06/02/2019

Those Shaky Sega Saturn Polygons, But Even Shakier (From The Attract Mode Archive: #038)

by Matthew Edward Hawkins

The following post originally appeared on attractmo.de, on January 25, 2013.
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I love glitched graphics, just as much as the next guy. Though I will admit, I’ve also become somewhat bored with how they’re mostly churned out by the Famicom or NES.

Thankfully, we’re starting to see an increasing number of artists tap into more powerful/relatively newer hardware. Like Big Pauper and his utilization of my favorite console of all time, the Sega Saturn.

I discovered the video above via Ary (of Anamanaguchi fame) and his Tumblr, and it’s my favorite example, since I was such a huge Virtua Fighter 1 nerd back in the day (still am).

Its polygons were fairly unstable to being with, so it’s as if Big Pauper has removed the one thing that kept everything barely together!

Here’s a few others; all day one Saturn owners might recall the demo disc that came included, alongside VF1. It represents a turning point for Sega’s WELCOME TO THE NEXT LEVEL ad campaign, because that’s when it jumped the shark…

Next is another gameplay clip, featuring one of the system’s all time greats, NiGHTS. I will admit, it’s not nearly as insane as one might hope, given the source material. But you just can’t predict these kinds of things, sometimes…

And finally we have Cyber Speedway, which I also kind dug, if only because of the sexy Syd Mead designs. Too bad it’s not Gran Chaser, the Japanese version, which has a far superior soundtrack…

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06/01/2019

Zac Gorman’s Magical Game Time, Volume 1, On Sale Now (From The Attract Mode Archive: #037)

by Matthew Edward Hawkins

The following post originally appeared on attractmo.de, on January 24, 2013.
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Zac Gorman, a definite pal to everyone in Attract Mode, has just collected his entire run of Magical Game Time comics!

Very few cartoonists (practically none, actually) have managed to encapsulate those wondrous sensations and emotions that we all felt while playing video games during our more innocent days, and in such a profound manner, like Zac has been able to.

So the dude deserves everyone’s love and support, in the form of cash! Especially since he sorts needs it. As Zac explains…

“Earlier this week, I experienced a pretty sizable financial setback when my old computer dropped dead on me out of the blue. I lost some files (including some of the most recent comics), some time, and most of all some cold hard cash.

By purchasing this PDF, you’re not only getting something cool to read but also helping me get right back to doing what I love doing…making comics!”

And we all want to see more comics from Zac, right? The minimum asking price for his massive 139 page collection is just a buck. Though everyone obviously should put down a little more than just that.

Unfortunately, the collection is static. Another reason why Zac’s work should be celebrated? He actually figured a way to make animated gif comics awesome and not gaudy, like virtually every other example out there. But that’s the nature of PDFs; don’t blame Zac, but Adobe!

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05/31/2019

Because Your Day Calls For A Two Hour Long Jam By The Creator Of PaRappa the Rapper And Vib Ribbon (From The Attract Mode Archive: #036)

by Matthew Edward Hawkins

The following post originally appeared on attractmo.de, on January 23, 2013.
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Sorry if I’m late to the party with the following question, but here goes: did you know that Masaya Matsuura has a SoundCloud?

As if it needs to be pointed out, but the man’s body of work, as it pertains to video games, is a direct result of his extensive background in music. So it’s a great chance to survey Matsuura’s chops in that area, and in a somewhat unfiltered format.

I kind of suck at describing music (as anyone who has ready any of my past Blip Festival reports can attest), so let’s just say it’s all around awesome. But if you especially dig early 80s sounds from Japan, then it’s TOTALLY up your alley.

Also, you can hear bits and pieces of PaRappa the Rapper, Vib Ribbon, even Mojib Ribbon throughout. I’d suggest going all in, via the following, which pieces together almost everything he’s done last year in one super-cut…

[soundcloud url="http://api.soundcloud.com/playlists/2752038" params="" width=" 100%" height="450" iframe="true" /]

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