Super Famicom, with the series being developed by Human Entertainment. Its sequel, Clock Tower 2 would later be released internationally by ASCII; who would soon rebrand themselves as Agetec, as just Clock Tower. The international releases of the second and third Clock Towers followed the absolute explosion of the popularity of horror games, but would not be able to ride that wave themselves.
