Happy New Year! I totally forgot to mention that on the show...
Also, I had some bad info while I was putting together the episode. What I thought was "Unused Track 3" is actually called "After the Battle" and appears in game. I'm guessing it's a staff roll or credits track.
The show can be downloaded here,
or streamed here:
I wanted to link to all the magazine scans I used, but I'm worried about legal repercussions of doing so. If you are so inclined, you can find them on your own!
# - Game - Track - System - Composer
1 - Wonder Dog - Track 04 - Sega CD - Martin Iveson
2 - Daley Thompson's Olympic Challenge - Title - ZX Spectrum - Jonathan Dunn
3 - Starglider - Title - ZX Spectrum - Dave Lowe
4 - Metroid Prime - Menu Select Theme - Gamecube - Kenji Yamamoto, Kouichi Kyuma
5 - Double Dragon - After the Battle - Arcade - Kazunaka Yamane
6 - Ghouls n’ Ghosts - Ending - Arcade - Tamayo Kawamoto
7 - Final Fantasy VIII - The Man with the Machine Gun - Playstation - Nobuo Uematsu
8 - Final Fantasy VII - J-E-N-O-V-A - Playstation - Nobuo Uematsu
It’s great you did a “Game of the Year” episode at a time when most podcasts do their game of the year episodes; for a moment, I thought you were following suit with games from this year. I should have known!
ReplyDeleteWonderdog: my friend had the game. It had some great tracks, although I only recently realized the best track on the game doesn’t actually exist. I subconsciously CD-ified the main theme from Super Mario Bros. 2 and somehow thought it was from WD.
Those Speccy tracks were sweet. The main lines sounded like the best SMS psg, which holds a special place in my heart.
EGM....now you’re talking. We share a history, EGM and I. The 1990 Buyer’s Guide was my first issue(issue 5), and what started me on my journey from game enthusiast to game fanatic. I bought it in Kay Bee’s, and I remember it well. It contained the first pics I’d seen of the Mega Drive, which included pictures of Revenge of Shinobi and Phantasy Star.
I was already a Sega fan, having previously convinced my dad to get us a Master System instead of a NES. But when I saw those ROS pics.....not only did it make me the die-hardiest of Segaphiles, but it altered how I interact with the world. Let me explain.
You know that feeling you’d get as a kid in the weeks leading up to Christmas—the excitement and anticipation and hope of getting the presents you asked for? When I started reading EGM(and later, Gamefan and Next Generation), that feeling accompanied me every month. I became a junkie for that sensation. At some point, I realized that I enjoyed the feeling I got from discovering and waiting for the next big thing often more than actually playing the games themselves. A friend of mine and I would start visiting the mall daily in anticipation of the new issue, almost like a mini Christmas in itself. I can remember vividly where I was and what I was doing and thinking and feeling when I first encountered many of the early issues of EGM.
EGM mentioned Famitsu magizine from time to time, and occasionally included pics of their excellently airbrushed covers, but of course they never mentioned that they copied Famitsu's 4-editor review format exactly. On at least a few occasions, EGM would publish letters from readers accusing EGM of being a sister publication of Famitsu. They expressly denied the allegations; looking back on it now, I'm surprised they responded at all. It merely brought attention to the fact that they ripped off many design concepts from the most popular game magazine in Japan.
ReplyDeleteConsider Famistu:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.google.com/search?q=famitsu+games+cross+review&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj_z4qx47zYAhUM1WMKHYQuCDcQ_AUIDCgD&biw=1024&bih=754#imgrc=t7TGMr_bu1N0DM:
And EGM:
http://www.aderack.com/journal/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/egmpage.png
Hey hey, ND!
DeleteYes, you should have known better. You really have no excuse :-P.
I’m shocked that you knew someone with the seemingly rare combo of 1) a Sega CD, and 2) Wonder Dog. Skid rated it very highly in all categories.
Was the MB2 track an arranged version, or the NES original sound? Because as much as I think the Wonder Dog track sounds like early PC games, I think comparing it to NES is a bit of a divergence!
Glad you enjoyed the Speccy stuff. It’s harder for me to find (I have a folder of a hundred or so games’ OSTs) and I don’t really know where to look. So when I hear something that clicks I like to include it where I can. I may have talked about this before, but since I lack any nostalgia for the system itself, the music has to stand on its own for me. And with a relatively primitive sound hardware, it makes it an uphill battle. In short, I like speccy. I’d like to play more.
I don’t think I realized you were a Master System kid! I was just telling KeyGlyph this story, but my first system was actually my grandmother’s. She bought an NES to get the grandkids to come over more often. I didn’t have any real input until we got an SNES for Christmas one year.
I really liked that EGM story. I had a few issues second-hand, but since I was never the kid who got games when they first came out, it would have been torturous to read it every month.
I did not realize EGM called out Famitsu. I’d guess it was more harmless than nefarious if put on a scale, but EGM really did steal from something it was unlikely their readers would recognize. At least, at that pre-internet time. Or pre-significant-internet anyway. What I mean is, I think it’s clear they took ideas from Famitsu, I wonder if they did it intentionally to rip them off and attempt to hide the fact from readers, or if they just didn’t think it was a big deal. I’m especially interested considering Japan’s lax rules regarding copyright stuff.
And wow, that’s flagrant. Maybe I need to revise some of what I just said…
Having been a huge Sega fan just as Nathan Daniels, I fell into the same trap during the 16-bit generation. I too craved the coverage probably more than playing the games. Could also be because I spent my money more on dates than games. Five dollars for a new issue was much easier to swing than $60 for Phantasy Star IV at the time.
DeleteOn to Diehard Gamefan which was my weapon of choice when it came to gaming mags. Gamefan was a great magazine for me because I LOVED Sega as did Gamefan. They had the best screen grabs from games because I believe they were the only US publication taking them directly from an RGB source also they absolutely loved the Genesis and Sega which helped keep my fanboyism at a fever pitch.
There were many many things wrong with Gamefan including the infamous incident when an intern spiked the coffee with LSD at crunch time while a reviewer was finishing up a review for the Atari Jaguar game Cybermorph. Yep a cracked out reviewer sent his LSD trip'd thoughts to print. But most of the problems can be laid at the feet of the mag's creator, editor in chief, Dave Halverson. He was most and sometimes all of the review crew with aliases such as Skid, Mr. Goo, E. Storm, sometimes Sgt. Gamer, etc. I'm taking the fact that Dave H was Skid as the reason why he nominated it as game of the year. He was a huge, huge Sega fanboy.
If you ever want to take a deep dive into Gamefan history, Gaming History 101 chronicled a long thread from former staffers at the magazine for anyone who dares to waste a large portion of time reading it.
https://hg101.kontek.net/gamefan/GameFAN.htm
Good words, Supercrackers! I’m guessing the LSD incident is the one where the review had a bunch of racist rambling in it. I remember that the next issue, Halverson ran an editorial claiming Gamefan had been the victims of sabatoge, which was totally ludicrous. My assumption back then was that one of the editors had just copied and pasted goofy gibberish as a placeholder until the review was finished, and it went to press without anyone catching it. I’ll have to check out that link you included. Gamefan wasn’t the smartest publication out there, but they were total enthusiasts, and that enthusiasm was infectious. It was easy to love games whilst drinking that one of Kool Aid.
DeleteI’d really like to go back and re-read those old episodes of Gamefan. It may be that I am biased(Spoiler: I am), but I didn’t see those guys as Sega fanboys as much as fans of all gaming. The criticism has been leveled at Halverson a lot, but he threw out the same superlatives at games for every system. Read his review of Microcosm for the 3DO or their review of AVP for the Jaguar. Or Warhawk for the PlayStation. Or Pocky and Rocky for the SNES.
Oh, and $60 for PSIV!? In Portland, PSII was $75, PSIII was $70, but PSIV was a cool $100!
DeleteHey, as a Sega fan, how did you handle the Saturn-Dreamcast tragedies? As I mentioned above, I was Sega since the Master System, so when the Saturn came out, I used my position as a Babbage’s sales associate to evangelize for the Saturn. After a few months of it, my manager finally told me to lay off because I was going to make a lot of customers angry for being convinced to buy a failing system.
I still loved my Saturn, especially games like FV2, Sega Rally, Panzer Dragoon Zwei and Azel/Saga, and Guardian Heroes, but it felt like being on the Titanic in slow motion. I lived in Iceland at the time, and I moved back right around the time the DC launched. Having the bitter taste of Saturn’s demise in my mouth, I wasn’t too interested in getting a DC. But to my surprise, there was a lot of positive hype around it, even by my friends, who were PS and Nintendo guys. A buddy gave me his Japanese DC, and I started really getting into it......just in time for the tidal wave of press that was the PS2. With the PS2, hackers actively trying to run the DC into the ground, and Sega’s complete Japan/US dysfunctional ineptitude, Sega was done.
My point to all this is that the late 90’s and end of the Millenium(see what I did there?) were very depressing times to be a Sega fan. Frankly, one of the reasons I love VGM podcasts so much is that I get to relive the days when Sega was the Underdog/Scrappy Doo of the video game world. My Sega is the Sega of Space Harrier, and Kenseiden and Phantasy Star and The Super Shinobi. My Sega is Lunar and Shadow Dancer(arcade) and Golvellius and Galaxy Force. My Sega is Wonder Boy in Monster Land and Joe Montana Football and Sonic the Hedgehog on Green Hill, tapping his foot to Dreams Come True. When I listen to The Diad and others, I tend to forget that the dark times even happened. Is that a New Nostalgia? The bliss of reliving a measured slice of history, to the point of excluding that which one would rather forget?
Whoa! Many responses. Hold on, let me tackle them separately...
DeleteHey Suprcrackers, good to hear from ya!
I can’t boast going on any dates in the 16-bit era (I was a little young, and a lot uncool), but I can boast being too poor to afford games! (oof). I did end up with a subscription to a PC gaming magazine, but I can’t remember how that even happened.
I haven’t heard of the LSD incident and that is amazing. I need to read about this ASAP!! Also, I had no idea that the reviewers were possibly all aliases. How interesting… Thank you for the article, I’m going to check that out for sure!
Dangit! Suprcrackers, sorry for adding letters to your name. The Diad, I thought this was another Telroboxer scenario, and it was, except I'm to blame.
DeleteThe Telroboxer thing makes me mad (at myself) because I said it correctly so many times. Some switch was flipped in the last few weeks I guess...
DeleteOk, sorry for not getting back to you guys, I was busy trying to formulate why exactly I thought Gamefan was Sega biased by going through my old issues. I didn't know anyone replied. The "Notify me" feature will be in full effect from now on.
DeleteNathan Daniels, now that I think of it PS IV could have cost me close to $100, but for some reason I only remember Virtua Racing being that expensive.
Now onto my Sega thoughts/tragedies. I was not a Master System guy because frankly I never knew anyone that had one. We had a local Shopko that was evenly divided between NES and Master System games. I was intrigued by it. I liked the look of the system and I thought the uniformity of the boxes looked cool. Also for some strange reason I really wanted an “ALF” game, but fate steered me toward the NES. So the Master System was always a big interest for me as that fork in the road. What would have happened if I took a step towards SEGA in the 8bit gen? Would I be out on the playground extolling the virtues of Alex Kidd? One will never know.
Then came the Genesis. Oh my sweet, sweet Genesis. How I loved you so. Once again our local Shopko had a large Sega presence. Now they had a playable Genesis with "Altered Beast" on display. I thought the game was cool, but the fact that I beat the game the first time I played it in the store, it failed to win me over. My whole town was essentially waiting for the SNES to come out, me included. That all changed with a little game called "Sonic the Hedgehog". Playing "Sonic" in KB Toys with it's great graphics, blisteringly fast gameplay, awesome soundtrack, and let's not forget the "tude", changed my mind forever. I mean c'mon, he taps his foot at you when you leave him motionless on the screen for too long. This little guy is not taking crap from anyone! Let's just say I started a revolution in my town bringing the Sega console to it and completely changing it from a Nintendo town to a team Sega town because once I brought Sega around it was all she wrote. There were only a few SNES's in homes to be found. While my fan-boyishness in the 16 bit era was a little much and a lot foolish because my favorite genre was RPG's at the time, (that's when I thought length in games was a plus) the past is the past. I enjoyed every second of my Genesis. I was in love with Shining in the Darkness, Shining Force 1 & 2, Warsong, Traysia, Phantasy Star IV (never could find II and III), Landstalker, Exile, Light Crusader, Streets of Rage, Golden Axe, Sonic, to name a few.
So let's just say I was jazzed for the 32 bit generation. The summer after my freshman year I was planning on saving up from working on the farm to buy a Saturn in September when it was released. A friend's family took me with on vacation to Chicago in May 95'. Imagine my surprise when I walked into an EB Games in Chicago. How is this supposed to happen? This isn't supposed to be out till September. I don't have the money. What am I going to do???
DeleteWell, I had to wait. As I was waiting to make the cash to buy one, The reviews started rolling in. They were not positive, especially compared to the upstart "Sony Playstation". I was crushed. I still held out hope. But the longer things went on, the worse they looked. I ended up spending most of my earning on going on dates and the like, so I missed out on the whole 32-bit generation.
Now fast forward to the summer after my freshman year of college in 99', things were different. I had a very well paying summer gig. I was ready for 9-9-99. It looked so good to me. I dropped $1000 between the Dreamcast, controllers, VMUs, rumble packs, joysticks, light guns, and a ton of games on that fateful day. I was once again in love with my precious Sega system only to watch Sony utterly crush it in the year to come. To this day I have not bought a Sony system during the generation to which it belongs. I have a PSX, PS2, and PS3 now, but they were not purchased during the years Sony was making games for said systems. I guess some of my Sega fanboyism lives on and the unforgiveness I have towards Sony comes along with it.
Some things never changes. I have to pour one out for my beloved Sega. I LOVE YOU MAN!!!
Hey Diad, don't sell yourself short. I'm sure you were a suave young lad.
DeleteIf your podcast were a person, I'd be playing Janet Jackson's "Miss You Much" to it right now.
ReplyDeleteSit tight!
DeleteNew Hour long episode out on Saturday. I know you don't have a large social media presence, so you probably missed the announcement.
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