Digital Foundry Retro Discussion [2018 - 2020]

New DF Retro Extra video, featuring some of the favourite games of John ever, the Sonic series. In the video he shows the creations of modern developers who are versioning Sonic games using their skills, sometimes making Sonic games from the ground up.

The games have been shown at SAGE 2018. SAGE is an annual festival where developers share their imagination and conceptions of platform games based on Sonic. Enjoy!

 

From the list of games John Linneman mentions in the video, one of the games that I liked the most is Super Mario Flashback -which is also among John’s favourites-. The game can be downloaded here:

http://smflashback.byethost15.com/?i=1

 

DF Retro x modern, Megaman 11. Like the back of the box says "Eleventh time's the charm".

From what John says in the review, it almost feels like a classic Megaman game.

 

https://www.segasammy.co.jp/english/ir/library/pdf/printing_annual/2018/ssh_ar18e_web.pdf

Sega has published some data of their franchises' sales.

Acquired Licenses
Megami Tensei (since 1987) – Aprox. 12,4 millions (packaged / digital)
Persona (since 1996) – Aprox. 9,3 millions (packaged / digital)
Etrian Odyssey (since 2007) Aprox. 1,9 millions (units / digital)
Total War (since 2000) – Aprox. 22 millions (units / digital)
Football Manager (since 2005) – Aprox. 18,1 millions (units / downloads)


Own Licenses
Sonic the Hedgehog (since 1991 to FY3/2018 ) – Aprox. 800 millions (units / downloads / arcade / pachinko)
Puyo Puyo (since 1991) – Aprox. 27 millions (units / downloads / ID)
Yakuza (since 2005) – Aprox. 11 millions (units / downloads)
Aladdin (since 1989) – Aprox. 570,000
Beast King (since 2001) – Aprox. 490,000
Phantasy Star (since 1987) – Aprox. 5 millions
Chain Chronicle (since 2013) – Aprox. 15 millions


Licenses from 3rd parties
Sega feat. Hatsune Miku Project (since 2009) – Aprox. 6 millions
Hokuto no Ken (since 2002) – Aprox. 2.74 millions
Souten no Ken (since 2009) – Aprox. 440.000 units

 

Mega Man games have excellently simple mechanics. You beat some levels, defeat a boss, acquire that boss main power and can use those acquired powers to defeat other bosses in a strategic way. Also, the scroll of the game, in the NES version -having the game pausing while Megaman was hanging in the air- was pretty cool.

On a different, new DF video featuring Shenmue, a cancelled remake of the game.

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2018-segas-cancelled-shenmue-remake



Note that in the video, John says that we might never know the "business decision" behind the fact that Sega got the remake canned. However, something that puzzles me is the fact that in the previous post about the sales of Sega franchises, Shenmue is nowhere to be seen.

 

1993 vs 2018



-thanks Vitolo-

 

a friend of mine asked his 3 years old daughter which images was her favourite, and she replied that the top one.

hahahah, I like how you think there.

juasjuasjuas, also nice one.

 

XJ220

 

talking of magazines, two of the more emblematic magazines of the British landscape, are going to shut their doors next month.

This month's issues of GamesMaster and Games TM will be their last
Multi-format gaming brands had over 40 years of combined shelf-life


MCV's parent company Future plc informed us today that GamesMaster and Games TM magazines will be closing this month, with their next issues being their last.

"Despite the company's strong performance overall, unfortunately Games TM and GamesMaster are no longer profitable parts of the business, which means that their next issues, on sale November 1st, will be the final editions," said Tony Mott, brand director of games.

The magazines had long and storied histories. GamesMaster dates back to 1993; while Games TM has been running since 2002, and is a month short of its sixteenth birthday. Their closure leaves Future’s Edge magazine as the last, long-running proponent in the multi-format games space.

Mott told us: “The decision was an extremely difficult one, but everyone here is enormously proud of what the magazines have achieved in their lifetimes – an incredible 25 years in GamesMaster's case – and we are currently redeploying affected staff within the company."

Of course, there will be many freelancers out there who are also affected by the closures.

GamesMaster was based around the TV show of the same name, and ended up outliving its namesake by some 20 years. The magazine's final editor, Robin Valentine, told MCV: "GamesMaster was very close to my heart, and I'm incredibly sad to see it go. For over 25 years it was a place to really celebrate video games, and its uniquely passionate and positive fanbase was testament to how much that resonated. I was so lucky to get to be a part of that, even if it turned out to be the final part."

Games TM’s classy presentation showed games in all their glory, and while the magazine switched around publishers over the years, it spent a good ten years with Imagine, which was acquired by Future back in 2016.

https://www.mcvuk.com/business/this-months-issues-of-gamesmaster-and-games-tm-will-be-their-last

 

Sonic 2 , arcade version -yes, Megaplay was an arcade machine based on the Megadrive- beaten with a single credit -comments in spanish-.

Aside from a few different bugs, the arcade (Megaplay) version of Sonic 2 also doesn't have a timer, which makes things easier, but also you get less lives, so it can be more complicated. It is an arcade after all.