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New Games For Retro Consoles: Ploid And Reknum

New Games For Retro Consoles: Ploid And Reknum

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If you didn’t know, most video game consoles from the 80s and 90s are still getting new games added to their library every month — just not “officially.” There’s a thriving indie development community centered around the NES, Game Boy, Genesis, and the 90s’ final gift, the Dreamcast. Ploid and Reknum are two indie projects first released for the NES, but they’ll soon be getting Dreamcast releases thanks to the efforts of publisher VGNY Soft. Preorders were opened today, and here’s what each of them are about…. Ploid is a Mega Man inspired platformer-shooter where you play as a robot named Omega searching for an upgrade. “Omega must travel to the sacred ruins in search of the sacred disks files that contain the necessary information to be able to take the final step and evolve,” reads the official description. 8 worlds full of exploration and secrets! Dangerous traps and monsters Story Mode  EX-Mode 8bit music by David Ko Supports HDMI & VGA Cables REGION FREE In Reknum you are Cheri, resident

Improve Your Dreamcast With The VM2

Improve Your Dreamcast With The VM2

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Every serious console collector needs a Dreamcast. Sega’s last and greatest console only lived for around two years but had an incredibly sweet and short life, publishing many original and innovative game concepts that would influence generations to come. The Dreamcast was first to make online play possible directly from the console (and keep in mind this was the 56k phone-line era, so games had to be designed to function under those speeds — and did). It also came with a device embedded into the game controller called a VMU, or Visual Memory Unit. Plugged in, the VMU would display game stats or graphics on its small dot matrix display. Removed, it could function as a Tamagotchi of sorts, playing minigames on the go that could factor into the larger console game when you plugged it back in. Not many games used that function but it was still a cool idea. Used VMUs aren’t hard to get, but none of them have working batteries anymore (unless they’ve been taken apart

Minecraft Now Runs On Dreamcast…Kinda

Minecraft Now Runs On Dreamcast…Kinda

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Since its introduction, Minecraft has been made playable on every machine capable of playing a game….but what about machines of the past? Since it uses deliberately simple graphics, couldn’t you get it running on past consoles as well? Mozilla will never release a version of the game for the Sega Dreamcast, but somebody by the handle “gamebabla” made it happen. The Dreamcast is the most homebrew-friendly console for two reasons: one, it was created with the help of Microsoft and runs off a version of Windows, and two, the Dreamcast will run burned CD-Rs without modification. All “gamebabla” had to do was port code written for a high-end Texas Instruments calculator onto a format the Dreamcast could read, and it started running. This isn’t Minecraft exactly — it’s a homebrewed knockoff called “Crafti.” And since it was originally made for a calculator, there are no sound effects. The game also lacks the presence of enemies. But you can do a lot with it that you could do with actual Minecraft.

Behind-The-Scenes Look At Retro Game Repair

Behind-The-Scenes Look At Retro Game Repair

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A few months ago GameStop announced that it would begin taking in retro consoles and games as trade-ins once more. It’s been assumed by some that these ancient classics would be sold as-is, but as a new article and photo gallery on Mashable proves, they’re going the extra mile to make sure the games work. Mashable took a tour of a plant in Grapevine, Texas full of NES, SNES, Nintendo 64, Sega Genesis, Sony PlayStation and Sega Dreamcast consoles and the games that play on them. John Haes, senior director of pre-owned merchandise at GameStop, told the reporter that since consoles from twenty or thirty years ago were less complex than their contemporary cousins, they are easier for a well-trained technician to get to a state where they’re humming like new. Each console is thoroughly cleaned inside and out, and any faulty bits are replaced. The article doesn’t mention if save batteries are replaced, but presumably they are, as it’s a simple process (for someone who knows how to solder metal).

Shenmue III is actually happening thanks to Kickstarter

Shenmue III is actually happening thanks to Kickstarter

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Fans have been waiting for this day for more than a decade, but it is now officially confirmed that the final act of Shenmue will be released in the form of Shenmue III. During the Sony media briefing last night, series creator Yu Suzuki revealed that he was attempting to fund the game through Kickstarter. With a modest total of $2 million, the campaign has already blasted through that total with less than 24 hours gone. News about Shenmue has been building up over the past few weeks. Rumors of a possible sequel first surfaced in May, with a supposed leak revealing that a new game in the franchise was in the works. A few days later news emerged that the soundtrack from the games was due to be released on vinyl as part of a new record label that aims to put as many game soundtracks onto the medium as possible. Even if the leak was not true, Shenmue III is definitely happening. The Kickstarter pages lists experienced developers

Shenmue’s Soundtrack Coming To Vinyl

Shenmue’s Soundtrack Coming To Vinyl

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How can you establish yourself as the ultimate Shenmue fanboy? By owning the soundtrack on vinyl, that’s how. There have been some crazy Shenmue rumors floating around lately, but this one is real. A new record label has sprung up in London calling itself Data Discs and stating its mission as “the first record label solely dedicated to releasing video game soundtracks on vinyl.” Their first two releases will be the Dreamcast’s Shenmue and the Genesis’s Streets of Rage. It will be utterly surreal to hear something as electronic as a Genesis score coming from an LP record. The pressings will be high-quality, 180-gram and the package will come with a lithograph tucked into the sleeve relating to the respective game (because what’s the point of a record without big physical extras to look at?). There will be three alternate editions of each album, the most prestigious of which will only be available to those who pre-order. You can preorder the Shenmue or Streets of Rage records by heading to

GameStop Will Test Retro Trade-In Program

GameStop Will Test Retro Trade-In Program

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For the longest time GameStop was of the opinion that anything older than PS2 was worthless. Now they seem to rapidly be reversing their thinking. First they reinstated trade-ins for PS2 hardware, and now they’ve re-opened the floodgates to accept machines and games they haven’t taken since the days when they weren’t a monopoly (wow, that was a long time ago). In 250 stores centered around New York City and Birmingham, Alabama, GameStop will begin testing the new policy, and if it bears fruit they will expand it nationwide. We can only guess why they’re doing this. One theory is simply that the PS2 reversal increased sales, but another is that they’ve begun to appreciate how older consoles don’t take DLC or threaten to go all-digital and leave them with empty shelves. Funny how that works. It may not work out as well as the company and some game buyers hope, now that a larger amount of retro consoles and cartridges out there are owned by collectors who would never

Jet Set Radio Pre-E3 Teaser Video

Jet Set Radio Pre-E3 Teaser Video

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SEGA has released a new teaser video for the upcoming Jet Set Radio remake release. Jet Set Radio is on my list of favorite games of all time. Needless to say, I’m pretty psyched. Jet Set Radio‘s initial incarnation was called Jet Grind Radio in the United States release and was exclusive to the SEGA Dreamcast in 2000. Much to my chagrin, a terrible and difficult-to-play 2D version of the game was later released to the Gameboy Advance. In the Dreamcast version of the game you play as one member in a group of kids who express themselves through graffiti and skating. The player skates through levels, racking up points through accomplishing complex tricks and tagging walls. Jet Set Radio’s plot also involves dethroning rival gangs. The game’s greatest strengths are in its game play and it’s exceptionally good soundtrack which includes several sub-genres of electronica, j-pop, hip hop, rock and metal. The full track list is as follows: By Hideki Naganuma (SEGA) “Grace and Glory” “Humming the Bassline” “Let