The trashcans of the past are stuffed with consoles that didn't catch on. Play value Episode “Failed Consoles part 1” Jeff: 500 years of books and we still get books on paper. 100 years of film, still pretty much the same medium. Video games change every 5 or so years, the whole market changes. Here is a shake up every five years. And it doesn’t matter what you did. It’s all about the next system. TJ: In thirty five years of video games. You have all these consoles, the big ones. Xbox, Nintendo, even the Genesis, everybody knew what it was. But for every one of those, there are five of them that didn’t make it. Dan: 1978, what’s big in 1978? The Atari 2600, so of course everyone else has to come out with their own consoles to compete with that. One of the ones you don’t really remember anymore was the Magnavox Odyssey 2. Josh: Great system really had some nice horsepower in it. But Atari bought out rights to third party games like Space Invaders and Pacman, so by the time the Atari 2 came out; they really just didn’t have the content to compete, except for KC Munchkin. I don’t even have to describe it in much detail, all you need to know about it is the, it’s a rebuffed Pacman. Dan: There were a couple of differences, there weren’t as many dots, and mazes were different. But it was just close enough to be legally actionable. And if it Atari thinks something is legally actionable, they are going to action it. So why did the Odyssey 2 fail? Well KC Munchkin was there mascot and if he is tied up in court, then you got nothing left. Josh: At the end of the day Atari controlled the content. Which as you will see through history is what dictates which consoles live and which consoles die. Dan: Now the biggest threat to the Atari 2600 came from the Intellivision. This was a cool little system that was actually a 16 bit system, 16 years before the Sega genesis. Josh: This is interesting because Intellivision wasn’t a complete failure. Here you had a company who had a pretty powerful machine, with some interesting innovations. They had directional pad instead of a joystick. Dan: And just like the Genesis and later the Xbox they kind of positioned themselves as kind of the more adult console for the sports crowd, the mature crowd, and the kind of hip young adult kind of people. Josh: They actually really focused on sports games; they had a baseball game that sold more than a million copies. They had George Plimpton the sports caster, Shill as Mr. Intellivision in some ads. And they actually did well because of it. And decided to parley that strength into what I would call video game mistake number one. Dan: What do they do? Well they just completely spazz out. They start releasing all these peripherals. Hey had a keyboard add on, they had the intellivision 2, 3, 4. They had kind of a computer add on, that turned it into kind of a vey primitive computer. Thy had a whole separate computer they built that was a stand alone PC. It was just too much hardware, not enough software. Josh: They cluttered the market and forgot the fundamental rule, if you don’t have good games; no one is going to care. TJ: Atari releases the 5200 console system in 1982. There were a number of problems that plagued that system that really didn’t make it as successful as it could have. Number one, the controllers. These controllers were cool to look at. But what was the problem with the controllers was no centering of the joysticks. Josh: It was a strange thing because I would just flop to one side like you couldn’t get it back in the middle, and it was really. Well this looks really strange right here, but it was really. Yeah the thing was terrible. TJ: Number two was that the 5200 for all its glory wasn’t able to play 2600 games. Your just telling your consumer, hey thanks for spending all your money, and now here is the new stuff that you can’t use any of your new stuff with. Josh: Basically it was the firs instance of this whole backwards compatibility thing. That still plagues systems. The Xbox 360 is still having trouble playing many of the best original Xbox games. TJ: In the long list of things that game companies refused to learn. Backward compatibility. Josh: Let’s talk about another failure. Actually I wouldn’t necessarily call it a complete failure, but the Sega master system was one that just couldn’t quite do it. Jeff: Nintendo made some of the best first party games of all time. Like Mario and Zelda, but beyond that they had some of the best third party support from companies like capcom and konami. They were just giving them gifts in the form of games like castlevania, metal gear, and bionic commando. The list just goes on and on. Josh: Nintendo had pretty much made exclusive deals with its third party companies. Like Konami, like Capcom. Basically saying to them, if you make games for us. We don’t really want you making games for other companies. And basically they effectively black balled Sega from being able to work with some of the best gaming companies that were out there. Jeff: It was up to Sega to make there own games, and they were ok at it. But thy were no Nintendo. It would have been impossible for them to match the creative force of Nintendo, capcom, Konami, just all the companies combined. Dan: there was one flaming car wreck on the side of the video game highway that some people remember kind of fondly and that was the Vectrex. Josh: It was a home based system that played 3d vector graphics. It didn’t actually plug into your TV. It came with its own little nine inch monitor. Now there graphics were interesting because they were actually being used back in the day as a way to create 3d graphics in games. And like one of the best examples is probably one of my favorite games too of all time. It’s the starwars arcade game. It’s that vectrex tried to bring that excitement home. Dan: It failed because you couldn’t hook it up to your TV, there are only so many games you can make out of these white lines coming at you, and today it is kind of a, it’s a curio, it’s a oddity. But it still has its fans. Josh: Let’s add another log to the fire and talk bout the Atari 7800. If the Atari 7800 had came out any earlier it would have been a nice system. Problem was, this is about 2 years too late. Jeff: There big titles are pole position 2 and Miss Pacman. Neither of which are big improvements over the originals, which are great games. Bu they are ancient, they are literally ancient. I mean you have things like Zelda going on. Like really revolutionary stuff. And they are still making maze games. And Pacman is a classic, but there is new classics being made like Mario and Zelda. Josh: Launching with Ms. Pacman in 1986 is like coming out with a DVD player and packing in birth of a nation. Jeff: Every successful console has on game that sells the system. A Mario, a sonic. Just something that moves it, that makes people say that’s the one I need. I need to play this game. TJ: In the industry there is a term that everyone uses called killer app. Now killer app stands for killer application. And a killer application is a application that is a application, a game, a killer title that helped drive the sales of the console. If the console does not have a killer app, or a group of titles that people really want to buy, the system will fail. Josh: Atari knew it, that’s why they locked down the licenses for Space invaders an pole position, for Pacman, these huge games that are sort of driving the success of the systems. TJ: Looking back at 35 years of gaming. The top console had a killer application. Something that is unique to that device. Jeff: Nintendo has Mario an Zelda. Genesis has sonic. TJ: You have the game boy. Game boy had Tetris. The most simplistic designed game, and greatest selling game of all time. Dan: the original playstation they got tomb Raider, they had resident evil. These are games you jus had o play. On the playstation 2 they had grand theft auto. Changed the face of gaming for ever. TJ: Xbox one comes out, the killer app on Xbox, Halo. Jeff: They never would have gotten anywhere without Halo, they really wouldn’t have. Dan: And today on the current generation, the Xbox 360, well gear of war, that’s the killer app for that. For the playstation 3 the jury’s still out, we don’t really have a killer app yet and maybe that’s why it is not selling so well. Josh: These consoles all succeeded because they had games that people were just dying to play. The ones that couldn’t get those games, for whatever reason, were the ones that lost it.
Here's a novel concept: a videogame where the player can't jump. Mario would be turning over in his grave. Still, he can certainly put Spider-Man in his place. This week's run was performed by Scott Kessler. Speed Run Fridays brought to you by speeddemosarchive.com.
BIONIC COMMANDO® REARMED REPORTS FOR DUTY AS DIGITAL DOWNLOAD Capcom Brings New Life to 8-Bit Classic with Modern Makeover SAN MATEO, Calif. — January 18, 2008 — Capcom®, a leading worldwide developer and publisher of video games, today announced Bionic Commando Rearmed™, a makeover of the classic 8-bit game originally released 20 years ago. Bionic Commando Rearmed will be available for digital download from Xbox LIVE® Arcade, PLAYSTATION®Network and PC this spring. This announcement follows the news that Capcom will be releasing an all new next-generation sequel to Bionic Commando® on Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, Sony Computer Entertainment’s PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3™) computer entertainment system and PC platforms. Bionic Commando Rearmed sees a return of the intense 2D side scrolling, shooting and grappling action from the much-loved 1988 Bionic Commando on the original 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System™. Bionic Commando Rearmed brings the amazing gameplay up to date with stunning new visuals, new weapons, online rankings, a reworked musical score and the addition of a 2-player co-op mode. The title will also provide cross-game interoperability, as completing parts of Bionic Commando Rearmed will unlock new content and provide secret insight into characters and plot of the brand new Bionic Commando sequel coming later in 2008. Bionic Commando Rearmed will contain the following features * Classic Bionic Commando gameplay focused around the use of the bionic grappling arm * 2-player co-op mode * Total modern visual revamp, including dynamic shadows, particle effects and environmental damage * Reworking of musical score * Cross-game interoperability – complete specific parts of Bionic Commando Rearmed to unlock new content and hints for the Bionic Commando sequel * In-game art designed by one of Capcom’s most talented artists, Toshiaki Mori To find out more visit the official website at www.bioniccommando.com
New Bionic Commando Rearmed Japanese Trailer. Sing along! Go! Go! Go!
Get your brohan in on the action.
A continuing process of change from one form to another.
Your an easy target on the ground, polish up those bionic skills or you'll be a sitting duck.
Bosses, multiplayer, and more swing by for a peek.
Bionic Producer Ben Judd swings us through the Leipzig build of the upcoming sequel to the recently rearmed NES classic.
