. Summary: Welcome to the never-ending season of ModNation kart racing, where creativity rules on and off the track. Get on the starting grid of nearly 500,000 tracks available online or just race in our competitive circuit and compete with new dual analog stick racing and three new weapon classes. And Welcome to the never-ending season of ModNation kart racing, where creativity rules on and off the track. Get on the starting grid of nearly 500,000 tracks available online or just race in our competitive circuit and compete with new dual analog stick racing and three new weapon classes. And with the new touch controls, you can create a new track in seconds and share it with the rest of the world.
May 25, 2010 ModNation Racers is a thoroughly fresh take on classic kart racing that empowers the player to personalize their entire game. Players can express themselves by creating their own Mod character, styling their own racing kart and even building - in just minutes - an imaginative track that can be shared with the rest of the PlayStation community via the free PlayStation. Dec 06, 2013 ModNation Racers is a kart style racing game for PlayStation Portable (PSP) designed to provide gamers on the go with the same outstanding gameplay found in the PS3 version. The game features all the track-based driving and comic combat players relish in the kart racing genre, blended with extreme customization, and online sharing of user generated.
Get ready to take on the challenge of 20+ new tracks filled with 3 new weapon classes (Fire, Ice, Earth) for your Kart's offensive arsenal. Introducing ModTraveler & ModMiles - Keep connected on the road by photographing your Mod's in exotic locations or earning miles while racing MNR tracks away from home, both of which will unlock rare and unique items to add to your collection. Race track design in under a minute - Access all the new touch-create tools and design, decorate and customize your own tracks for everyone to play in record time. Sony Expand.
3D Arcade, The return3D Arcade, a returnBack in the in the early 2003/ 2004 I found a 3D style front-end called 3D Arcade. I found it while surfing through Mameworld during this period. This is before Emumovies and the some of the better front-end existed. This is before Hyperspin, GameEX, Mgalaxy, Launchbox, so this is a long time ago. I have somewhat of a love hate relationship with this front-end because it was a nightmare to setup. The instructions described making gamelists a playlist of playlists ( yeah, it didn't make sense to me either.) But that wasn't why I downloaded it.
When setup with all the arcade (which took an age because you had to download the individually and there were something like 400 plus different game models but it also, presented everything from arcades to pinballs and even decent recreations of old consoles. If you ran the exhibition location, you were greeted to a masterful location which you simply walk around the arcade where you see different rendered cabinets which when done right look fantastic.So, Why am I going on about something so old.
Maybe I am a little nostalgic about this old system. Well it appears that this relic is being resurrected, Thanks in part to )p( and Skurdt over on the forums. This started with )p( wanting to learn Unity for his son so he could teach him the basics (his son is 13 so he is the right age to learn this stuff). I literally popped in to see if the project was still going and a new section saying 3d Arcade in unity greeted me.
So this sparked my curiosity. So far they released a limited build with some basic groundwork for possibly a better version. While Unity has its own limitations its not as bad as directors with some paid extras that enabled it to work. So what have they done so far.
Surprisingly quite a bit for a preview build. Flashback ChallengeFinally I return to writing and this one is a doozy. Something has been bothering me for a while now and here I finally lay down my point of view with the state of gaming and retrogaming in general, grab your popcorn because I feel like a rant because I am in one of those moods.Flashback Challenge!First off, I play most of my retrogames on emulation Because Collecting old consoles, carts and CD can be impractical due to space and Practicality of the tech breaking down over time and abuse. While old arcade machines find new life in specialised places which respect their heritage.cough. Arcade Club.cough. Even the traveling circus of the replay events show us old arcade games have a part in the history of gaming.
Even some of todays practices are based on the old nickel and diming of hard arcade games which ramped up the difficulty in order to get you to part with your money. Back then, it wasn't considered egregious for you to continue your games or simply play one more games.
Recently, however, Lady Decade asked in one of her recent videos, Is emulation ethical.That simple question has been a very grey area for years. Nintendo being one of the biggest culprits for copyright trolling. Nintendo has been trying for years to control the narrative in terms of their gaming history for years. But why, have they no interest in celebrating their history from the humble beginings, starting with their game and watch series followed with the first stab at the home console market with the Nes and the Collection of games that do with it followed by their foray into the 16 bit market with the SNES Then every console that followed it. Nintendo didn't always make good decisions, Well without Nintendo ditching the CD add on that sony was developing we wouldn't have the Sony Playstation. Without these mistakes we wouldn't have had the innovations we got during the 90's.But let's get back to the arcade, Nintendo have had a few but not as many as you think, But companies like Atari, Namco Konami, Taito, Data East, Irem, SNK and Technos ruled the roost during this time.
(Jack, What are you on about, get to the point rather than just prattling around). I loved the arcades during my childhood and whenever I went to one, it was an experience than just sitting in front of a screen with a controller. As I got older and Technology got better for the home console market, Arcades became more redundant over time because it was difficult to compete with with something that looked just as got as the arcade. In the late 90's (late '96 early '97. I was at university at the time) I learned about emulation in which I could play old arcade games on a PC. My first foray into arcade emulation was Nemesis.MAME was just a Make Trax/ Crush Roller emulator at this time and slowly turned into a multi-pac emulator (This is before MAME was a thing). Multi emulators were few and far between (emulation really started to kick off around '99 to '00).
An early multi emulator was Sparcade. This provided the building blocks towards an actual working frontend emulator. Finding Roms back then wasn't difficult but were limited, due to sporadic Rom dumps to bland and basic websites (no real effort, it was a simple link to files and that was it geocities was the most common site used for the early Rom dump days) but times were simpler as emulation was in its infancy. It got me thing about all the games I used to play during my youth.
Finding Roms and the emulator to play them grew more interesting as MAME became more powerful with more Roms were supported.I played on a console even owning and original Playstation and a Playstation 2 during a period of 5 years while slowly transitioning to PC during my first year of working full time during 2003. My taste returned to old arcade classics.
I asked questions over the years, with the bonus of unlimited credits by simply pressing a number on the keyboard helped me complete a lot of old games I loved during my youth but I also found the controls on these old games when using a keyboard, a lot more floaty than I remember. It was the old analogue vs the digital factor because there were certain games that required sensitive movements (like driving games with use of a steering wheel). Later version of MAME (or more to the point MAMEUI back then it was mame32 included a cross-hair for shooting games and mouse support to cover the trackball games.
One of those shooting games which required the cross-hair which I loved during my youth was 1987's operation wolf. This particular game was truly hard during my youth with the unique controls. While playing it through emulation, while still fun but a lot easier to complete.
It didn't feel like the experience I remember. While I did have this game on the spectrum and there was a cross-hair on that, you expected the trade off on a home computer.vsBut then again, The experience of operation wolf to me was actually quite, given the controller for this particular arcade was an Uzi 9mm with limited swivel and simple up and down motion a trigger and a small red button on the side that fired the rocket and it was a challenge to play. That experience stays with you as well, being a fan of both Rambo and Commando which were 2 staples of 80's entertainment I consumed when this game hit arcades. While this game help produce 2 sequels (one being operation Thunderbolt which added a second player and operation wolf 3 which changed the semi realistic uzi to a more generic gun controller, ironically the same gun controller was used for the arcade classic Space Gun but I always go back to operation wolf, but why.
6 levels, an single energy bar and a limited ammunition on a single credit. The challenge is seeing how far you could get on said credit with the kicker being the second level and the massive difficulty spike which many people put more credits in to get past it (Japanese version has a different view in which you do the first 4 missions in any order but the chances of being spotted increased until you took out the communications setup but the western version of the game has the spotted sequence as a random event). This is before consoles and computers gave a rivaling experience to the arcade.When I was a child, games were a fun thing to play for a while and you loaded the next one you you had, compared to today where games are just another commodity to bet on, Games companies today, have lost sight of what got them there. They try justifying every decision they make not to the consumer but to the investors, which seems silly. The problem with such an endeavor is the lack of risk companies are willing to take because the primary focus of an investor is the expect growth on their investment. Here, in my honest opinion, lies the problem.
The home market is not the same as the old arcade counterpart in which people put stupid amounts money into wooden boxes which played the favourite games and there were a lot of them.(looks back at his hyperspin list)Seeing the history,Being subject to the whims of investors makes you wonder why games companies are subjecting many end users to stupid pay to win scams to the unskilled or the can't be arsed player in order to get them to be badass. The term 'get gud' comes to mind. I love gaming but I don't have the time to grind like I used to but I rarely have the time to grind like i used to but I rarely buy said power ups because it takes away half the fun of playing.Another component that annoys players today is the always online playm which is subject to another form of DRM which has been proven to be completely pointless. (Jack, you are going off track again).OK, OK I will get to the point, playing old games via emulation sparks a question, not is it ethical to emulate games but is there a point to play something that takes a speed runner something like 20 minutes to complete (meaning no stops and finishing it in the shortest time possible so no detours).
Emulation is a nice thing because now I can play everything from pinball machines (digital versions of classic pinball machines, while not the same does provide a wealth of entertainment because without it you have to find the tables, most of which are difficult to find in today's arcades or if you wanted to own said pinball machine, you need to find it maintain it and trust me those things are heavy) to the simple game and watch LCD machines which in some aspect are even harder to find in good condition. But still with all the modern games I have (my last steam library is 295 and I have not played about 3 quarters of the list) but I still go back to games like operation wolf, robocop, shinobi and Atari's star wars. Technically you can get away with robocop and shinobi because you can stick the PCB for these games into a generic arcade cabinet and they will function just fine.4 famous games of the 80'sBut the other 2 however not so much I have already mentioned the particular feature of operation wolf with the controller being shaped in the form of an UZI 9mm sub machine gun. Atari's star wars arcade main feature was which was different compared to the generic arcade was the fact it used a yoke controller shaped like a futuristic steering wheel with fire buttons and the up and down axis were reversed, on emulation you simply used the keyboard or for a better experience, use the mouse. When you emulate something, you may preserve the game but you don't preserve the experience you had during your youth.
Hence why we have events where people started to bring original hardware to these places. Having been to NERG back in 2014 and PLAY EXPO last year with a friend. I understood what gaming was again. Something big business seems to have forgotten nowadays. I think the only game that marries the old school feel with today's capabilities would be Studio MDHR's cuphead. This game simply puts old school animation from the 30's and 40's then adds the classic mechanics of side on shoot em ups like contra and sidearms.
This could be simply put in an arcade and money would just hit home. While the home version is simply a boss rush game with unlimited lives.
But even putting it in a cabinet would work question would be if you were to monetize this in an arcade, how would go about playing with one credit (either a time limit per level or the simple 3 lives factor). This would attract a lot of people.Remember you could play all your favorite arcade games back in the 90's it was called the Sega Saturn. Here lies the second problem and Sega biggest failing. Sega back in the 80's and 90's were a solid arcade developer but were slow on the uptake of the home console market, While the Master system, Megadrive (genesis in the US due to legal reasons) and the gamegear were more of a response to Nintendo at the time.
This is a secondary market for Sega as they raked in all their cash from arcades. But as the consoles became more powerful, their arcade division became less important.
Sega had some of the most legendary developers under their banner like Yu Suzuki (creator of Outrun, afterburner and shenmue). The Sega Saturn was a marvel of a machine with a lot of arcade ports but it had one major problem, The Sony Playstation, the upstart console as result of Nintendo's major screw up by getting cold feet with its CD add-on when the Sega Mega CD failed, (well I would call it a failure because it had some iconic games) so that alone doesn't make it a complete failure or the fact their games get remastered (night trap). You would not have got the Sony Playstation if it was for Nintendo. It was the right console sold at the right place at the right time. Boasting a 20 game launch line up including the iconic wipeout (granted it was out on the Saturn but it was better on the Playstation) being a launch title.
This system hit the ground running while Nintendo were working on their ultra64 setups with one game already using the hardware in the arcade (crusin' USA) followed by Killer Instinct. The mid 90's was an interesting for me (I used to hang around a game shops) as I saw games on consoles that were sublime and the tat that could rivals Ashen's tat (I swear Ashen's looks for such useless crap, just to gloat to simply say I have more tat than you). Back in mid to late 90's, we had it really good when it came to content. Finished games that were brilliant, if not they were slammed HARD!
Back when games review meant something. Not like nowadays when you see a game with a high rating then you discover you have been duped by a review copy which tends to feature stuff to get better rating (as proven in Black op 4 recently with a patch).This article is turning more into a rant than just an article about games but the honest answer is this question has been eating up for a while now and Lady Decade finally brought out something, I have meaning to ask myself but in a different way because experiences are different. If may not be ethical in terms of copyright law but in terms preserving the past, I say within reason. There are unwritten rules within the emulation scene which many people break because they can. What these idiots don't realize they shine shine a light on the rest of us and that doesn't help. Right now, for me, experiences are everything nothing changes that with a traditional joystick and hard buttons vs playing with a hand controller which digital controls which doesn't translate well in some games, for instance driving games on an old controller was really a challenge because when you pressed left on a controller, you would careened said left into the nearest barrier rather than simply lightly going left.
Another gerne that has been sort of rectified with the invention of the twin stick controller are said games with twin sticks (Games like Yie Ar Kung FU, Smash TV and Karate Champ). During these times, Controls varied from game to game whereas now, there is uniformity towards game controls. It's interesting how certain games win a generation of gaming with their scheme (perfect example, case in point in point street fighter 2) perfected the simple game control of light, medium and heavy attacks from punches and kicks.While that control scheme dominated for a couple of years, another arcade simplified that control to just light and heavy attacks but added a block button as opposed to pressing back (like in street fighter), that game was the ESRB creating Mortal Kombat.
This is when everyone started to prefect the art of joystick juggling (even me with scorpion I was semi unbeatable with the cheap combo of a roundhouse kick and a leg sweep but the infamous onw of the harpoon, upppercut, teleport combo which was a bastard to counter if you were on the receiving end of it. The fighting game had hit a new high because one on one combat was a solid win and you could play with a friend (I would normally lose because 9 times out 10 they were clearly better than me).
But then you would have controllers that were more obscure like the tron controls. This was a dual control system because you have a full joystick with a fire button along with a spinner as well (to turn either your arm or the turret of the tank to take aim at enemies or pieces of the MCP). If you are a MAME completionist, next time you look at the extras, look at your control panel folder then see how many different controls methods. That is the experience you have playing a full arcade vs playing on a good computer.Is it good to play these games still on an emulator, yes and no, yes because it brings back nostalgia of games played in a bygone age and no, because the experience is diminished by the experience of not playing it on original hardware? Console you can technically get away with because the control system is similar to that of a control pads while the arcades are more difficult to replicate. This brings me to another control method that was dumbed down for the PSP other consoles because it's control method was very obscure being the only had an up and down joystick, a button for thrust, a button for reverse, one for fire and another for bomb.
I played an earlier version of MAME and the 4-way directional controller was implemented but as later versions of MAME pushed for a more faithful version of same game and that game was Defender, you found the controls were not what expected and was difficult to acclimate to on emulator. But these are the differences you don't notice on an emulator compared to a pull arcade cabinet. I'll be honest, I have been in the scene over the past 20 years slowly commenting on the from retrogaming stand point which shows how old I am. Maybe i was spoilt for choice compared to today's gamers who more emphasis on graphics, style over substance. While the indie scene is booming, the big companies have sort of swindled because they be something they are not. A massive movie studio which provides interactive content.
They forgot what games are. Sony PlayStation Portable Video Snaps Updated (v0.9.4)It's been a few months so of course it's time to another update to the EmuMovies Sony Playstation Portable video snaps pack.
The version 0.9.4 update adds 252 new video snaps giving us a total of 901 videos for the system. Special thanks to @Lordik (111 Captures), @avaris (2 Captures) for assisting me @Circo (136 Captures) with this update.(File List) Sony PSP (Video Snaps)(EM 0.9.4).txt (Missing) Sony PSP (Video Snaps)(EM 0.9.4).txtVersion 0.9.4Added/Replaced 249 VideosDetails:Update your videos todayEmuMovies Website (SQ Only)Directly through your front-end or our app using EmuMovies Sync (HQ & SQ)EmuMovies File Server (FTP) (HQ & SQ)View all our updates on the EmuMovies Files Feed (We only post a handful in the news feed)Follow EmuMovies on FacebookJoin EmuMovies on Discord. Sega Dreamcast Video Snaps Updated (v1.3)Hello emulation fans, today we have an update for our Sega Dreamcast video snaps pack. This update includes 46 new video snaps bringing the set to 476 in total.
One of the major projects I have been quietly working on this past year is a proper video snap set for the Sony PSP. It's not finished yet but it's time to release what I have done so far. Here are 873 new video snaps for the System, as this is still a WIP set it's currently only available in HQ format on the EmuMovies FTP and EmuMovies Sync. As always these videos are hand edited new recordings, all are 60fps with 192kb AAC audio. Currently the HQ set is 11.6GB.
Continue reading for a breakdown of whats included in this release. Videos Added - 873 @Circo.1000 Tiny Claws (USA).101 in 1 Megamix (USA).2010 FIFA World Cup - South Africa (USA).20Q (Europe).2D Adventures Of Rotating Octopus Character, The (USA).3 2 1 supercrash (USA).300 - March to Glory (USA).3D Twist & Match (USA).3rd Birthday, The (USA).4x4 Jam (USA).50 Cent - Bulletproof - G-Unit Edition (USA).5-in-1 Arcade Hits (USA).7 Wonders of the Ancient World (USA).A Space Shooter For 2 Bucks! (USA).Ace Armstrong Vs. The Alien Scumbags! (USA).Ace Combat - Joint Assault (USA).Ace Combat X - Skies of Deception (USA).Aces of War (Europe).Actual Crimes Jack The Ripper (USA).Adventures to Go!
(USA).Aedis Eclipse - Generation of Chaos (USA).AFL Challenge (Australia).Age of Hammer Wars (USA).Age of Zombies (USA).AI Igo (Japan).AI Mahjong (Japan).Air Conflicts - Aces of World War II (USA).Akudaikan Manyuuki (Japan).Alien Havoc (USA).Alien Syndrome (USA).Alien Zombie Death (USA).Aliens vs. Predator - Requiem (USA).Alpha Mission (USA).Alpha Mission II (USA) (NG).Ambassador Kane (Europe).Ancient Game Treasures - Mill (USA).Angry Birds (USA).Another Century's Episode Portable (Japan).Apache Overkill (USA).Ape Academy 2 (Europe).Ape Escape - On the Loose (USA).Ape Escape Academy (USA).Aqua Panic (Europe).Aquattack!