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The NES Classic Craze Continues For The Holidays With An Epic Teardown!

The NES Classic looks like it will be this holidays hot item. I wonder if Nintendo purposefully limited stock to create more demand for the product or if it's simply a case of the system being way more popular than they anticipated? Either way if you want to get a system pre-Christmas, right now, it looks like you will have to do a bit or work or pay some crazy ebay scalper prices, which I don't recommend. I was at Target today and they recommend calling in at 8.30am to see if they have any in stock and if they do to come in and pick it up. I don't love that method but I really would love opening this up on Christmas and so i'll be calling for now.

YouTuber... Read All

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 11/14/2016 at 12:03am

My wife, attempted to buy me one on Friday. it was out of stock everywhere she went. But I appriciated the effort! (I had no idea she planned to buy me one :) )

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 11/14/2016 at 01:07am

Yep. I was on Amazon to buy it and it crashed. Crazy amount of demand for this.

Travis Admin wrote on 11/14/2016 at 04:05am

I really didn't expect that! I guess this gives me more time to agonize over whether to spend $60 I don't need to spend :D

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member wrote on 11/15/2016 at 10:11pm

Is target tired of you calling yet?

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 11/16/2016 at 02:43am

Hahaha, I keep forgetting. At that time I am handing off the kid to the wife so I can go to work and I haven't remembered to call in. I'll do it tomorrow and let you know how it goes.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 11/16/2016 at 05:58am

Nintendo plans on increasing supply:
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/xbox-exec-responds-to-nes-classic-shortages-as-nin/1100-6445373/

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 11/30/2016 at 01:27am

You may be able to get one from ThinkGeek, maybe even for free if you win! http://www.gamespot.com/articles/nes-classic-will-be-back-in-stock-soon-at-thinkgee/1100-6445820/

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 11/30/2016 at 05:09am

I imagine ThinkGeek will be out of stock in seconds but if they keep stock longer i'll buy one there for sure.

Not sure i'll enter the contest though, i'm not great at that sort of thing. Winning that is.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 11/30/2016 at 05:38am

> I imagine ThinkGeek will be out of stock in seconds but if they keep stock longer i'll buy one there for sure.

From what I've read, I imagine their stock will be sold out quickly, too.

> Not sure i'll enter the contest though, i'm not great at that sort of thing. Winning that is.

I entered the contest. I don't usually win these things either, but I can remember two times I actually did. I won a copy of the Wings of the Goddess expansion for FFXI from a FF wiki. I also won a Modest Mouse CD from their label.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 11/30/2016 at 02:19pm

I just entered. The contest is using gleam.io, which is a pretty slick contest web app. It's pretty painless to enter, and I hope I win!

Travis Admin wrote on 01/07/2017 at 05:47am

After quickly learning how to install a custom linux distro on this thing: http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2016/11/nes-classic-joins-the-can-it-run-linux-club-has-custom-distro-installed/

People have now hacked it to allow custom roms: http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2017/01/hackers-unlock-nes-classic-upload-new-games-via-usb-cable/

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 01/07/2017 at 08:31pm

Awesome. I wonder what the NES Classic specs are and how much storage it has?

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member wrote on 01/07/2017 at 08:41pm

Jon: http://www.polygon.com/2016/11/11/13597620/nes-classic-edition-teardown

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 01/07/2017 at 09:59pm

Half a gig storage should be enough for a couple more games. I wonder how much storage is take by default?

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Ark: Survival Evolved Coming to PS4 in December, Release Delayed, and Tek Tier!

It looks like Ark is coming to PS4 next month!

http://www.playstationlifestyle.net/2016/11/07/ark-survival-evolved-ps4-submitted-to-sony-aiming-for-december-2016-release/

It also seems that the game won't be released this "holiday season." It was supposed to come out summer 2015, then pushed to "holiday" 2016, now we're looking at the beginning of next year.

http://www.gamenguide.com/articles/65916/20161111/ark-survival-evolved-2016-latest-news-update-tek-tier-update-coming-in-2017-new-items-objects-available-for-limited-period.htm

In other big news, it looks like the Tek Tier is coming soon and it looks sweet! See the video embedded in this post. For more info, check out... Read All

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 11/13/2016 at 05:44am

As someone who's been mostly playing this game since the summer of last year, I'm actually not as disappointed in the release delay as I was the last time. That's because I got a new GPU, which dramatically improved the game's performance and beauty for me. Yes, there are still some bugs, but nothing that I can think of that's extremely major or game breaking. I love this game so much I've already clocked 1,932 hours in it and I want to keep playing!!! I did start out in single player mode at a low difficulty level. Then, I played on an official server for a while. Then, I took a break to play some other games, but I came back to it to play around again in single player mode, but with some mods. Then Scorched Earth came out, so I jumped on that. Since I hadn't played The Center (officially supported map mod), I decided to give that a try, since I could obtain higher level creatures there (and transfer them over to my other saved maps like Scorched Earth), since it's max creature level is 150, instead of the normal 120. Just recently, official servers have made this change and it is coming to single player mode soon, too (as an override for all maps). Lately, I've been playing on the map I created about a year ago. Since Procedurally Generated Maps is a new feature that came out in the last month, I'm thinking about giving that a try, too.

Ark was my favorite game of 2015 and it continues to be my favorite game of this year as well! I'm glad it's on the XBox and coming to the PS4 so other gamers get to play it and see how awesome it is!

One final thing to mention, I did watch a bit of the Extra Life stream where they were playing on a PS4. They were answering questions from players and they said that there will be no more paid DLC coming to the game (at least until it's released). That does not mean that there won't be free DLC coming. The team that was working on Primal Survival (the mode where you play as creatures) took a break to complete the Procedurally Generated Maps feature. Now they're back on the Primal project and working on finishing it up. From what I read and heard, it was supposed to come out this month, so perhaps will see it before the end of the year.

More details are expected to come in the next few weeks or so!

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 12/01/2016 at 01:58am

12/6/16! https://survivetheark.com/index.php?/articles.html/ark-survival-evolved-stomps-onto-the-playstation-4-r354/

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Does Super Mario Land On Gameboy Hold Up?

When the Gameboy came out Super Mario Land was one of the more interesting launch titles. Being able to play a Mario game anywhere you wanted was an incredible prospect and Super Mario Land delivered. Even at the time I thought Super Mario Land was a bit basic but it was fun and I enjoyed playing it. Later Mario games brought more to the table and games like Metroid 2 and Link's Awakening showed that the Gameboy was capable of having an incredible library. GaminTank is a YouTuber I hadn't heard of before I saw this video but its well worth watching.

What 30 Games Would You Put On A Super Nintendo Mini?

Now that the NES Classic has launched and is getting incredible reviews I was wondering what we'd all like to see in a future Super Nintendo Mini launch? Curious what games people would put on it and make sure to limit your list to 30 games. Personally I think the Super Nintendo was one of the best consoles of all time and the game catalog is nothing short of incredible. Nintendo might not be able to license out each game on our lists but i'm curious what all our dream lists would be?

Drop your list in the comments and i'll do the same.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 11/12/2016 at 04:29am

Difficult to say...All Marios, Tetris Attack, Dr Mario (it's on the SNES right?), All Mortal Kombats, Zelda, Super Metroid, maybe Street Fighter...oh and how could I forget the Final Fantasy games and Chrono Trigger...

Travis Admin wrote on 11/12/2016 at 04:55am

Super Mario World 1 and 2 obviously, Mario Kart, Mario All-Stars (kinda cheating), Actraiser (required), Actraiser 2 (optional), Super Metroid, Chrono Trigger, Star Fox, Super Punch Out, Zelda: A Link to the Past, Final Fantasy "2" and "3", NBA Jam, Street Fighter 2 (the kinda ultimate version, whatever it was called), MK1, 2, and UMK 3, Killer Instinct, all 5 of the Mega Man games that aren't soccer games. That's 24.......

Six more copies of Actraiser.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 11/12/2016 at 05:52am

Not really in an order

1. Link to the Past
2. Starfox
3. Romance of the Three Kingdoms 2
4. Super Mario World
5. Donkey Kong Country
6. Final Fantasy IV
7. Final Fantasy VI
8. Super Street Fighter II Turbo
9. Super Metroid
10. Mario Kart
11. Yoshi's Island
12. Mortal Kombat
13. Super Star Wars
14. Secret of Mana
15. Chrono Trigger
16. Earthbound
17. Super Mario RPG
18. Castlevania IV
19. ActRaiser
20. Zombies ate my Neighbors
21. Simcity 2000
22. Harvest Moon

That's all I could think of but I might be missing something.. oh right.

23. NBA Jam (like Travis said)

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 11/12/2016 at 06:00am

Hell yeah, guys! I forgot many of them. I agree with NBA Jam, though I think I played it on the Genesis. I remember it being a fun game.

Travis Admin wrote on 11/12/2016 at 06:10am

Donkey Kong Country! All of those!

scrypt Supporter wrote on 11/12/2016 at 12:15pm

I think that's pretty much everything! Putting together a list makes me realize there weren't a ton of great games on those early systems, as compared to the standing army that is our Steam game lists (apples and oranges, I know, but still...).

Travis Admin wrote on 11/12/2016 at 02:45pm

There were 720ish games released for it here, I'm sure there are some great games in there that we've missed, but yeah it was a different time. It seems like there are 720 games released in a month these days.

Also-- I need to add Earthworm Jim 1 and 2 to my list, and the Lion King which was a surprisingly good game.

Travis Admin wrote on 11/12/2016 at 02:49pm

Oh and they would never do it for obvious reasons but: Super Noah's Ark 3D

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 11/12/2016 at 03:33pm

Noah's ark 3D? I'd buy that for a dollar.

Timogorgon Member wrote on 11/12/2016 at 11:48pm

F-zero! You need to add that to the list.

Timogorgon Member wrote on 11/13/2016 at 03:14am

And Super Bomberman.

Travis Admin wrote on 11/13/2016 at 01:22pm

Oh yeah! F-zero is a keeper. Never played Super Bomberman but I think I remember people liking it.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 11/13/2016 at 02:34pm

I'd add:
UN Squadron
Contra 3: The Alien War
Super Castlevania IV

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 11/13/2016 at 02:36pm

Oh, I see Castlevania IV is already on Jon's list :)

Travis Admin wrote on 11/14/2016 at 04:03am

@Adam is UN Squadron about the United Nations?

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 11/15/2016 at 04:40am

One would think that, but I don't believe it has anything to do with it. I have no idea where the name of the game came from. It's really good though. A tough side scrolling shooter.
https://youtu.be/_B0xfgdPdMQ

Timogorgon Member wrote on 11/15/2016 at 08:10pm

U.N. Squadron! I forgot about that game but yes, it deserves a place on this list. Wikipedia says it was based on a Manga by the same name.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.N._Squadron

Timogorgon Member wrote on 11/15/2016 at 08:13pm

Since this is a fictional list, I'm going to add a game that was never released in the west: Seiken densetsu III, the sequel to Secret of Mana. It's downright criminal this was never released on SNES back-in-the-day. It's a fun game and it also had the co-op multiplayer aspect.

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member wrote on 11/15/2016 at 11:01pm

Super R-Type!

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 11/16/2016 at 02:58am

Looks like the Famicom Mini is just as popular in Japan http://kotaku.com/1788988883

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 11/18/2016 at 03:24pm

All but certain Nintendo will do a SNES mini. Some have said they can do them up to the Nintendo 64 and I think I'd buy them all if they did. Not sure it will ship with 30 games but even if they include half of our list it would be awesome.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 11/18/2016 at 03:51pm

That would be sweet!!! Still it'd be sweeter if we could have more games available for each system.

Travis Admin wrote on 11/18/2016 at 04:07pm

I would get the SNES and N64 mini in half a heartbeat because I don't have nearly as many of those games in my collection.

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member wrote on 11/18/2016 at 04:22pm

The mini snes might be worth it given the high resale value of existing games. It could be a good deal!

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Moonwalker Are You Ok, Are You Ok Moonwalker?

CygnusDestroyer is back trying a case in Innocent Until Proven Guilty court for the Sega classic Micheal Jackson's Moonwalker. As someone that was exclusively Nintendo I was always interested in this game but never owned it. Every time I played it in the Arcade and at a friends house I rather liked it but it was only a level or two and never got the full King of Pop game experience. As with all the IUPG CygnusDestroyer videos I think his verdict is fair and gives this classic a new look.

Blaster Master Zero Set To Launch In 2017

Blaster Master is an NES classic that many have fond memories of. What's not to love in a game where you can not only drive a tank but get out and explore on foot? The gameplay was great and upgrading the tank and your character was fun and as you progressed you felt like a badass. In retrospect my only minor gripe with Blaster Master is the same one I had with many NES games in that there was no save feature on the game cart. Developer Inti Creates and Sunsoft are partnering up to launch the all new Blaster Master Zero that will come out exclusively on the Nintendo 3DS and I hope later the Switch.

"Using the original Blaster Master game as a base, we are setting out... Read All

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member wrote on 11/10/2016 at 05:29pm

Shut up and take my money!

Nicholas_Biondi wrote on 11/11/2016 at 03:52am

Travis Admin wrote on 11/11/2016 at 01:01pm

I legitimately didn't realize that Sunsoft was still around!

I feel great shame that I've never played this game. I guess I should?

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 11/11/2016 at 04:44pm

I never played the game, but I remember reading a Blaster Master book as a child. I don't remember anything, other than it being AWESOME.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 11/11/2016 at 04:56pm

Turns out it was part of a series of novelizations of video games known as Worlds of Power
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worlds_of_Power

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 11/12/2016 at 02:16am

I don't remember those books. But I had this one: http://www.mariowiki.com/Leaping_Lizards

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 11/12/2016 at 02:16am

I think I still might have it in a box somewhere.

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FEZ Soundtrack Is One Of The Best "Centering" Game Scores Around

So it's post election time in the United States and I think we can all agree that it's been a very rough season. Many years ago I started listening to more Classical music during another particularlly charged election year because I was drawn to music that had less of an agenda by not featuring words. Which is why I think I enjoy listening to amazing video game scores. Not only is the music great but it's also a more personal experience beacuse the meaning isn't often as obvious.

FEZ is a very special Indie platformer that I consider to be one of the games that kicked off the Indie revolution. FEZ packs a bunch of charm and has a special kind of magic to it as you make... Read All So it's post election time in the United States and I think we can all agree that it's been a very rough season. Many years ago I started listening to more Classical music during another particularlly charged election year because I was drawn to music that had less of an agenda by not featuring words. Which is why I think I enjoy listening to amazing video game scores. Not only is the music great but it's also a more personal experience beacuse the meaning isn't often as obvious.

FEZ is a very special Indie platformer that I consider to be one of the games that kicked off the Indie revolution. FEZ packs a bunch of charm and has a special kind of magic to it as you make your way collecting Tetrominoes. One big part of the whole experience is the score by Disasterpiece that is a nearly perfect collection of 26 tracks that weave the game together. Initially FEZ launched on the XBox 360 but I first played it after it came to PC. I picked up the score in a later Humble Bundle that had it as part of a download and it's been in constaint rotation on my iPhone and in nearly every playlist of albums i'm listening to. This might seem a bit strange but if I need to center myself or need to focus on something I put on the FEZ score. During my first Hearthstone fireside brawl I played the FEZ score during my matches to help as it contains some really moving pieces like the track Compass that seems more a series of notes meant to have you exist in the moment than draw you to any particular goal. I find that lack of agenda to be one of the best places to play Hearthstone from as its often easier to come to a good series of plays naturally than overthink something.

As we come out of this particularly hard election season I encourage you to find things that can bring you better to a centered place and for me one thing thing that helps is listening to the soundtrack to FEZ. But you know if blasting demons in Doom helps that's fine too. Hit me up in the comments love to hear what people are into.

You can listen to the whole FEZ score in it's entirely on Spotify for free by hitting the link below:

https://play.spotify.com/user/1263129891/playlist/2ERpj9ihXLG43UoBjxeTdM

Watch All The Talks From Steam Developer Days 2016

I was able to attend this years Steam Developer Days and had a great time. One big draw of the conference was the talks and Valve has dropped them all on their YouTube page. I linked to one really great talk above by Mike Ambinder on the Psychology of Games I recommend you watch. There are 25 talks available from this years Dev Days so if you are in need of some awesome game talks and have some time, hit the link below.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLckFgM6dUP2ihiMeKHoyIdHvhRSyqwQsp

If you want to read my thoughts on my two days at Steam Developer Days hit the links below.

... Read All

Mean Streets of Gadgetzan Is The Next Hearthstone Expansion

There was a lot of news out of this years BlizzCon and the bit that was most interesting to me was next Hearthstone expansion Mean Streets of Gagetzan. As with the last expansion Whispers of the Old Gods, Gadgetzan is a 132 card expansion that looks to contain some really fun elements that should mix up the current meta.

"All in the Family: Each class belongs to one of the city's three factions. Your class cards and neutral minions all fall into that faction's theme. The affiliations are:

Grimy Goons: Hunter, Paladin, Warrior
Kabal: Mage, Priest, Warlock
Jade Lotus: Druid, Rogue, Shaman

Faction Specials: Aside from class affiliations, the three factions each have their own... Read All There was a lot of news out of this years BlizzCon and the bit that was most interesting to me was next Hearthstone expansion Mean Streets of Gagetzan. As with the last expansion Whispers of the Old Gods, Gadgetzan is a 132 card expansion that looks to contain some really fun elements that should mix up the current meta.

"All in the Family: Each class belongs to one of the city's three factions. Your class cards and neutral minions all fall into that faction's theme. The affiliations are:

Grimy Goons: Hunter, Paladin, Warrior
Kabal: Mage, Priest, Warlock
Jade Lotus: Druid, Rogue, Shaman

Faction Specials: Aside from class affiliations, the three factions each have their own unique twist.

Multi-Class Cards: Some neutral minions are only available to members of their faction; for example, a Grimestreet Informant (a member of the Grimy Goons) can only be in Hunter, Paladin, or Warrior decks."

I like that this expansion allows you many more uses for the cards in that certain cards can be used by multiple classes. From the cards they've revealed so far the expansion looks to make Priest a much more viable class. Some say Priest is headed for tier 1 status and from the cards they've revealed, that's a solid possibility. So far Blizzard hasn't dropped a release date yet but if they are keeping with the two expansions and an adventure release clip it should be out this month. Currently I have over 6k gold so on Gadgetzan launch I should be able to open over 60 packs! Whereas I won't be able to get every card I will get many of them and opening that many packs is always a lot of fun.

If you are looking to get back in to Hearthstone I recommend you check it out as Blizzard recently added quests that make it much easier to get gold. Many quests are now things like "Play 10 pirates" or "Play 20 battlecry minions" making the game much easier to run through your dailies. You might need to re-roll your quests if you have a full roster of old "Win X Games" quests but if you stepped away because Hearthstone was too hard a grind, it might be more accessible to you now.

Someone on Reddit is updating the link below with all the new Gadgetzan cards so head over there if you are curious what will be coming in the expansion.

https://www.reddit.com/r/hearthstone/comments/5b5mlg/the_mean_prerelease_reveal_chart_all_currently/

Super Mario Bros. New(ish) World Record! 4:56.878

I normally keep up with these but I missed this one. Jon's post about the new Ocarina world record made me jump down this rabbit hole, and I discovered that, about a month ago, darbian broke the world record for the fastest Super Mario Bros. run at just under 4:56:878. He's the first human to get into the 4:56 range.

The fastest human-capable time is thought to be 4:55.96, if you're able to pull off every trick at the right spot. The fastest tool-assisted speedrun is currently 4:54.03, if you use the same timing methods as the human runs (TAS runs start the clock when the game powers on). Tool-assisted speedruns can make use of glitches that require pixel-perfect... Read All