tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38120645007057948072024-03-05T20:13:02.751-08:00Blue Wizard Needs Food BadlyGame Reviews and MoreWakaLakahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06479365070637060510noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3812064500705794807.post-31188954336800836222016-03-22T13:00:00.000-07:002016-03-22T13:00:01.387-07:00Analysis: Why I Hate Assault in Halo 5Assault creates boring, drawn-out games where even the smallest mistake
by either side heavily swings the match in the others favor. This is
not an interesting game dynamic and at the very least assault needs to
be tweaked or, in my opinion, removed entirely from Team Arena. This is just my anecdotal opinion based on my games so far so lets grab some data from 343i's API to see if this really is the case.<br />
<br />
I gathered a random sample of 1236 CTF and Assault games (472 assault, 764 ctf) and analyzed their duration and victory conditions.<br />
<br />
<b><u>Game Duration:</u></b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMr0-awJidrEeMvpkUFdV5TLzo8_kRm1dGZ_V984UztgtCTPT9H0Prtwb-B3UgBNAgCyPcwlqrtZcTOnFZ0ZAa9dynoAuSiuC67ODASIxGhz_XSkcAQjBbBPoU8-mKbnV0ErhsUD7seP4e/s1600/ctf_assault_game_length.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMr0-awJidrEeMvpkUFdV5TLzo8_kRm1dGZ_V984UztgtCTPT9H0Prtwb-B3UgBNAgCyPcwlqrtZcTOnFZ0ZAa9dynoAuSiuC67ODASIxGhz_XSkcAQjBbBPoU8-mKbnV0ErhsUD7seP4e/s320/ctf_assault_game_length.png" width="320" /></a></div>
At 12 minutes the standard game time runs out. If at 12 minutes one team has more points than the other then the game ends and the team with more points is the victor. If there is a tie when the timer runs then overtime begins and the same check is done at the end of overtime. From the chart above it's quite clear that Assault games are much more likely than CTF to either end due to the timer running out or in overtime. This is indicative of low-scoring games where neither team is able to reach the required 3 points to win.<br />
<br />
<u><b>Victory Conditions:</b></u><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPMomX5jn1KpcazO8wQDeDyr2eoAPXc754EK5bEU-zVAVbz3M0xjlF98Mrv7XhWi94_dW1YlG7WQkDMawOU_zf-MbGFeZw5BSGlW64QpwStk_RaY9gafVfg6wkK-VV5FJz-k6yd54J9xLR/s1600/ctf_assault_victory_types.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPMomX5jn1KpcazO8wQDeDyr2eoAPXc754EK5bEU-zVAVbz3M0xjlF98Mrv7XhWi94_dW1YlG7WQkDMawOU_zf-MbGFeZw5BSGlW64QpwStk_RaY9gafVfg6wkK-VV5FJz-k6yd54J9xLR/s320/ctf_assault_victory_types.png" width="320" /></a></div>
The red group in this chart indicates the percentage of games that ended due to a 3-cap (a team managing to score 3 points) before the initial timer runs out. The blue region shows the percentage of games that ended from a time-out (one team being ahead at 12 minutes) or a victory in overtime (one team being ahead after overtime or reaching 3 points in overtime). So nearly 25% more Assault games than CTF games end from the timer or in overtime.<br />
<br />
I don't have a problem intrinsically with the fact that Assault often produces long games, if the objective was an interesting one. The singular objective in Assault of 1 ball and 1 cap location produces games where decision making means less than in other game types. Since there is no question about what you should be doing at any one time it takes away decisions from the player.<br />
<br />
My other main issue is the variability. Under normal gameplay it's very difficult to cap the ball in Assault, as I have shown here with their abnormally long games. However, a single lucky kill (or unlucky death) can easily swing the game in the your favor (or your opponent favor). It's a mechanic that isn't satisfying because it feels like you're playing for that lucky kill instead of making smart decisions throughout the match.<br />
<br />
What's your opinion on Assault?<br />
<br />WakaLakahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06479365070637060510noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3812064500705794807.post-78124706923673885022016-02-13T10:45:00.001-08:002016-02-14T01:55:30.502-08:00Analysis: Halo 5 February RanksInspired by a post on the Halo subreddit showing player rankings in
different multiplayer playlists in Halo 5 I decided to do something
similar. I used the <a href="https://github.com/cluoma/h5api">Halo 5 API R package</a> I wrote a few months ago got to work collecting as much data as I could from users.<br />
<br />
The
public API has several limiting factors. First is that there's no easy
way to simply get a large list of users currently playing Halo.
Microsoft doesn't make public player activity numbers public so having
easy access to this would probably be against their intention. To get
around this I looked at my recent game history, and took all the names
of the players of my opponents. Then looked at all their recent game
histories. Quickly I was able to get a list of a little over 17,000
unique names that played at least some form of matchmaking.<br />
<br />
The
second limiting factor is that Microsoft only allows 1 request per
second. This isn't really a huge hurdle as I just left it running
overnight to gather the data. It would be nicer if there was a faster
option though.<br />
<br />
Anyways here are some results from the
Team Arena, Slayer, and SWAT playlists. Keep in mind that when this data
was gathered it had only been about 10 days since the February season
went live. I'll try to do something like this again at the end of the
month to see if there are any major changes.<br />
<br />
<b>Team Arena:</b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzWlRix56mYh2NWqNojn8XPO9MiCfNEa7b0EHNE8jkgMXU-ihLe9Q8xN4TFYe94GAvGhXD43xHSY-4PtNvPrM9IhQZRrYt0qdd5veUHBBcX7W4gIcchL11Mw6gL38Mln0BjO8GJkpDsxk/s1600/Team+Arena_ranks.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzWlRix56mYh2NWqNojn8XPO9MiCfNEa7b0EHNE8jkgMXU-ihLe9Q8xN4TFYe94GAvGhXD43xHSY-4PtNvPrM9IhQZRrYt0qdd5veUHBBcX7W4gIcchL11Mw6gL38Mln0BjO8GJkpDsxk/s320/Team+Arena_ranks.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjexrBiwAL58AHGWaOoGEEBXLCoh0H_lnBpeBqKPJ1mbpAsPDI3Q4nSqbNY3IeZpbLwZKf2tYpqAfQ1SmR_IdLbMbvdTvEPo0v43WKDYhO7HkXVw15xM6B3b9oGMm2FrRzzMjxJY4Ua9Qo/s1600/Team+Arena_winrate.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjexrBiwAL58AHGWaOoGEEBXLCoh0H_lnBpeBqKPJ1mbpAsPDI3Q4nSqbNY3IeZpbLwZKf2tYpqAfQ1SmR_IdLbMbvdTvEPo0v43WKDYhO7HkXVw15xM6B3b9oGMm2FrRzzMjxJY4Ua9Qo/s320/Team+Arena_winrate.png" width="320" /></a></div>
From
what I've heard of 343i's Halo ranking system a near normal curve like
this is to be expected. With gold and platinum ranks containing the
majority of players. There are some spikes at tier 1 of each rank. This
is due to the fact that in Halo 5 you cannot rank down out of a division
until the next season. So if players are improperly placed into diamond
or go on a hot streak and make it into diamond, they'll just end up
sitting at diamond 1 most of the season. With how quick the seasons in
Halo are (historically slightly over a month for pre-season and January)
I don't think this is that bad of an issue, as it does relieve a little
bit of 'ladder anxiety' from the matchmaking knowing that you won't
rank out of a division if you go on a losing streak.<br />
<br />
Another
interesting thing is the large percentage of players currently in onyx.
I think this is likely due to my small-ish sample size of just over
7000 players for Team Arena, and because it's still early in the season.
As the season goes on the more casual players will finish their
placement matches and the relative amount of onyx players will probably
decrease.<br />
<br />
I've also included a boxplot showing win
rates of players in the different ranks. Nothing really surprising; as
players rank increases so does their win rate. Though from my
understanding the matchmaking system should try and give players a close
to 50% win rate, so again, perhaps this will even out as the season
progresses.<br />
<br />
<b>Slayer:</b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-WFRg0WWwxSkwlyl7oBUtDkIhcpyPZItUtaKNGCrSFTjRpR851u0lhZ1HDDDcumWPMJSG6W-HuSyfq6z1F9BIBON2aTy-4rSTH0P_bbx9w3SBTt5IMDZIktcfSJceWp8EyrTU1inAbLQ/s1600/Slayer_ranks.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-WFRg0WWwxSkwlyl7oBUtDkIhcpyPZItUtaKNGCrSFTjRpR851u0lhZ1HDDDcumWPMJSG6W-HuSyfq6z1F9BIBON2aTy-4rSTH0P_bbx9w3SBTt5IMDZIktcfSJceWp8EyrTU1inAbLQ/s320/Slayer_ranks.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4xszztLYyjpe1fMTTPl6pgVN6YknnQ_LZrtsil7lVkR4gGbogs1xz8kwCYSFLqlWYKx5pioxSGBTtnsuap7VWyPt0SXefS08Mnk_hdzonFApYYLRPcdKiC2PX9ZhS6NyyWTdWdFFM6GM/s1600/Slayer_winrate.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4xszztLYyjpe1fMTTPl6pgVN6YknnQ_LZrtsil7lVkR4gGbogs1xz8kwCYSFLqlWYKx5pioxSGBTtnsuap7VWyPt0SXefS08Mnk_hdzonFApYYLRPcdKiC2PX9ZhS6NyyWTdWdFFM6GM/s320/Slayer_winrate.png" width="320" /></a></div>
Nothing
too different in the slayer playlist other than it seems skewed towards
higher ranks. I'm actually a little lost as to why this is. My best
guess is that players who play Slayer might be more competitive than
those that play Team Arena and combined with it being early in the
season it's likely to produce these results. But again, I don't really
know for sure. Maybe you have some suggestions?<br />
<br />
<b>SWAT:</b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9B4gAvWVkT563f47m9PQBJGn-41uo0HcqjS-kxyvpvaI3N2XFlLy55BrpqlWgfua6Iijo3xzjEhnpdW2rPJBmQbg2U316nM6LqexnlXfXEbnHcO_kGtaZZYeEl_106-vUxMpCDNKpqR8/s1600/SWAT_ranks.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9B4gAvWVkT563f47m9PQBJGn-41uo0HcqjS-kxyvpvaI3N2XFlLy55BrpqlWgfua6Iijo3xzjEhnpdW2rPJBmQbg2U316nM6LqexnlXfXEbnHcO_kGtaZZYeEl_106-vUxMpCDNKpqR8/s320/SWAT_ranks.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE7whNkeIrVklL8PoBmHAHmO-xi5gMNqrfVNl_Bcidci7VQ1E7FDFlLpfAQ97t0lwCOKrfRecMd32pyM_llnILzgVLCs-_oW2ahKSYZO5W3KywGx-n84e-3MZItPY7nQBkIayRcxO7dME/s1600/SWAT_winrate.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE7whNkeIrVklL8PoBmHAHmO-xi5gMNqrfVNl_Bcidci7VQ1E7FDFlLpfAQ97t0lwCOKrfRecMd32pyM_llnILzgVLCs-_oW2ahKSYZO5W3KywGx-n84e-3MZItPY7nQBkIayRcxO7dME/s320/SWAT_winrate.png" width="320" /></a></div>
Compared
with the other two playlist there is hardly anybody in SWAT above
platinum. From what I've heard 343i have done some tuning for ranks in
SWAT which is probably why it looks so different than the others.<br />
<br />
Well
I hope you enjoyed these. Comments and suggestions on what other kinds
of data from Halo 5 might be interesting are definitely welcome. What I
really want to do is make some heatmaps (still) but 343i seems like they
do not want to make the necessary data to do this available. Maybe
soon... hopefully.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />WakaLakahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06479365070637060510noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3812064500705794807.post-37812559494955250112015-11-08T13:27:00.001-08:002015-11-15T10:07:49.450-08:00Tool: Halo 5 API Profile Viewer<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiitjydqo9V473jgv3Xx8VWC2zzErwoYUV9JHShkCM51rVg8sxwZ2Jw0JslSh1R38lz97i1YQ8VO0_fGE1SuHPoUd3huK8FoiMtLrQNnXZKFsQhyv-QhZ9wqDLWn9whZE7MW0ZKs_R4y_sG/s1600/halo5viewer.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="165" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiitjydqo9V473jgv3Xx8VWC2zzErwoYUV9JHShkCM51rVg8sxwZ2Jw0JslSh1R38lz97i1YQ8VO0_fGE1SuHPoUd3huK8FoiMtLrQNnXZKFsQhyv-QhZ9wqDLWn9whZE7MW0ZKs_R4y_sG/s320/halo5viewer.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Instead of playing Halo, I've been having fun with 343's public Halo 5
API. There's a remarkable amount of information that you are able to
pull from them; I'm quite surprised.<br />
<br />
This is my first time doing anything like this so, since I'm already
familiar with it, I used R and Shiny to throw together a little
dashboard to let you view basic arena statistics. I might add more
functionality but probably nothing serious unless it gets crazy popular
for some reason. More importantly, to go along with the Shiny app, I'm
working on a nice R package to allow others easy access to 343's
generous amount of game data. Hopefully I'll be able to finish it up
with a couple weeks and get it uploaded to CRAN or github at the very
least.<br />
<br />
I was really hoping I could do a heatmap of where most deaths occur in
each level. Kind of like was Bungie did for Halo 2. Unfortunately I
didn't see any of that data available through the API but maybe in the
future.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://haloviewer.bluewizard.ca/">Check out the Shiny app here</a> and code to come!<br />
<br />
R package to access the API is now up on my <a href="http://github.com/cluoma/h5api">github!</a> WakaLakahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06479365070637060510noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3812064500705794807.post-3120225621275864962013-10-11T14:04:00.003-07:002013-10-11T14:05:27.012-07:00Tool: Dreamcast Collection Spreadsheet<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEAcJlphz3gxsSjqpEG4azOv531cBCsmL0f1kUU4XN9l0bKRl6r0NTRpIKg_djDmRQVsX-jLJfutxG5u2BSXYSXLdOh53T3plveUL4m0f2Nc9uRkH4WruW1Qrh5nRSrg3A7YwjsLjd56Sz/s1600/spreadsheet.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="124" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEAcJlphz3gxsSjqpEG4azOv531cBCsmL0f1kUU4XN9l0bKRl6r0NTRpIKg_djDmRQVsX-jLJfutxG5u2BSXYSXLdOh53T3plveUL4m0f2Nc9uRkH4WruW1Qrh5nRSrg3A7YwjsLjd56Sz/s320/spreadsheet.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
This is a simple spreadsheet to keep track of your collection of Dreamcast games. It contain a list of every North American release, independent release, and a few European releases that never made it to North America. You can set whether you own each game or not, leave a note regarding its quality, and it will automatically count them to let you know how many games you have in your collection and how many you are missing. There is even a second spreadsheet to keep track of official hardware that you own, in case you are trying to collect all the hardware as well.<br />
<br />
Enjoy! <br />
<br />
Download:<br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/?2oef1ddftvc5djj">Excel Version</a><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/?ib8cujht3281ugl">OpenOffice Version</a><br />
<br />
PS. Apologies for the site being all but dead for so long. I have been <i>very</i> busy with my studies. I'm concluding something that has been eating the majority of my time. So there will hopefully be more posts in the near future.WakaLakahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06479365070637060510noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3812064500705794807.post-47042229093584391352013-05-29T04:01:00.000-07:002013-05-29T04:01:56.564-07:00Review: Hanzo VGA Box and Scanliner<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdimkjL1mU-sTtTPwrRXrDjszp_Ihu-fJNc0PB-qpmlQyVye86L7PWzjxOv3Re-QWSatL5qPur-Xm6iyZ-NmxeWwuWyjX9bbC3sgonF04vm13SnPpv0_XAdeLtqOmYT3puLflQeTBaGQT9/s1600/hanzo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="172" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdimkjL1mU-sTtTPwrRXrDjszp_Ihu-fJNc0PB-qpmlQyVye86L7PWzjxOv3Re-QWSatL5qPur-Xm6iyZ-NmxeWwuWyjX9bbC3sgonF04vm13SnPpv0_XAdeLtqOmYT3puLflQeTBaGQT9/s320/hanzo.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
The Hanzo is a VGA box with a built-in scanliner made for the Dreamcast. A device that greatly increases the picture quality from the system and something that every Dreamcast enthusiast should own. Seeing games like Skies of Arcadia, Phantasy Star Online, and even the recently-released Sturmwind in 480p truly is the way Dreamcast games were meant to be played.<br />
<br />
For those not in-the-know know, the Dreamcast was capable of outputting a 480p VGA signal straight from the console without any modification. It did, however, require a separate device that plugged into the standard A/V port to allow this. At the time it was basically used to play the Dreamcast on a computer monitor, projector, or high-end CRT television. Fast-forward to today where everybody has high definition TVs with VGA support, it's no wonder the price of VGA boxes has skyrocketed in the past couple years.<br />
<br />
The Hanzo does not fail at its promise and the picture looks amazingly clear, crisp, and colourful when compared to the standard Dreamcast A/V cables. The difference is almost unbelievable on a modern flat panel LCD. Yet another reason the Dreamcast was ahead of its time.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBqYT1CUOYoKTr99XejaL3Sxoqoq04du-pP1qZynL_xPpnEuZksK_xJaYNxSD4sdQU87CvRVdqh9mSawHu8XdjlumJkw4h1eUUJvvJqBULlgUbxv38ESKiLp8FbAApCuVlF-jhy3gYNhUq/s1600/vga_compare.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="119" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBqYT1CUOYoKTr99XejaL3Sxoqoq04du-pP1qZynL_xPpnEuZksK_xJaYNxSD4sdQU87CvRVdqh9mSawHu8XdjlumJkw4h1eUUJvvJqBULlgUbxv38ESKiLp8FbAApCuVlF-jhy3gYNhUq/s320/vga_compare.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Screenshot compare of standard A/V (left) and Hanzo (right)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
A large complaint that some people have with the VGA signal on LCDs is that 2D sprite-based games or games made in lower resolutions don't look authentic on modern TVs. Those types of games were usually made for arcades where CRTs were the norm and they had a very distinct look to them because of the presence of scanlines. Scanlines are basically gaps, or blank horizontal lines, produced on a CRT because of a combination of low native game resolution and interlacing on the monitor. The Hanzo attempts to remedy this complaint by allowing you to introduce visible scanlines to the picture, recreating the look of classic arcade games.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK8O3AWkPn_0iGkvvnRoC1WJ9d8peuCvssNYEztC2A1rmm2oxGte1CAgcvtPIUUvv9jDYcAC9EFEFYC8X19VQvy8TxVxKhXPoPKGaXPnq4Oi5Y-1Q69LqC9DShhnsiwxSKd8uPoZOy0ZSh/s1600/scanline_compare.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="116" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK8O3AWkPn_0iGkvvnRoC1WJ9d8peuCvssNYEztC2A1rmm2oxGte1CAgcvtPIUUvv9jDYcAC9EFEFYC8X19VQvy8TxVxKhXPoPKGaXPnq4Oi5Y-1Q69LqC9DShhnsiwxSKd8uPoZOy0ZSh/s320/scanline_compare.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Screenshot compare of no scanline (left) and scanline (right)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I'm not a big fan of artificial scanlines; I prefer the bright, crisp look of the native picture but for those of you who absolutely love scanlines, the Hanzo does a great job. It even gives you the option of putting the scanlines on the odd lines or the even lines depending on your preference and the ability to change the size of the scanlines which I'm told looks better when the picture is upscaled.<br />
<br />
The Hanzo itself feels to be of high build quality. All the plugs and switches seem to shield the sides enough so that I don't feel it's a big deal that the box is not fully enclosed. The plexiglass on the top and bottom looks pretty slick too with the logo laser-etched into it. From what I understand, beharius (creator of the Hanzo) hand builds these. It's nice to know someone actually spent the time to produce a quality product instead of mass-producing cheap crap.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc4FHzkA4ned4Anmtdi-9yKpK-XTnUc-61QkSrULF4cYBhRTShwPyqsohnUI0hyURwCnP4oiS3Mf2PFfiKlUtWNw_TDex5tCp0YI5K_fDnq6hBEpyd20Q3wL87Ih3kCTp_BIg0-FX80L5l/s1600/hanzo_close.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc4FHzkA4ned4Anmtdi-9yKpK-XTnUc-61QkSrULF4cYBhRTShwPyqsohnUI0hyURwCnP4oiS3Mf2PFfiKlUtWNw_TDex5tCp0YI5K_fDnq6hBEpyd20Q3wL87Ih3kCTp_BIg0-FX80L5l/s320/hanzo_close.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
This all sounds amazing right? Well there are some caveats to using a VGA box on the Dreamcast. Mainly that not all games are compatible. Some early games were shipped with a flag on the disc that prevented them from booting into VGA. The Hanzo lets you get around this by setting one of the switches to 15KHz(480i) mode to bypass the check, then switching back to 31KHz(480p) to enjoy your game. Other games are completely incompatible with VGA.<br />
For a complete compatibility list click <a href="http://www.epforums.org/showthread.php?56169-Dreamcast-VGA-Compatability-list-amp-Guide">here.</a><br />
<br />
The slight compatibility issues aside (most of the incompatible games are crap anyways) I am enjoying playing my Dreamcast on my HDTV in beautiful 480p. Especially Sturmwind which I just received last week and am currently working on a review for. So stay tuned!<br />
<br />
A big shout out to beharius for creating such a wondering product at a decent price. I believe he is working on an official website for the Hanzo so I will link to that as soon as it's up.<br />
<br />
Thanks for reading.WakaLakahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06479365070637060510noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3812064500705794807.post-87781673459594505992013-03-11T21:13:00.001-07:002013-03-15T00:35:39.079-07:00Article: Camerica - A Brief History<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQcmVUFmc6id2WLA3gkRN7_MpBfbLdaCzhZ_W6Z6maDSi28HLdKoPw60Jo3RyJvG272qtODPH9h0NI7b4WdTD3P94IJbnU8QhdYOVRViqy9OnO-UETLeFaLZFDNBpasGLtPGNkT-lr9WzJ/s1600/camerica.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQcmVUFmc6id2WLA3gkRN7_MpBfbLdaCzhZ_W6Z6maDSi28HLdKoPw60Jo3RyJvG272qtODPH9h0NI7b4WdTD3P94IJbnU8QhdYOVRViqy9OnO-UETLeFaLZFDNBpasGLtPGNkT-lr9WzJ/s320/camerica.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
While shopping at a flea market not too
long ago with a friend we came across a vendor selling a strange
looking NES cartridge (the one in the picture above). Neither of us
had ever seen something that looked like it. The vendor thought it
was worth a lot of money so we decided to look into it. As it turns
out the cartridge was nothing more than a sample Camerica game: The
Ultimate Stuntman. One of only a handful of unlicensed games
published by Camerica.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Back in the late '80s, during the time
of the NES, Nintendo had a pretty onerous publishing license. They
restricted publishers to only 5 titles per year and they had to be
NES exclusive for two years. On top of that it could sometimes be
quite difficult for companies to actually get a hold of the
cartridges for their games because Nintendo had to produce them all.
Some publishers took this as a sign to start releasing unlicensed
games whereby they could produce they're own cartridges and release
them without permission from Nintendo. Camerica, of course, was one
of these publishers.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Built into every NES was a so-called
'lockout chip' preventing games from being played unless a
corresponding chip was present in the cartridge. To get around this
Camerica would send small voltage spikes to the lockout chip,
freezing the chip and allowing their games to be played on an
unmodified NES. Nintendo, not happy about this, sued Camerica
several times but lost in each case and was eventually ordered to pay
Camerica for damages.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Camerica released 15 NES games in total
mostly developed by Codemasters. All of them used Camerica's unique
catridge shape and were painted a shiny gold or silver colour not
unlike the the original Zelda and Zelda II carts. On the backside of
each game was a small switch that allowed the user to play the game
on an NTSC or PAL NES, essentially making them region-free.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
During Camerica's brief run they also
produced an arcade style joystick for the NES with a very strange
triangular shape as well as a wireless controller. Their most
popular device though, was the Codemasters-developed Game Genie which
they were able to release in Canada due to their close relationship
with Codemasters. In America though, the Game Genie was sold by the
Galoob toy company.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Near the end of 1992 Camerica released
their final product: the Aladdin Deck Enhancer. It was basically a
cartridge cradle that housed game RAM and the lockout bypass
circuitry. Smaller cartridges would be placed into the cradle and
the whole thing would be placed into the NES. Camerica hoped that by
not having RAM and the bypass circuitry in every cartridge they would
be able to produce cheaper games. However by the time of its release
the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis were already out so it never sold
very well. Eventually leading to the closure of Camerica.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Unfortunately for Camerica they were
one of the many companies that never made it out of the NES era. But
it's always interesting to learn something new about early gaming.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Thanks for reading.</div>
WakaLakahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06479365070637060510noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3812064500705794807.post-47634879575495035672013-03-04T21:07:00.000-08:002013-03-15T00:36:20.593-07:00Review: Street Fighter X Tekken Fightstick Pro<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRglZ9Rn_pBSVRKmA-O5bmNPJv6V1OKMvxr6Z4NU4gctY63DONdFcLum-qY6gyISKkcRg9h9KDQu6qKMt5lb0Htt4BXBvmW7OQ6ya72JyXdIiPoQyCP1UmzZ5-4WIIqUuDpGpAZ4M-YCSM/s1600/IMG_0354.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRglZ9Rn_pBSVRKmA-O5bmNPJv6V1OKMvxr6Z4NU4gctY63DONdFcLum-qY6gyISKkcRg9h9KDQu6qKMt5lb0Htt4BXBvmW7OQ6ya72JyXdIiPoQyCP1UmzZ5-4WIIqUuDpGpAZ4M-YCSM/s320/IMG_0354.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
In this review I'll be looking at the
Street Fight X Tekken Fightstick Pro (Xbox 360 version) arcade
controller from Matcatz. I should say upfront that I'm not much of a
fighting game fan nor am I particularly good at them. However, I am
told that Madcatz arcade controllers are the gold standard for
fighting games. Most of my playtesting was done playing SHMUPs.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
This controller has several nice
features that really add value. If you look at the top right of the
controller, next to the Xbox button, you'll see 2 toggle switches.
One of them locks or unlocks the turbo feature while the other lets
you choose whether you want the joystick to act as the left or right
analog or the dpad of the standard 360 controller. Which is handy if
you're playing a game that only supports the analog stick for
movement. Looking again at the top of the controller you will see
the turbo button and 8 LEDs which correspond to the 8 face buttons,
letting you know which buttons currently have turbo enabled. There
is a fast and a slow turbo mode that you can individually apply to
any of the face buttons.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
Madcatz has used arcade quality Sanwa
buttons on this controller so there's no need to worry about wearing
things out within a year. These parts were originally designed for
arcade cabinets after all. I'm not a fan of these buttons though.
They feel spongy, like you're pushing them down until they stop.
There's no breakaway like there is on say a standard 360 controller
face button. That's personal preference I'm sure but even after
using it for many, many hours it still feels strange.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The joystick on this controller is
also a Sanwa so again, there is no need to worry about wearing it out
too quickly. It is amazing and an absolute joy to use. The tension
on it is perfect for my liking and I simply love the way it clicks
from the switches inside. That is not to say it is perfect for
shooting games right out of the box. Since this controller is
marketed as a fightstick, Madcatz has put a square gate on the
joystick. A square gate restricts the joystick movement as if it was
inside of a square (instead of a circle like a standard analog stick)
with the 4 corners at the diagonal positions. This is great for
fighting games because it makes diagonal movement a lot easier but is
quite annoying in shooting games. If you are so inclined it is
possible to replace the square gate with an octagonal gate which I
will probably end up doing sooner or later.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
If you're wondering where the start
and back buttons are they are placed on the backside of the
controller. A nice way to make sure you never accidentally press
them. Also hiding in the back is a small compartment that holds the
cable. Being able to completely put away the cable is great because
it's pretty long and would be a pain to deal with otherwise. The art on the
top of the controller looks pretty cool as well, displaying several
Street Fighter and Tekken characters.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
So if you're a fighting game fan the
Fightstick Pro is a great choice and has everything you would want in
an arcade controller. But if you're a shooting game fan like me, or
want something to play arcade games with you might want to find a
controller without a square gate to save you the hassle of replacing
it yourself.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Thanks for reading.</div>
WakaLakahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06479365070637060510noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3812064500705794807.post-44488005358033132222013-02-27T23:15:00.000-08:002013-03-15T00:36:29.729-07:00Game: Snake DC<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKNh8zhQnKhzkeykgw2f0jjfXY012RuR4oZ_q3n3w894wd3SmGTAfJ9Ad5QYCuxMSyjux8r2IoUan4MPRA8GX-Snw7Mbl9aelrnJZiwi15ZbwlI7HUO75BZFf7JPI3x6iOPWRtQWcfhel9/s1600/ss1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKNh8zhQnKhzkeykgw2f0jjfXY012RuR4oZ_q3n3w894wd3SmGTAfJ9Ad5QYCuxMSyjux8r2IoUan4MPRA8GX-Snw7Mbl9aelrnJZiwi15ZbwlI7HUO75BZFf7JPI3x6iOPWRtQWcfhel9/s1600/ss1.png" /></a></div>
<br />
I've recently tried my hand at Dreamcast development and have had some moderate success. I ported my <i>very</i> simple snake game that I originally wrote for the GPH Caanoo. It's not very difficult because I was trying for more of a zen-type deal.<br />
<br />
So if you have a Dreamcast and enjoy snake please give it try.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?cda4486cuu12arg">Download here.</a>WakaLakahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06479365070637060510noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3812064500705794807.post-54706563318474266742013-01-16T21:33:00.001-08:002013-03-15T00:37:02.913-07:00Review: Magical Drop V<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHTrqi5htbHCrXAY5UAcvpJBjhkedMzs_j3Z3C3K3bq-k9yXtmd91vetkHXyR9qb3j4sebpxZWzF10ydCXkX-UxDKB_iTHN2qkvkuc_wVOFk9WDkih_a4uOmlzx86n86wgvTkEWHD4QJ7-/s1600/magicaldropv+2013-01-16+22-31-11-14.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHTrqi5htbHCrXAY5UAcvpJBjhkedMzs_j3Z3C3K3bq-k9yXtmd91vetkHXyR9qb3j4sebpxZWzF10ydCXkX-UxDKB_iTHN2qkvkuc_wVOFk9WDkih_a4uOmlzx86n86wgvTkEWHD4QJ7-/s320/magicaldropv+2013-01-16+22-31-11-14.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Magical Drop V is the next installment
in the cult Neo-Geo puzzle-battle franchise. Creating a true sequel to
the almost perfection of Data East's Magical Drop III is a tall order
but the developers at Golgoth Studio have taken on the challenge, and
have had a fair amount of success. Adding in modern elements such as
online play and leaderboards, MDV is an interesting sequel.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
The gameplay behind MDV is, as with
most puzzle-battle games, easy to learn. To give a quick description
of Magical Drop: 7 columns of differently coloured bubbles (4 colours
not including special bubbles) fall from the top of the screen. The
player controls a small jester-looking character at the bottom of the
screen that can grab as many bubbles of 1 colour as wanted then throw
them back. If the player creates a vertical row of 3 of the same
colour bubble then they, and all touching bubbles of that colour, are
cleared from the play area. If a single column of bubbles reaches
the bottom of the play area or if your opponent fills their quota of
bubble popping first, it's game over.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The challenge comes in being able to
form combos by quickly clearing away bubbles in succession and being
able to capitalize on your opponent's drop pattern. Speed is the key
element in Magical Drop, it's fast paced gameplay is what garnered so
many fans of the series. And for the most part, this has remained
intact for the sequel. It really feels just like Magical Drop III.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
So what does MDV offer that the
prequels didn't? Well, as mentioned earlier, online is probably to
biggest reason I was excited for this game. Unfortunately there is
almost nobody playing online. You would be extremely lucky to get
into a quick match. Even if you do manage to get into a match, it's
not the best experience. With a game as quick as Magical Drop lag is
an issue and MDV suffers from some serious lag issues. Sometimes the
game will even completely drop both players from the match, making
the online portion of MDV a frustrating experience.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
I'm sure anybody who has played Magical
Drop on the Neo-Geo has, at one point, wanted to change the quota.
Well, in MDV, you can and it's pretty awesome. I have experimented
with different quota sizes and found 300 to be the most enjoyable.
Any larger than 300 and the games seem to go on for too long if you
are evenly matched with your opponent.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Some interesting new modes have been
introduced as well such as Two vs Two and a 4 player 'king of the
hill' mode. Which would be interesting if there was anybody online
to play them with. One very neat thing is the introduction of
'Bruce' to the roster. Choosing him during character selection will
allow you to play, the previously unreleased Data East Neo-Geo game,
Ghostlop in place of the standard Magical Drop. It's a novel feature
and a novel game which deserves a try but I can't say I'm a fan and I
don't think it makes up for the cut to the roster from MDIII.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Magical Drop V is a little
disappointing. The 'story mode' is simply an arcade mode, the online
is a ghost town, and to top it off the roster of characters has been
reduced. Golgoth did get the gameplay spot-on though and that really
impressed me. At the time of writing this Golgoth just announced a
large patch titled 'MMXIII' (2013 in Roman numerals) which is touted
to improve online play and add some more single player options. I
just hope it can get more people online!</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Magical Drop V is currently available
on Steam.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Thanks for reading.</div>
WakaLakahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06479365070637060510noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3812064500705794807.post-62231397169512566142013-01-09T20:41:00.001-08:002013-03-15T00:37:43.786-07:00Review: Gunlord<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRiERCsU_NhxX3uR1Hdvi7bg8AKtlHA44HysGs6oWQVSMFF9P6Xvp13m4OZmg4JfjcWupgCF4rKU5qdM6SC4UqwqAkNdn3aonaHo-tfPap_rpFvxV4HvEKePlANmvRJvxGCk-U9o8RweHV/s1600/themaster.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRiERCsU_NhxX3uR1Hdvi7bg8AKtlHA44HysGs6oWQVSMFF9P6Xvp13m4OZmg4JfjcWupgCF4rKU5qdM6SC4UqwqAkNdn3aonaHo-tfPap_rpFvxV4HvEKePlANmvRJvxGCk-U9o8RweHV/s320/themaster.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Gunlord is a Dreamcast and Neo-Geo game created by the German developer group 'NG:Dev.Team'. They're the guys responsible for Last Hope, Last Hope – Pink Bullets, as well as Fast Striker, all of which are scrolling 2D shooters developed with the Neo-Geo in mind, and ported to the Dreamcast. Gunlord touts 16-bit graphics with 9 huge levels to explore and non-linear action. I'll be reviewing the Dreamcast version.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Now, onto the game. Gunlord differs from NG:Dev.Team's previous releases in that it is not purely aside-scrolling shooter, although if you like those there is a nice surprise in the game, more on that later. Gunlord features awesome run'n'gun style gameplay very similar to the classic game Turrican. Offering several different weapons including: the classic spreader, a bounce shot that causes your bullets to bounce off objects, and the 'phoenix' which shoots waves of fire at your enemies. In addition to the 3 basic weapons, you also have the 'dragon whip' that you can shoot in any direction for a limited time until your energy meter at the bottom of the screen is depleted. Not to worry though as it slowly recharges over time. This is probably your most valuable weapon because it does high damage and also destroys enemy projectiles. If you ever happen to get yourself into a pickle though, you're able to use the 'fire flash' which is a limited quantity item that clears the screen of all harmful projectiles and most enemies. As if all this isn't enough the character can also curl up into a ball reminiscent of Samus from the Metroid series. While curled up you can move quickly across the ground and can drop bombs to harm enemies. This move seems a little out of place as the only times I have used it is to get through passages that are too small for the character to walk through. It may come into play more in later levels but from just the first 4 levels it seems out of place.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The levels in Gunlord are, for the most part, linearly structured, as in there is only one route to the boss,but there are many places to explore. It really reminds me of the old Metroid game for Super Nintendo but not quite as open for exploration. Since the game presents a counter at the bottom of the screen for purple gems scattered throughout the levels, you will find yourself searching every inch of the levels in an attempt to collect all the gems (something that is not easy to do I might add) and increase your high score. Gunlord features an online ranking highscore system: at the 'game over' screen you are presented with your score as well as a code that you can then enter at the Gunlord website to show off your score and compare yourself with others. It would have been nice to have online rankings in-game but, obviously,the Neo-Geo has no online capabilities and frankly neither does my Dreamcast since I no longer have a dial-up ISP. So this is a nice solution I think. High scores are also saved on the VMU.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The shooting and jumping feel fantastic in Gunlord. All the weapons feel powerful and give the character areal sense of strength. Jumping is great and you are able to easily and precisely control the character to land where you want. There is no frustrating platforming in Gunlord; it's all about runnin' andgunnin'. This all adds to the feeling of fairness in the game. If you got hit, it always feels like your fault and not the game's. Which makes the game's challenge enjoyable instead of frustrating,and this game <i>is</i> challenging. Fortunately Gunlord offers two game modes: original and arcade. The gameplay in both of these is exactly the same with two exceptions. If you run out of lives and use a continue on original mode then your character will spawn exactly where you left off. But in arcade mode, you will be forced to start your current level over from the very beginning. Arcade mode also has a timer which counts down to your death. Collecting gems increases your total time remaining, adding a nice little challenge to an already difficult game.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Artistically Gunlord is amazing with massive boss sprites, tonnes of on-screen madness, lots of frames of animation all running at a full 60fps, and a pumping soundtrack. However, I feel the palette for the game is a little strange. Just look at the regular edition box art, you can barely read the title of the game! It can be difficult at times to see smaller enemies and projectiles. That's probably my biggest complaint. Each sprite individually looks gorgeous but when they are all put together on screen it can get a little messy. But with 9 massive bosses and several mini-bosses Gunlord truly is a great looking game.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
A very nice surprise that NG:Dev.Team threw into this game is level two. This level is a quick, and I do mean quick, side-scrolling shooter level. You can definitely tell the guys who made Gunlord have lots of experience with shooters. Playing through this level really made me sad I never picked up Last Hope or Pink Bullets.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
So if you're a fan of Turrican, run'n'gun games, want a real challenge, or just want a reason to hookup your Dreamcast again, Gunlord will do you well. NG:Dev.Team also has a new vertically-scrolling shooter in the works, NEO XYX, coming out for both the Neo-Geo and Dreamcast. I'm really excited for that one.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
If you want to grab a copy of Gunlord head over to NG's website at <a href="http://www.ngdevteam.com/">www.ngdevteam.com</a> and get yourself a copy. At the time of writing this they're sold out of all versions save for the limited edition Dreamcast version which comes with the game's OST.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Thanks for reading.</div>
WakaLakahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06479365070637060510noreply@blogger.com0