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Goldeneye is such an absolute miracle of a game. To think it came from a freshman team at Rare is just even more ludicrous; the Stampers just simply had the Midas Touch when it came to scouting talent and incubating the best games that the industry ever saw. On paper, this game should've been a dismal failure. A long delayed licensed title, original intended for the fucking Virtual Boy, that came out almost two years late, on a platform that was almost dead in the water by this point. Not only did it revive the console, not only did it revolutionise the FPS genre (indeed, this was the inflection point where the FPS genre truly came into being on consoles), it actually managed to supplant the original source material it was based on. Today, when you hear the word "Goldeneye", you instantly think of the 1997 N64 video game, not the 1995 movie; the movie was shit. Martin Hollis, Dave Doak and the rest of the team at Rare not only beat the odds, but they crafted one of the single most important and influential video games of all time. Goldeneye is amongst the single most representitive games of the entire N64 library. Quality over quantity. The droughts were the stuff of legends, but when the big hitters hit? They HIT. Every single subsequent FPS game owes Goldeneye a debt as deep as every 3rd person action game owes both Mario 64 and Ocarina of Time. But it's only right and proper that we look at the debts owed by Goldeneye itself. Looking past the obvious foundation laid by Wolfenstein 3D, Doom and Quake, as well as the control foundations laid by Turok Dinosaur Hunter (1.2 Solitare is a 1:1 carbon copy of Turok's controller layout), Goldeneye also owes a debt to SEGA's Virtua Cop; and I do mean that literally. Most of you are probably already aware, but just in case you're not, Goldeneye was originally going to be an on-rails light-gun game without the light gun... and we actually have footage of this version of the game! Only a short snippet, but timestamped for your viewing pleasure The "aim mode" seen in the final game (Where you hold down R to make a reticule appear) was directly inspired by both Virtua Cop and this old prototype. Finally, Goldeneye also owes its mission structure directly to Super Mario 64, again, common knowledge for most people here probably; but it just goes to show how everyone stands on the shoulders of giants. Even something completely original and groundbreaking is built on what came before; and sometimes, all it takes is using those existing ideas and elements in new ways to create something completely unforseen before. It's really hard to understate the impact of this game. Without Goldeneye? Nintendo may well have not survived the N64 era. It single handidly saved them in 1997, coming not a moment too soon, despite being 2 years late; and it would revive interest in the console as a whole, putting it back into mainstream conciousness in the west and raising the sales/mindshare tide for all of the console's other software. Goldeneye went on to become the 3rd best selling game of all time for the console (4th best selling throughout the entire generation), ushering in a whole new era of console FPS games that would later flood the market (and indeed, for a time, the N64 itself). We all owe a debt to Bond, and to Rare. Addendum This one's for @Glen-i @S.C.G and @BowserBasher more than anyone else, but we're not the only ones who adore the ridiculously stupid slapping animations in this game...

Now the next one was the right game at the right time. Goldeneye 007 JP release: 23rd August 1997 PAL release: 25th August 1997 NA release: 25th August 1997 Developer: Rare Publisher: Nintendo N64 Magazine Score: 94% The legendary game GoldenEye. This is the game I got with my N64 and I spent all day searching around the dam level for bungee rope as it wasn’t in my inventory. It was a landmark game for not just first person shooters, but video games in general. GoldenEye had the brilliant idea of adding objectives that were more than just pushing buttons then going through the level again to look for something that has changed. You had to protect certain people, blow up certain objects and find objects. On higher difficulty options, you have more objectives to complete. The praise of GoldenEye has been done countless times before, but one aspect I think is overlooked is the level design, in terms of how the levels feel like actual places and buildings and not a nonsensical string of rooms and corridors. Part of this is due to how the developers made the game: the GoldenEye team had never made a video game and was a risky experiment from Rare to throw people who had never worked in the video game industry to see if they would come up with unique methods. It’s quite shocking that they were willing to do this with an IP like James Bond, but it paid off. Typically, the objective and player path is made first and then the level is built around that, but for GoldenEye, the levels were constructed and then they added the objectives and decided where the player would start. This meant that some rooms are essentially “pointless”, but it helps makes everything feel real. The muiltiplayer was another huge surprise – a few of the developers started it with 6 weeks of development left and without getting permission to do so first. It was simple, but at the same time extremely enjoyable and is still one of the most famous multiplayer modes in a video game. Some aspects of GoldenEye haven’t aged well, particularly the controls (although there are dual analogue options hidden in the settings, requiring two controllers), but sort that out and it’s still an absolute joy to play. Remake or remaster? There was an XBLA version of GoldenEye that was nearly finished. You could swap between old and new graphics (although the “old” graphics weren’t fully finished) and it played great on a modern controller. Finish that version and release it, as it’s what GoldenEye deserves. Official ways to get the game. You can buy the game by purchasing a digital copy of Rare Replay on Xbox One/Series. It is also available for subscription as part of Xbox Game Pass or Nintendo Switch Online

@lostmario

OK, now we're doing a theme night. In less then 2 months, you won't be able to play Mario Kart 7 online anymore, so all the tracks here are ones that were in Mario Kart 7. For that extra authenticity, I suggest using a character that was playable in Mario Kart 7. No-one cares about Honey Queen. See you at 8.

Moana is one of my favourites from recent times, this looks stunning visually I hope it can live up to the first one.

https://noisypixel.net/ys-i-pc-8801-switch-february-2024-english-support/ My first foray into Ys was the TurboGrafx-16 Book I & II on the Wii VC but that doesn't stop me wanting to check this older version out. Don't remember anything specific about it other than bumping!

Back home from a very short day at work, curry is on the stove and I got nothing else to do today (at least I keep telling myself that ). Ready to...yes, this is happening...dive in. GET IT?

Remake or remaster? A re-release is fine for Tetrisphere. Official ways to get the game. There is no official way to get Tetrisphere. I have a special fondness for Tetrisphere. My dad came back from a business trip one time, and he said he had bought me a game at the airport on his way back. I got really excited, since he never really took an interest in my gaming hobby, and this was the first and only time he had ever bought me a game on a whim. I am ashamed to say that 14 year old me was disappointed when I saw that he'd bought me Tetrisphere. I'd never heard of it, and it looked like a lame puzzle game. Nevertheless my sister and I played the game and had some fun with it. It was pretty satisfying destroying blocks (you get certain rocket and bomb power ups that can blast away large areas of blocks at once). It ended up being a weird addition to my very limited N64 library. I only had 7 games for the console. Goldeneye Ocarina of Time Mario 64 Banjo Kazooie Smash Bros Micro Machines 64 Tetrisphere All classics, I think you'll agree. Looking back, I'm really quite touched that he went out of his way to buy me something nice at the airport, and I'll always look back at the game positively because of it.

Screw Banjo. If xbox show up at the direct, give me these. Just hearing those iconic themes on a Nintendo Direct would be huge. and this. It's about time they came home.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-02-07/ftc-knocks-microsoft-over-activision-blizzard-layoffs-in-court?leadSource=uverify+wall

Anyway, this is what my above GIF is referring to. Yeah, @lostmario totally deserved the win that time. He had the defense up, and was too far ahead for me to catch up. Mario Kart don't care sometimes. And one more happy coincidence.

Yeah, "it's the Stranger Things problem" isn't really something you can get away with here. It's not like they had any way of knowing that the entire story took place within the space of a year, it's not like they're adapting a story finished over a decade and a half ago or anything I totally agree that they should've filmed it back to back. It doesn't really move the needle on how I think the show will turn out when all is said and done - I'm kind of curious to see what changes they'll have to make to address the different timeline - but, I mean, it doesn't scream that they have full confidence in the project if they don't plan to see it through all the way to the end from the outset. What are they waiting for? They have the viewing numbers of the animated show to support the idea that there's an audience for this, AND that's exactly what got the adaptation greenlit in the first place! The fact that there's already an incredibly famous example of a work being adapted with simultaneous shooting from two decades ago makes this all the more embarrassing, and yes, I am implying that Avatar (TLA, not the blue people) should be treated with the same respect and reverence when being adapted as The Lord of the Rings.

This is fire! Haven't played much but done a few missions with randos and had a blast! Arrowhead put so much thought into all the mechanics. For example, when you use the ping system to call out something your trooper adds the cardinal direction. A rando marked a bug and said something like "enemy, south-west". I immediately looked at the compass and found the bug in no time. So simple, so effective! Quite a shame that matchmaking is currently fucked. A beta probably would've helped...

Before people bought a console for CoD and Fifa, they had an N64 for Mario Kart and GoldenEye. And with that, everything else has been said many-a time. Toys for bob! Yeah I felt something was amiss after his Casino Royale. Since then, I only watched the one where Judy Dench bowed out. By the end of Pierce's run it had veered into parody but GoldenEye struck the balance between fun and espionage I expect from a Bond flick. It was quality already before the game elevated its status even more for people like us. End of Brosnan Bond to Craig Bond was like Skyward Sword to Breath of the Wild. Just get back to the sweet spot between both.

It wasn't no World is Not Enough or Licence to Kill, but it was still one of the better Bond films. Pisses all over the Daniel Craig ones I've seen.

Does this mean the game's complete status has been rescinded?

Man, Tetrisphere was such a cool game. Creative concept, trippy aesthetics, proper difficulty curve (I do remember some late-game challenges being daunting)... It's a perfect candidate for the NSO.

A first look at Moana 2:

Yeah, it was just OK. Quite forgettable with the post credit scenes being the only interesting part of the film. One which I imagine is dead in the water with the way Marvel have pushed everything back apart from Deadpool 3. Brie Larson just seemed to sleepwalk through the film with the other 2 leads carrying the film. Seemed like a completely different character to the one in Captain Marvel and Endgame.

Picked this up from my local charity shop for 10p on Saturday. Apart from the crack on the front of the case, it's in fantastic condition. Also got these two off eBay last week, I was looking for World Driver and came across it with Ridge Racer 64 for £70 including P&P. Managed to get £5 knocked off which seemed a fair price for the condition of both. https://i.imgur.com/xOJMx4H.jpeg[/img Added bonus, he included box protectors for both for free. I keep meaning to take some photos of my N64 collection as its grown significantly over the last 12 months but it means taking all the games off the shelf and they are alphabetised. I don't want to do it!

Now that we've more or less reached the 1 year anniversary of the US launch of the N64. I think we can get a decent picture of how dire the post-launch software drought really was. A grand total of four non-sports/non-Mahjong Japanese developed 3rd party games for the console across the span of an entire year. Four. And of those four, the first one took an entire 5 months to come out after the Japanese launch (and remained Japan only). Tetrisphere is a fine enough puzzle game, but it ended up coming across as underwhelming at its release because the console was running on absolute fumes at this point, and people were desperate for a meaty, good quality action or RPG title. Unfair expectations, true, but expectations nonetheless. It's a decent puzzle game, but it was the wrong game at the wrong time for the console.

Tetrisphere NA release: 11th August 1997 PAL release: February 1998 JP release: N/A Developer: H2O Publisher: Nintendo N64 Magazine Score: 69% If you thought that Tetrisphere is a Tetris-like game that is played on a sphere then, surprisingly, you would be wrong. It didn’t even start out as a Tetris licensed game, but rather a game called Phear on the Jaguar, before ended up going to the N64 instead and published by Nintendo with the Tetris branding. I remember playing it as a kid and being confused, but the tutorial explains the game quite well and it’s quite simple. You’ll see a shadow of your next piece. You have to line it up so it connects to two or more matching pieces, they’ll disappear – get rid of large amounts and you’ll get power ups. There are different modes, but the general goal is to clear enough of the inner sphere. While the starting pieces need lining up exactly, the more complex just seem to need one part touching a matching piece, which ends up making them much easier to score combos with. The power ups come in different types, but seem to be just different animations for removing large amounts of blocks. To help with combos, you can also drag pieces around by lining them up with the shadow and holding B. Tetrisphere is quite relaxed for a puzzle game, and the failure state is making three mistakes, although the shadow showing your target handily shows if your placement is good or not. It’s an entertaining puzzle game, although while it has a lot of modes, they all still feel like the same game. The game doesn’t mix things up enough, so ends up feeling a little bit basic. Remake or remaster? A re-release is fine for Tetrisphere. Official ways to get the game. There is no official way to get Tetrisphere.

I think it's just weird because I don't hear people saying FAQ as a word, but maybe I just associate myself with the right people.

Yeah, I always thought it was common knowledge that it was pronounced "Game Facks", and that was generally accepted/understood by the people on there going ages back. The same way people say "FOMO" as a single word rather than "eff oh emm oh". It is somewhat amusing though to see people think they're being astute by essentially saying "hey, the FAQ stands for Frequently Asked Questions, don't you know?!" You don't say...

No doubt. It's bad enough that people are losing their jobs but it's even worse that some of these roles are being outsourced to cheaper, foreign labour. Would this still have happened if the sale didn't go through? We will never know but it's an awful look either way.

Just one of many who have been hit by this. Going through the Era thread and seeing people there saying they've been given the boot, only for members to say things like "Sorry" or "All the best" is pretty rough. There's a good chance these people saying sorry were also praising/hoping for the acquisition to go ahead. You can't be pushing and praising for such a thing to happen and then act all sorry when these layoffs hit. A blind man on a galloping horse could see what was going to happen if the acquisition went through.

I'm a heathen they pronounces "nez" and "snez".

While yes, it's still behind, it's "only" 1 mil. And regarding "no signs of catching up": In the US (quite a competitive region), the PS5 is now ahead of PS4 sales when aligned , Sure, it may end up like this, but given current statistics I don't see how we can "safely assume" that this will be the end result.

I actually saw an advert for them the other day and that's how they pronounced it so you might be onto something.