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Nathan Tolbert pushes the limitations of new games on old consoles

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Re: Nathan Tolbert pushes the limitations of new games on old consoles

#11
post #3

That was a fun article, surprised there is a market for new games on emulators (or really old consoles from my reading).

It's not a huge market, in practical terms it makes more sense for retro-inspired games to use a modern engine with self-imposed constraints rather than targeting an actual retro platform, but some developers want to go that extra mile. Another example would be Goodboy Galaxy, an original GBA game which had a very successful Kickstarter and can be bought as a real working GBA cartridge if you want. https://www.goodbo…

I see "pre-order" and "shipping winter '23"... :(

Re: Nathan Tolbert pushes the limitations of new games on old consoles

#12
post #3

That was a fun article, surprised there is a market for new games on emulators (or really old consoles from my reading).

It's not a huge market, in practical terms it makes more sense for retro-inspired games to use a modern engine with self-imposed constraints rather than targeting an actual retro platform, but some developers want to go that extra mile. Another example would be Goodboy Galaxy, an original GBA game which had a very successful Kickstarter and can be bought as a real working GBA cartridge if you want. https://www.goodbo…

Thanks for this rec -- just played the demo and it's great!

Re: Nathan Tolbert pushes the limitations of new games on old consoles

#13
post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not a huge market, in practical terms it makes more sense for retro-inspired games to use a modern engine with self-imposed constraints rather than targeting an actual retro platform, but some developers want to go that extra mile. Another example would be Goodboy Galaxy, an original GBA game which had a very successful Kickstarter and can be bought as a real working GBA cartridge if you want. https://www.goodbo…

I see "pre-order" and "shipping winter '23"... :(

The game is finished and can be bought in digital form already, but it seems the physical version got delayed by manufacturing issues unfortunately.

Re: Nathan Tolbert pushes the limitations of new games on old consoles

#14
> One of my favorite games for the NES was Ninja Gaiden.

> My kids helped design some of the characters, and they love to play it together, which makes it a lot of fun as a family.

> My family (my wife and 4 kids) loves hanging out with neighbors at Morrissey Park in Champaign. Champaign has great parks, and we’re fortunate enough to have a neighborhood community that regularly gets together at the park in the evenings. I also volunteer with my local church and am learning to ride the unicycle.

Dude has been winning at life nonstop.

Re: Nathan Tolbert pushes the limitations of new games on old consoles

#15
I could see how writing code a low power console could be fun. I enjoy optimizing code just for the fun of the exercise.

Also, I believe Atari carts could be written with standard off the shelf EEPROM hardware. My dad told stories of trading floppy disks full of ROM dumps through the inner office mail system with work friends, and then burning the them to carts.

Re: Nathan Tolbert pushes the limitations of new games on old consoles

#16
post #10
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not a game but I'll take any opportunity to plug Overdrive 2 for the Mega Drive: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWVmPtr9O0g That system has no business producing any kind of 3D graphics but they did it anyway.

Yeah seen that before. It’s definitely impressive but it’s worth noting that there are a few 3D games for the Mega Drive. Albeit games like Virtua Racing did have additional chips in the cartridge (I have a boxed copy of that cart sat behind me). The Master System had stereoscopic 3D games too. As did the Famicom. I have both of their respective 3D addons too. Missile Defence in 3D is pretty cool. Hard to believe it’…

Virtua Racer was the only game with an extra chip for 3D. Everything else on that system is running straight off a ROM.

Re: Nathan Tolbert pushes the limitations of new games on old consoles

#18

That was a fun article, surprised there is a market for new games on emulators (or really old consoles from my reading).

I had a blast playing through Alwa's Awakening for NES on an emulator handheld. Well worth a few bucks.

https://eldenpixels.com/alwas-awakening-nes/

Re: Nathan Tolbert pushes the limitations of new games on old consoles

#19

> One of my favorite games for the NES was Ninja Gaiden. > My kids helped design some of the characters, and they love to play it together, which makes it a lot of fun as a family. > My family (my wife and 4 kids) loves hanging out with neighbors at Morrissey Park in Champaign. Champaign has great parks, and we’re fortunate enough to have a neighborhood community that regularly gets together at the park in the evenin…

You can replicate some of his winnings.

Eg unicycles are really cheap, and it took me a few idle afternoons (about twenty years ago) to get going on the unicycle. Mind you, I didn't learn any tricks, just how to go forward and how to get on without holding onto anything.

Getting a spouse and 4 kids is a bit more involved, but doable for most people with a bit of dedication.

Re: Nathan Tolbert pushes the limitations of new games on old consoles

#20
post #8
post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not a huge market, in practical terms it makes more sense for retro-inspired games to use a modern engine with self-imposed constraints rather than targeting an actual retro platform, but some developers want to go that extra mile. Another example would be Goodboy Galaxy, an original GBA game which had a very successful Kickstarter and can be bought as a real working GBA cartridge if you want. https://www.goodbo…

The Gameboy and GBA have seen a surprising number of new games in recent years. And I don’t mean stuff created in GB Studio (which is itself really awesome), but actual games written from scratch in C or assembly. They seem to be quite a popular couple of platforms to develop on even today. Personally, I tend to look out more the indie Mega Drive releases but I really love the fact that people are still developing fo…

There is a constant drumbeat of excellent new releases for both C64 and Amiga games as well. It's... amazing.
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