GRcade Retro Club Weekender 2.0 - Every Friday to Monday!

Anything to do with games at all.
jawaX
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PostRe: GRcade Retro Club Weekender 2.0 - Week 7 is here! Post your submissions by Mon 30th!
by jawaX » Sat Aug 28, 2021 2:48 pm

Yubel wrote:Seeing as it's Gamescom week, I thought it'd would be a good opportunity to throw this into the mix:



I must've spent a good couple hours pouring over the show's dedicated retro exhibit; from consoles, controllers and magazines to series specific merchandise, there's truly an embarrassment of riches here. The retro goodness spans about 9 minutes of the video, so enjoy. :toot:

What a great and varied selection of gaming stuff, Yube! I take it that you actually visited the show? That's awesome! Have you been to Gamescom a few times?

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PostRe: GRcade Retro Club Weekender 2.0 - Week 7 is here! Post your submissions by Mon 30th!
by Yubel » Sat Aug 28, 2021 5:39 pm

jawaX wrote:...


That was my first and only time to date and, once the world settles back to normal, I hope to return one year.

I'm thinking about digging into my PS3 library for next week - should be a number of slightly less than mainstream gems there.

Youtube - Yubellion

"Common sense is a bullshit phrase."
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PostRe: GRcade Retro Club Weekender 2.0 - Week 7 is here! Post your submissions by Mon 30th!
by jawaX » Sat Aug 28, 2021 5:46 pm

Yubel wrote:...That was my first and only time to date and, once the world settles back to normal, I hope to return one year...

Nice, man - we can look forward to future "Yube, live from Gamescom" reports :toot:.

Yubel wrote:...I'm thinking about digging into my PS3 library for next week - should be a number of slightly less than mainstream gems there.

This is intriguing... it's gonna be cool to check out some of your PS3 collection next Weekender!

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kerr9000
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PostRe: GRcade Retro Club Weekender 2.0 - Week 7 is here! Post your submissions by Mon 30th!
by kerr9000 » Sat Aug 28, 2021 6:12 pm

Here are the other 3 parts of my SNES loose cart collection I have recorded (theres more to film and I will get round to it in a week or two).

Part 4



Part 5



Part 6


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Preezy
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PostRe: GRcade Retro Club Weekender 2.0 - Week 7 is here! Post your submissions by Mon 30th!
by Preezy » Sat Aug 28, 2021 6:14 pm

OrangeRKN wrote:It's not complete, but it covers most of the bases - my Metal Gear Solid collection!

Loved this post :wub:

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The Doom Spoon
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PostRe: GRcade Retro Club Weekender 2.0 - Week 7 is here! Post your submissions by Mon 30th!
by The Doom Spoon » Sun Aug 29, 2021 11:51 am

We're getting dirty with this week's submission!

I've been on a massive Rally games kick and started looking into high profile games in the genre through out the years. This lead me to the original Xbox exclusives RalliSport Challenge 1 and 2.

Rally games that are considered some of the best ever, but sadly never seen any further releases, Microsoft seen more stock in Forza Motorsport and, to be fair, they haven't been wrong! Although I believe there was definitely a market for the Rally genre to keep going too.

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I recently picked these both up from eBay for good prices, both have manuals plus one has a bonus which we'll come to later!

Apart from one disk being the "classics" version (which doesn't bother me at all), both are in great condition with minimal light scratches.

I can't wait to get stuck in and explore these games, they've often been described as having a "perfect blend of arcade and SIM handling", both look visually stunning, sound amazing and have well padded out career modes.

Perhaps we can hope for a remake / remaster or simply a third installment?!

Anyway onto the bonus material...

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I just love these leaflets that used to come in game cases, showing off all the latest and greatest games for that system! One of the little characteristics that is sadly lost on a newer generation of gamers!

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kerr9000
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PostRe: GRcade Retro Club Weekender 2.0 - Week 7 is here! Post your submissions by Mon 30th!
by kerr9000 » Sun Aug 29, 2021 12:24 pm

The Doom Spoon wrote:We're getting dirty with this week's submission!

I've been on a massive Rally games kick and started looking into high profile games in the genre through out the years. This lead me to the original Xbox exclusives RalliSport Challenge 1 and 2.

Rally games that are considered some of the best ever, but sadly never seen any further releases, Microsoft seen more stock in Forza Motorsport and, to be fair, they haven't been wrong! Although I believe there was definitely a market for the Rally genre to keep going too.

Image
Image

I recently picked these both up from eBay for good prices, both have manuals plus one has a bonus which we'll come to later!

Apart from one disk being the "classics" version (which doesn't bother me at all), both are in great condition with minimal light scratches.

I can't wait to get stuck in and explore these games, they've often been described as having a "perfect blend of arcade and SIM handling", both look visually stunning, sound amazing and have well padded out career modes.

Perhaps we can hope for a remake / remaster or simply a third installment?!

Anyway onto the bonus material...

Image
Image
Image
Image

I just love these leaflets that used to come in game cases, showing off all the latest and greatest games for that system! One of the little characteristics that is sadly lost on a newer generation of gamers!


I like when you get leaflets and stuff in games as well, it is a cool little added bonus as a collector to open the box and see extras in there but it annoys me when you see people on ebay trying to sell these leaflets for like £3 and stuff its like if its there its cool but who would want to pay proper proper money just for the flyers.

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PostRe: GRcade Retro Club Weekender 2.0 - Week 7 is here! Post your submissions by Mon 30th!
by jawaX » Sun Aug 29, 2021 1:45 pm

The Doom Spoon wrote:...the original Xbox exclusives RalliSport Challenge 1 and 2... both are in great condition with minimal light scratches...

Doom! It's great to see you sliding round the bend, tyres spinning up the mud!

Some great pics there of two good rally games. I know we spoke on Twitter but I made a mistake with my recollection; I did play the original RalliSport Challenge but on the PC rather than Xbox! The game arrived during my brief period of gaming on the PC, around 2003. I only remembered because I went to get my supposed Xbox copy and it wasn't there! I have the Classics version of RalliSport 2 on Xbox, though.

Your enthusiasm for the games buoyed me up and I have bought a copy of the original Xbox game from eBay :D . It's a Classics version but, like you, I'm not too fussed about that. I'm looking forward to trying it out and hearing your verdict once you get a chance to play.


The Doom Spoon wrote:...Anyway onto the bonus material... I just love these leaflets that used to come in game cases, showing off all the latest and greatest games for that system!..

Oh, yeah, definitely! I think those fold-out leaflets showing off a range of games are terrific. I particularly enjoyed the ones that you used to get in the Sega game cases; the Master System leaflet showed loads of games and had specific sections for "Two Mega" and (gasp!) "Four Mega" carts! Great to look over and they must have cost just pennies to include. It's cool to see this Xbox one; the original Project Gotham Racing still looks good today!

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PostRe: GRcade Retro Club Weekender 2.0 - Week 7 is here! Post your submissions by Mon 30th!
by Corazon de Leon » Sun Aug 29, 2021 6:03 pm

Doing a wee retro show-off stream while I try building a bookshelf if anyone is interested in my retro gear! https://www.twitch.tv/retrocora

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PostRe: GRcade Retro Club Weekender 2.0 - Week 8: Post your submissions by 6th September!
by The Doom Spoon » Fri Sep 03, 2021 8:58 am

It's that time of the week again! :toot:

What's everyone got planned for this week's Weekender?

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Green Gecko
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PostRe: GRcade Retro Club Weekender 2.0 - Week 7 is here! Post your submissions by Mon 30th!
by Green Gecko » Fri Sep 03, 2021 3:33 pm

kerr9000 wrote:Here are the other 3 parts of my SNES loose cart collection I have recorded (theres more to film and I will get round to it in a week or two).

Part 4



Part 5



Part 6


Illusion of Time! Borrowed a friend's SNES for a little while and I played more of that than Super Metroid (which I've since completed). Goes for a pretty penny now too.

"It should be common sense to just accept the message Nintendo are sending out through their actions."
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PostRe: GRcade Retro Club Weekender 2.0 - Week 8: Post your submissions by 6th September!
by OrangeRKN » Fri Sep 03, 2021 3:45 pm

Hot on the heels of No More Heroes III, released a week ago today to favourable critique (I love it!), here's my arguably retro selection of Suda51 games. Having just taken the photos this will be my longest post to date, so apologies in advance!

Kill The Past

The Silver Case 2425 (Switch) & Flower, Sun, and Rain (DS)

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What's a two month old Switch game doing in the Retro Weekender, I hear you ask? And what's it got to do with an oddly named DS game? Well, I did say "arguably retro", but hear me out!

The Silver Case is an adventure visual novel. The first game from Suda51's studio Grasshopper Manufacture, it released on October 7th 1999 for the Sony PlayStation. Ostensibly a crime drama set in an alternate universe dystopian Japan, The Silver Case is centred around an escaped serial killer called Kamui Uehara, and explores the intersection of criminality and power in a society that is both intimately connected through technology and the media and secretly influenced by factions vying for control within the state. It's complex, surreal, obtuse and contradictory - all of which adds up to it being a Japan only release, which it looked to remain indefinitely for many years.

In 2001, two years after the well-received at home The Silver Case, Grasshopper released their second game, Flower, Sun, and Rain for the PlayStation 2. Another adventure game, FSR was a move away from the visual novel like design of The Silver Case with full 3D environments and a main character controlled from a third person perspective. This too was a Japan only title, but skip ahead to 2008, following the breakout western releases of Killer7 and No More Heroes, and a Nintendo DS port was greenlit for western release (the European release came in 2008 - the game wouldn't reach the US until 2009, and with a different English translation). Having been introduced to Suda51 through No More Heroes on the Wii I picked it up and was immediately lost in the mind-bending mystery of Lospass island.

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At this point I should mention that Flower, Sun, and Rain is a sequel to The Silver Case. The marketing, of course, bears no mention of it. The game itself pretends otherwise also, only a few similar character names appearing to be references for anyone in the know (which was presumably almost none of the people who played it) and some clues as to the shared setting in the in-game guidebook. Towards the tail end of the game however the plot continues to escalate, my younger self becoming completely confused at the appearance of characters from The Silver Case and revelations that are only revelatory with a knowledge of the wider universe. I got stuck on a puzzle and left the game unfinished, although still remembered favourably for its unique style and feeling and myself still unaware that it was actually a sequel. This crossing over of characters and ideas between games would become a common element in Suda51 games and was actually already present in The Silver Case, where the prologue apparently features characters from Moonlight Syndrome, the previous game he directed before founding Grasshopper.

Back to Japan, and before the western release of Flower, Sun, and Rain, where in 2005 a mobile game called The 25th Ward: The Silver Case was announced. Explicitly this time pitched as a direct sequel to The Silver Case (but with plenty of references to Flower, Sun, and Rain within it, so it's really the third game in a trilogy), The 25th Ward was released episodically and updated over several years, the details of which are lost on me even after reading its Wikipedia entry. Eventually the game became unavailable entirely, and appeared lost to time as well as to a lack of translation.

Then in 2016, The Silver Case Remastered HD was released worldwide for PC. A year later it saw a port to the PS4 and its first western physical release. Achieving moderate success, this was followed up in 2018 with a remake of The 25th Ward for both PC and PS4, which finally brings us through to 2021 and the release of The Silver Case 2425, packaging both remakes together on the Switch.

That's when the game came onto my radar (I was vaguely aware of The Silver Case as a Suda51 game but not much more), and why in the last month I have played through The Silver Case, replayed Flower, Sun, and Rain, and am currently playing through The 25th Ward. Which was all in the end a very good idea, as Kamui Uehara from The Silver Case makes an appearance in No More Heroes III! (He actually had a significant role in the series already in Travis Strikes Again, but more on that later.)

So anyway, here are some more pictures of The Silver Case 2425 Deluxe Edition:

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Side note: I really don't like these slip-covers that don't wrap all the way around the box - they are a nightmare to keep together and in good condition!

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No More Heroes

No More Heroes (Switch), No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle (Switch), Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes (Switch), No More Heroes III (Switch)

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"Arguably retro" indeed! No More Heroes and No More Heroes 2 were originally Wii games (I have no such excuse with Travis Strikes Again or No More Heroes III), but the whole series is available on Switch - and thanks to Limited Run releases of the first two games, all pictured here as a physical collection!

Probably now one of my favourite series, despite playing (and loving) No More Heroes when it first released I didn't play No More Heroes 2 for whatever reason until it got ported to Switch. Unfortunately that has left a Wii box sized hole in my collection, but one I intend to fill soon enough!

I'm sure I already exhausted your appetite for reading my ramblings in trying to explain the deal with The Silver Case, so why not just bask in these photos of the Limited Run special editions of No More Heroes 1 & 2 instead - by request of Jawa!

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Both are similarly great editions, and I love the way the boxes combine. The "Behind the Scenes" books are quite cheaply bound, but more interesting than just plain art books as they also each contain an essay on their respective game and an interview each with Suda51. The soundtracks are real collector's highlights - both substantial 3 disc releases with some very stylish artwork:

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I also absolutely love the artwork on the back of the steelbook for NMH1 - unfortunately a photo cannot due it justice for the way it catches the light!

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I also promised Jawa a picture of No More Heroes III's reversible cover (styling itself as a game called "Goddamn Superhero" for the fictional Death Drive console), so please enjoy that along with the tote bag and pin badge that came free with the game. I realise this isn't retro at all!

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Actual Retro Content

You've persevered through and humoured my decidedly modern showcase (or perhaps just skipped to the big words that say "Actual Retro Content"), so it's time to be rewarded with some unarguably old vidoegames!

Killer7 (PS2) & No More Heroes (Wii)

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Killer7 was Suda51's breakout game in the west, and to my shame I have yet to actually play it! Being on something of a Suda binge it's right up in priority now for me to get to next, but I would actually quite like to track down the Gamecube version - not only does it apparently perform better, but I don't actually have a PS2 to play right now. Sad times!

While Killer7 got people's attention, it was No More Heroes that would make itself Suda's most popular series. Here is the Wii original - it's a PAL copy, which is notable for some significant censorship compared to its US counterpart, removing the blood effects when slicing up enemies. The Switch port suffered no such sensibilities!

Short Peace: Ranko Tsukigime's Longest Day (PS3) & Shadows of the Damned (PS3)

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Short Peace is an interesting curio. A "multimedia project" meant to represent Japan throughout history, it consists of four short anime films by various Japanese directors and the side-scrolling game Ranko Tsukigime's Longest Day with a story written by Suda51. All-in it's pretty interesting and certainly unusual, but it's more notable as a multimedia experiment than any individual part of it being especially great.

Shadows of the Damned is also a collaboration between some famous names, notably Suda51, Shinji Mikamki (Director, Resident Evil 4) and Akira Yamaoka (Sound Director, Silent Hill). Even being told that will not prepare you for how much this game just feels like "Suda51 does Resident Evil 4". If that sounds up your street, then it probably will be!

Interestingly enough, Shadows of the Damned got a surprise pseudo-sequel as one of the fictional Death Drive games in Travis Strikes Again. I was grinning for pretty much that whole section!

Lollipop Chainsaw (PS3) & Killer Is Dead (PS3)

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Another game I haven't actually played is Lollipop Chainsaw. I'm pretty sure I picked it up very cheap during the GAME fire-sale circa 2012 along with a bunch of other titles and just never got round to trying it out. No such luck with Killer Is Dead which I bought full price - it's a decidedly disappointing not-so-good version of No More Heroes, essentially, with some very awkward sexual harassment by way of its "gigolo mode" (apparently included on the insistence of the publisher). That said it still has some interesting components and has another main character who makes an appearance in Travis Strikes Again!

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Green Gecko
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PostRe: GRcade Retro Club Weekender 2.0 - Week 8: Post your submissions by 6th September!
by Green Gecko » Fri Sep 03, 2021 3:48 pm

Nice merch. I had no idea half of those games existed. Thanks for sharing OR!

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kerr9000
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PostRe: GRcade Retro Club Weekender 2.0 - Week 7 is here! Post your submissions by Mon 30th!
by kerr9000 » Fri Sep 03, 2021 4:51 pm

Green Gecko wrote:
kerr9000 wrote:Here are the other 3 parts of my SNES loose cart collection I have recorded (theres more to film and I will get round to it in a week or two).

Part 4



Part 5



Part 6


Illusion of Time! Borrowed a friend's SNES for a little while and I played more of that than Super Metroid (which I've since completed). Goes for a pretty penny now too.


No idea what it goes for now but I do absolutely love the game. At some stage I need to record more footage of the rest of my loose SNES games.

jawaX
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PostRe: GRcade Retro Club Weekender 2.0 - Week 8: Post your submissions by 6th September!
by jawaX » Fri Sep 03, 2021 7:37 pm

OrangeRKN wrote:...here's my arguably retro selection of Suda51 games...

Orange, man, that delivered a real rush! Your story-styled presentation made for a terrific read; I haven't played many of Suda 51's games but I am aware of them and it was great to hear your thoughts and experiences of the titles.

Those Switch special editions of No More Heroes 1 and 2 are just tremendous; they look so good with their lovely steelbooks, CDs and artwork. I could be wrong but I think I recall you mentioning previously that Mrs OR got them for you as a birthday prezzie?

Interesting to see those later titles; I did have Lollipop Chainsaw on the 360 but traded it when short on cash a few years ago... and I wish I hadn't! I think the only Suda games I do have are NMH 1 and 2 on the Wii.

Thanks again for a top, thoroughly entertaining post, dude.

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kerr9000
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PostRe: GRcade Retro Club Weekender 2.0 - Week 8: Post your submissions by 6th September!
by kerr9000 » Fri Sep 03, 2021 8:22 pm

Only thing I currently have ready to share is a recent retro pickups video I just put up, I will try and get a little something more over the course of the weekend, early next week.


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Yubel
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PostRe: GRcade Retro Club Weekender 2.0 - Week 8: Post your submissions by 6th September!
by Yubel » Sun Sep 05, 2021 12:51 pm

At first I was going to share a few less than mainstream titles from my PS3 library, but then decided on a Square-Enix themed post instead. So here's a trio of (non Final Fantasy) published titles to check out!

First up is Deus Ex: Human Revolution:

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Human Revolution is one of the most immersive games I've ever played, thanks to its rich atmosphere, layered gameplay mechanics and, even if only impactful in the moment, choices. Unfortunately for him, Jensen here didn't have a choice whether to pose in the foreground of this image or not...

Next is Hitman Absolution:

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Not the greatest game in the series, sure, but nevertheless Hitman Absolution does feature some rather decent Hitman-esque level designs that are unfortunately an exception to the rule of this otherwise linear action game.

And last but not least, we have Tomb Raider:

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Just a superb reboot, although Rise and Shadow still linger in my backlog. I will get around to continuing Lara's adventure someday, I'm sure...

Youtube - Yubellion

"Common sense is a bullshit phrase."
jawaX
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PostRe: GRcade Retro Club Weekender 2.0 - Week 8: Post your submissions by 6th September!
by jawaX » Sun Sep 05, 2021 1:03 pm

Yubel wrote:...from my PS3 library...

You have some great figurines there, Yube, and I bet it's cool to see 'em on show alongside your games. It's good to have some PS3 love here in the Weekender.

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kerr9000
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PostRe: GRcade Retro Club Weekender 2.0 - Week 8: Post your submissions by 6th September!
by kerr9000 » Sun Sep 05, 2021 6:53 pm

I figured id stick with the PS3 theme for a quick video showing the Tales of Games I own, sticking to the theme of showing games with a connection.


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kerr9000
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PostRe: GRcade Retro Club Weekender 2.0 - Week 8: Post your submissions by 6th September!
by kerr9000 » Sun Sep 05, 2021 7:07 pm

More of my loose SNES cart collection

SNES loose cart video 7



SNES loose cart video 8



SNES loose cart video 9



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