Last update: Nov 23, 2006 This page is: http://www.stat.colostate.edu/~zube/evghistory/evghistory.txt Format is: *********** [when added to this file] General description tidbit1 -- ... tidbitN Entries that start with [KW] were pointed out by Mr. Kevin Williams. *********** [Nov 23, 2006] Recca Summer Carnival '92 _Recca Summer Carnival '92_ was selling for $479.95 on ebay. It is a well-regarded but rare shoot-'em-up for the Famicom published by Naxat Soft and developed by Kindle Imagine Develop. In 2005 (!), a soundtrack album was released in Japan: http://www.amazon.com/Legend-Consumer-Summer-Carnival-Music/dp/B000AM4OV4 In the 80s, Hudson Soft began a series of gatherings in Japan called Summer Caravans. These tournaments featured time-limited versions of their games ("caravan mode"). The Digital Press Guide Advance Edition puts the value of these "caravan only" games at $200. In 1991, Naxat began a similar set of gatherings called Summer Carnivals. It appears they lasted at least 3 years (1991-1993); _Recca_ was one of the 1992 games. There doesn't seem to be any record of Summer Carnivals after 1993. References: http://forums.lostlevels.org/viewtopic.php?p=4488&sid=5d699d55203db9e87082e5f2dddc3117 http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?t=5286&sid=edf8e9a82e6dda5347fcb8942a579849 http://www.vgden.com/cdrom/reviews/alz.htm http://www.vgden.com/hucard/reviews/sss.htm *********** [Mar 8, 2005] Williams Escort. Eugene Jarvis mentions Williams Escort in this interview: http://dadgum.com/halcyon/BOOK/JARVIS.HTM It isn't a typo. There was a game called Escort, created by Williams, that never made it out of the prototype stage. Here is the description given to me by one of the designers (who won't be named unless he agrees to it): ** The project only lasted about 4 months. The game was based upon a space theme (popular of the time). The object of the game was to guide a fleet of ships from various jump zones to a space station. The space station had a protective perimeter surrounding it (sort of like an electric fence). On the outside of the fence were plasma parasites that would drain the energy from the fence making the area vulnerable to attack. The fence gave little protection to the space station and the traveling fleet. It was the job of the escort to ensure safe arrival of supplies and personal carriers to the space station. There were several other features being planned but this was the extent that the project had reached. ** Nothing from the Escort project is known to have survived. *********** [KW] [Apr 27, 2004] Space Invaders Originally Used Soldiers as Baddies From: http://www.old-computers.com/history/detail.asp?n=1&t=4 "In February 1978, a programmer called Toshihiro Nishikado finalized a primitive spaceship shoot'em up video game. Originally, the player had to shoot down soldiers who tried to cross the screen but, at the time, it was politically unwise to encourage killing humans, the soldiers were then replaced with an alien invasion." *********** [May 11, 2003] Joust Sound. The opening sound (that is, the one played after hitting 1P) of Joust appears to come directly from Silverball Mania, a Bally pinball game four years previous (1978). Other Joust sounds may come from this pinball as well, but I haven't played the machine enough to confirm that. *********** [December 28, 2002] Why It's Called Amidar. Thanks to the people who did the wonderful CardCaptor Sakura anime, [Aside and way off topic: This comment refers to the Japanese subtitled series, not the Cardcaptors series. The latter was dubbed, censored and expunged of all plot as well as most atmosphere and character development until all that was left was a thin veneer of cute on a mound of utter blandness.] I finally understand why the game is called Amidar. An amida (or amida-kuji) is a "network lottery" used for (semi-)randomly matching items of one group to items of another, as in pairing people or (in the case of one episode of Cardcaptor Sakura) matching students to parts in a play. One look at http://www2.edc.org/makingmath/mathprojects/amidakuji/Links/amidakuji_lnk_1.asp and you'll instantly recognize Amidar playfields and enemy movement. *********** [December 1, 2002] Space Panic Influence The Japanese Game Gear game _The Berlin Wall_ (it was also an arcade game by Kaneko) is a platformer that derives most of its inspiration from Space Panic (one of the original platformers). Space Panic, alas, hasn't been translated much; Coleco had a version for the ColecoVision, Broderbund produced Apple Panic for some of the early home computers and there was VZ Panik for the VTech/Dick Smith VZ line of computers. Its influence, however, can be seen in many platformers, particularly Load Runner and Mr. Do!'s Castle. *********** [September 28, 2002] The Most Expensive Consumer VG System Ever Although one might have guessed that the NeoGeo Gold or perhaps the LaserActive was the most expensive, it appears that the FM Towns Car Marty takes the prize. From EGM, January 1994, p. 92. "Fujitsu and its car electronics subsidiary Fujitsu Ten jointly developed the world's first car multimedia player. This unit is fully equipped with a high-end car navigation system that provides clear audio and video navigation guidance. Using an optional IC care, it will be able to use a sophisticated navigation system called VICS in Japan. As the name suggests, Car Marty is fully compatible with the FM Towns Marty, Fujitsu's home multimedia system. Car Marty can therefore use a wide selection of software that covers over 300 titles, including tons of games. It can be hooked up with a control pad, keyboard and even a mouse for running software. Car Marty can even be detached and used in the home. Fujitsu Ten will be handling production and sales of Car Marty. It is slated for launch in spring next year in Japan. Beware, systems like this don't come cheap. Weighing in with a heavy duty price tage of between 200,000 and 300,000 yen (about $1,900 to $2,900), this puppy is strictly for those with the big bucks. This mega-machine is definitely going to attract some attention." *********** [April 6, 2002] History of Lunar Games. From http://bestoflunar.tripod.com/info.html Name Country Console Release Price ---- ------- ------- ------- ----- Lunar The Silver Star Japan Mega CD June 1992 ? Lunar The Silver Star US Sega CD 1993 ? Lunar 2 Eternal Blue Japan Mega CD 1994 ? Lunar 2 Eternal Blue US Sega CD 1995 ? Lunar Magic School Japan Saturn 1995? ? Lunar Scrolling School Japan Game Gear 1995 ? Lunar Silver Star Story Japan Saturn 1996 ? Lunar Silver Star Story Complete Japan Saturn 1997 6800 Yen (MPEG version) Lunar 2 Eternal Blue Japan Saturn 1998 ? Lunar Silver Star Story Japan PSX 1998 6800 Yen Lunar 2 Eternal Blue Japan PSX 1999 6800 Yen Lunar Silver Star Story Complete US PSX June 1999 $59.99 Lunar 2 Eternal Blue Complete US PSX Dec 2000 $64.99 This list also included Lunar Silver Star Story for the PC, but according to an interview with Victor Ireland, it was a misprint from the 1999 E3 book. -- From http://www.rpgfan.com/features/e31999vic3.html Rudo: Talking about PC, I saw in the E3 booklet something about Lunar SSS on PC? Vic: Yeah, somebody asked me the first day and I was like: "Where did you hear that?" and they'd say it's in the book and I was like "how did it get in the book?". There's something wrong about that, it should not have said PC. It was a misprint. Yeah, this year it's Silhouette Mirage, Detonator Gauntlet and Lunar 2, that's a full plate, that's as full as we can get. -- Two notes about Working Designs: * Purists beware: their in-game language translations are not straight. They embellish their translations with with American cultural references and take great pride in doing so. The following is from http://www.workingdesigns.com/letters/2002/020108.htm "The japanese jokes were there for the Japanese gamers to enjoy. US gamers by and large would not even GET the Japanese jokes, nor would they make sense in English. We make the games for the US audience, so we have to make sure THEY are involved. If you GOTTA have the pure Japanese stuff, take up Japanese!" * For a company that (IMHO) tries to project an image of quality and professionalism in their games, they display a surprising amount of male adolescent humor. Not only is April Fools Day a big thing for this company (see http://www.workingdesigns.com/letters/2002/020402.htm for the reaction to their little joke about moving Arc the Lad to the Xbox), but the Making of Lunar SSS Complete disk devotes more than a small bit of time to scatalogical humor. *********** [April 3, 2002] New Neo-Geo game. The Japanese Console Game Chart (Mar 11 - Mar 17, 2002) as listed at http://www.geocities.com/chtang.geo/topten.htm had, at number 20: 20 The King of Fighters 2001 Sun Amusement NG FIG 6,126 6,126 NG isn't even listed in the abbreviations on the page (!). -- The following is taken from http://www.casbox.com/AIH/AIH121.html, Issue #121 -- 6th November, 2001 of Cashbox's "As It Happens" newsletter. "Sun Amusements To Market KoF 2001 Following in the wake of the recently reported SNK/Aruze debacle that has seen SNK chucked into bankruptcy with little chance of survival, our man in Japan tells us that he has heard Sun Amusements will be marketing the upcoming King of Fighters 2001 game for the Neo Geo system which has been developed by the Korean gamemaker Eolith -- have tried to get confirmation, but to date have had no response from Sun." -- NCSX (www.ncsx.com) has it for $295.00. Here is the direct link: http://hh141.hiphip.com/Templates/frmTemplateS.asp?SubFolderID=136&SearchYN=N