Together Retro 2016 Calendar - FINAL

[noiseredux]

well American football rules. But I get it.

We've done NBA Jam in the past. I think Virtua Tennis has come up but never been selected. That's a thought.

[MrPopo]

'MURICA

Ha, point taken, and I hadn't considered the international ramifications regarding interest in an American football game.

I'm much more open to say, Basketball or Ice Hockey though. They're just more fun somehow, probably due to their faster pace.

I first read that as Baseball and was going to tear into you for claiming that baseball is faster paced than gridiron football.

[SpaceBooger]

What mjmjr25 brought up made me go and read through the "Birth of TR" thread: http://www.racketboy.com/forum/viewtopi ... =33&t=4798

I recommend everyone reading that again before continuing with the list. That thread is by no means the gospel of TR, but it does remind us of it's original intent.

Originally systems, genres, and timeline (spans of years) played a large role in choosing the games. I think we need to make sure we revisit that thread and it may help us all continue this discussion to help the list evolve.

I personally want to see a couple arcade games listed. I do not think we should do more than one long in-depth game, instead we should focus on the skill based games similar to the 16bit and earlier eras. Most of us already have picked long in depth games that we want to play on our own, so I do think that multiple long in-depth games do not fit the original idea of the group. KOTOR is my next "long" game so that is why I voted for it. Since that is the game I plan to play, I will play that no matter what and probably skip a long TR game, but an arcade style game I would find time for.

Again I highly encourage everyone to reread the "Birth of TR" thread: http://www.racketboy.com/forum/viewtopi ... =33&t=4798

[TSTR]

Damn Star Control 2 is the 4th post in that thread.

[mjmjr25]

Thanks for that link, SB. Also, to my point and in response to AJ's questions from yesterday - yes, I think TR has always been designed as something to bring in members and it seems pretty clear in the main page TR article.

Also, noteworthy, was something I strongly agree with - staying away from emulation where possible. Just because a game is accessible because of emulation doesn't mean we should embrace it - this gets us to play games as racket accurately stated, for about 3 minutes. Download the rom, play it, not for me, next please. There is no real appreciation - something TR embraces; appreciation for games. I don't know that the original commentors feel the same 7 years later about emulation, but I know I feel that way.

Also - there was a mention of

prizes!

[Ack]

I personally want to see a couple arcade games listed.

...but there are more than a couple of arcade games listed:

Metal Slug, Solomon's Key, Daytona USA, and R-Type were all released in arcades.

Star Control 2 is unlike other games we have played but can trace its roots back to Spacewar! at the very beginning of the arcade. It was advocated for from the very beginning.

Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee and Pitfall are platformers.

Our two FPS are stuck in one month to give a compare/contrast.

October will still likely continue the tradition we have set of trying out a horror game. I made multiple suggestions for it, but Alone in the Dark and Fatal Frame generated the most interest. We can still have a poll about it though.

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Really, the sticking point seems to be KOTOR, Pokemon, and Harvest Moon.

This would not be the first year we've had multiple RPGs(we had 3 RPGs in 2008, as well as an MMO and a WRPG in 2014), nor the first time we've had any other genre represented heavily(2 platformers back to back in 2008, and we had five light gun games in a row in 2009, followed by a few months later had Wizard of Wor followed by Smash TV).

If anything, our lists have tended to be dominated by arcade games or arcade styles, at the expense of many other classic games and genres. In seven years, we have had 3 WRPGs: Diablo 2, Baldur's Gate, and Ultima IV. We've discussed what the purpose of Together Retro is, and in the first post of his thread of intent, Racket declared it was to be a hands-on history lesson in video games. Yet we apparently refuse to look at large sections of video game history for whatever reason, be it community or personal bias, ignorance of classic gaming in certain areas, lack of access, etc.

Now yes, we have a side club that does RPGs. We also have a side club that does SHMUPs, and one that used to do fighting games. This does not and should not stop us from allowing those genres into the main TR line.

Noise and I have talked a bit about this, and we've decided that we are going to open a few polls to gauge opinion. We'll watch them for at least a week to see how folks feel. These are the polls we currently intend to open:

What RPGs to play: KOTOR, Pokemon, or both?

What horror game to play: Alone in the Dark, Fatal Frame, or other?

Should we keep Harvest Moon or replace it with a fighting game to be determined?

[ExedExes]

The current list has quite a few arcade games. R-Type, Daytona, Metal Slug, and even Solomon's Key was originally an arcade game. Ack covered that!

As far as I see, there are no games on the current list that would require any sort of emulation unless we're counting the commercially available physical/digital compilations that use emulation technology. I don't see anything wrong with playing Pitfall for example on an Activision Anthology or Metal Slug on the collection that's available on the Wii. I know people might not like emulation but again I'm seeing games here available on cartridge/disc/download services.

[BogusMeatFactory]

Hear Hear Ack! You summed it up nicely and I am fine with the polls for the highly contested titles and what to do from there. I am happy with the list and the things that will be polled on are the things that I consider to be debatable and worth further investigation.

P.S. Star Control 2 rocks and we need more retro PC games featured on this site and all y'alls are just gonna have to take it. Now....we just need to have more FMV games on the list! When will Her Story be considered Retro?

[TSTR]

Moar thots (lol):

If we're gonna do a cinematic platformer, I think we should either do Prince of Persia or Another World rather than Oddworld. Myriad ports abound, and I feel like they're more historically important to the genre. I do need to play Oddworld at some point though.

Pokeyman is definitely more significant than KOTOR. If one has to stay, that should be it. Though as I mentioned, not really stoked on either. Final Fantasy? Dragon Quest? Seems odd that this club hasn't touched either of these huge series.

The only way I'd want to see a fighting game on this list is if it's one that can be played online. Maybe then we could actually get some matches going. I vote Virtua Fighter. Older VF games can be played for those not willing or able to play online, and VF5 can serve for online play. Also that whole birthing of 3D fighting games thing seems appropriate.

There has got to be something more classic than Harvest Moon to play, even in sim/psuedo-sim genres, right?

I wish I could think of another horror title to suggest.

I steadily become more and more intrigued by Star Control.

[noiseredux]

If we're gonna do a cinematic platformer, I think we should either do Prince of Persia or Another World rather than Oddworld. Myriad ports abound, and I feel like they're more historically important to the genre. I do need to play Oddworld at some point though.

I agree totally.

Final Fantasy? Dragon Quest? Seems odd that this club hasn't touched either of these huge series.

Although I really want to play KOTOR, I agree with this as well.

The only way I'd want to see a fighting game on this list is if it's one that can be played online. Maybe then we could actually get some matches going. I vote Virtua Fighter. Older VF games can be played for those not willing or able to play online, and VF5 can serve for online play. Also that whole birthing of 3D fighting games thing seems appropriate.

um... I'm pretty sure VF5 does NOT have online.

But, a fighting game that has online ports would be great... Although we've done SNK stuff in the past there's lots of KOF games w/ online on PS3/360/Steam... the recently released 2002 UM would be a good example.