David Kudrev
(Edited by Jen Shadski)
Renowned company id Software is known by fans especially for First Person Shooters that are similar in play to Wolfenstein 3D. The company is continuing to release FPS games, such as the upcoming Doom reboot, even without the original founders of the company.
So, where are the original founders now? Well, John Carmack is now CTO of Oculus VR, Tom Hall is Principal Desgner of PlayFirst, Adrian Carmack currently runs a resort in Ireland, and John Romero has lately re-created Dangerous Dave for mobile, released a brand new level for Doom and of course recently kickstarted a campaign for a new FPS with Adrian.
Blackroom is the title of the new FPS, and is promised to be a huge tribute to classic and fast paced PC shooters from the late 90s like Quake 3 Arena, but with a modern twist (naturally). The game is based on the premise that you play as Dr. Sonora, the chief engineer at HOXAR, a company that specialises in creating virtual environments. Of course the environments have gone pear-shaped and Sonora is set to fix all that up.
The game is expected to have a fast-paced multiplayer experience along with its 10 hour single player campaign, and to be heavily customisable for the modding community to go nuts with. Should the campaign succeed, the game will be released in late 2018 for both Windows and OSX. Head to the Blackroom Kickstarter page for more information.
If you’ve played any of the Mario Party games, you’ll know they’re a lot of fun and can ruin friendships. The entire game is set on a game board, with each player rolling a die and moving on the board in the same manner as a traditional board game, and incorporates mini games where every player is involved, and the winner is showered with rewards.
Now, what if you were able to modify a Mario Party game on N64? Well, a ROM hack suite is in development in which you can do so. Party Planner 64 (as it is currently called) allows the player to make various customisations to the game, including replacing artwork, creating custom events, and changing in-game text.
https://twitter.com/PartyPlanner64/status/725155342699601921
Unfortunately at the time of writing this, all the videos that have been posted on the web about this have gone private. Nevertheless this sounds like a treat for any fans of Mario Party on the Nintendo 64, so hopefully more will come of this in the near future.
Source: MarioPartyLegacy
The company analogue.co made and sold out of the Analogue Nt which was a heavily customised NES and Famiclone designed to work perfectly on modern TV sets. The company even set out to make a (very limited) 24k Gold edition model of the Nt – unfortunately both the regular and 24k Gold editions are now completely sold out.
However, Analogue have recently released a new gadget for existing NES Consoles. The 8Bitdo x Analogue Retro Receiver is a Bluetooth receiver for your NES which allows you to connect with not only any 8Bitdo Bluetooth controller, but also with Sony and Nintendo controllers like the Wii U Pro Controller or the PS4 Dual Shock 4 controller.
The Retro Receiver dongle works on any NES console with the same ports and is charged via USB cable which is included with the dongle. Available now exclusively on Play-Asia for US $19.99 .
Finally, this week’s Retrospektive will definitely be of interest to anyone who has purchased the Mega Drive Classics off Steam. The SEGA Mega Drive Classics Hub is a brand new frontend for Windows that lets you play a variety of Mega Drive games that are available on Steam.
SEGA has ensured that the experience of playing these Mega Drive games will be as accurate as any that you have previously played (or currently play) on the original console, along with the usual enhancements you’ll find with emulators like various graphic filters including a CRT TV mode, local multiplay and save/load points.
The Mega Drive Classics Hub will be available from the 28th April as a free download. The frontend supports the following games which are available in packs on Steam:
Golden Axe™
Altered Beast™
Comix Zone™
Ecco the Dolphin™
Gain Ground™
Shinobi™ III: Return of the Ninja Master
Vectorman™
Crack Down™
Shadow Dancer™
Space Harrier™ II
Ecco™ Jr.
Alex Kidd™ in the Enchanted Castle
Bonanza Bros.™
Super Thunder Blade™
Kid Chameleon™
Ristar™
Galaxy Force II™
Columns™
Eternal Champions™
Fatal Labyrinth™
Bio-Hazard Battle™
Columns™ III
Sword of Vermilion™
Virtua Fighter™ 2
Ecco™: The Tides of Time
Alien Storm
Decap Attack™
Flicky™
ESWAT™: City Under Siege
Golden Axe™ II
Landstalker: The Treasures of King Nole
Shining Force
Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair
Streets of Rage 2
Alien Soldier
Light Crusader
Gunstar Heroes
Streets of Rage
Shining Force II
Shining in the Darkness
Beyond Oasis
Dynamite Headdy
Golden Axe III
Phantasy Star II
Phantasy Star III: Generations of Doom
Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millennium
Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine
Sonic the Hedgehog
Sonic the Hedgehog 2
Sonic 3 and Knuckles
Sonic 3D Blast
Sonic Spinball
Toejam and Earl
Toejam and Earl in Panic on Funkotron
Streets of Rage 3
Revenge of the Shinobi
Vectorman 2
Wonder Boy in Monster World
Source: SEGA