Todd's columns have appeared in many publications such as GamePro, Electronic Gaming Monthly, PC Gamer, and Electronic Games. Todd is a founding member of GiN and speaks from an "old school" gamer's perspective. Embracing the notions of all classic gaming, game soundtracks, and the original "hardcore style," he also shuns the trends he feels are ruining the game industry, such as the embracement of 3D, the over-saturation of MMOs, and misleading game advertising.
Sega’s Virtual On will always have a place in my heart as one of my all-time favorite Saturn titles. It also is a title responsible for me spending a lot of money at the local Dave & Buster’s a few years ago. It is such a simple game to get into, yet a challenge to master. True one-on-one mech combat against another human opponent is now possible, and as a result, long lines were common. It was just as much fun to watch a battle as it was to play. Pictures of Virtual On Oratorio Tangram (henceforth known as Virtual … Continue reading Virtual On: Oratorio Tangram is a stupendous sequel→
Normally I don’t write reviews about controllers. In fact, the last review I did for a controller was for the Gravis Xterminator back in 1998. However, when I was at E3, I had a meeting with a Los Angeles based company called Nyko. During the session, I was introduced to a little Dreamcast controller entitled the Dream Master. At first, it looked to me like your ordinary Dreamcast controller, and I didn’t really think that it would amount to much. Imagine my shock when I returned to my hotel room that same night, attached the Dream Master to my Sega … Continue reading Dream Master Controller improves on Sega standard→
I’m sure that everyone knows about the Laser Disc game craze that took place back in the early to mid 80s (before the big crash). When Dragon’s Lair was released to the arcade masses, it took the country by storm, raking in over $30 million in revenue during the first six months. Dragon’s Lair was the creation of former Disney animator Don Bluth, whom you might know as the animator for classics such as The Secret of NIMH, The Land Before Time, An American Tail, and the recently released Titan A.E., and the game concept was developed by Rick Dyer, … Continue reading Digital Leisure does Laser Disc→
Sega’s first attempt in the dance/rhythm genre comes right off their impressive showing at E3 last month. Space Channel 5 was hyped by Sega with an elaborate setting, complete with cage dancers, future-retro backdrops, and an LED display simply stating "Launching June 6, 2000!" After seeing this display, I started to gain interest in the title although the dance/rhythm games don’t really appeal to me. Granted, I went through both Parappa and Bust-a-Groove on the PlayStation, but they were finished in only a matter of hours, resulting in a short, shallow experience. I had a gut feeling that Sega would … Continue reading Space Channel 5 is a dance party→
When I heard that Chris Roberts would be leaving Origin to found his own company, Digital Anvil, I had a lot of skepticism about how his Wing Commander series would turn out. As it turns out, it did have its highs and lows. On the high side, Origin released a worthy successor title back in 1997 called Wing Commander: Prophecy which did a good job carrying on the WC tradition even after the Kilrathi’s extermination and Roberts’ departure. Contrasting to the darker side of Digital Anvil, we were exposed, or in my case, tortured to that abomination Wing Commander theatrical … Continue reading Roberts Finds Redemption with Starlancer→
Black Box has a lot to prove. After all, this is a company releasing a sports game for the Draamcast right after Visual Concepts created two titles that changed sports games as we know it, NFL 2K and NBA 2K. In creating NHL 2K, it needs to be taken into consideration that Black Box was responsible for the Saturn conversion of NHL Powerplay, the only NHL title that I feel would easily dethrone anything that EA Sports game out with (it did beat them that year, as NHL 96 for the Saturn and PlayStation ended up being scrapped). Powerplay included … Continue reading Sega Sports NHL 2K scores!→
Capcom’s Resident Evil series on the PlayStation is one series I could do without. To me, it was just one long tedious trek through flat, boring backdrops, while waiting forever for each stage to load in during that boring "opening door" sequence. And if that isn’t enough, I was not a fan of that God-awful voice acting that many other players would consider fitting for the series. To me it was just cannon fodder for a computer game of Mystery Science Theater 3000. Resident Evil 2 was the only game in the series that I actually sat through in its … Continue reading Resident Evil: Code Veronica rocks→
We’ve all heard the debate of which format is better for gaming, the PC or the console market. Heck, it’s got as big as the Coke vs. Pepsi debate. Forthe longest time, I, being a dedicated game tester, decided to stay equal onboth sides. But recently I have delivered my own attack on this ongoingissue. At the beginning of the year 2000, I noticed an article in a computer gamespublication that caught my eye. This editorial criticized the SegaDreamcast, and in particular, its top-selling sports titles, NFL2K andNBA2K. It seems that the person who wrote this column decided to attack … Continue reading PC or Console?→
Back when I got my first modern PC, (my real first computer was a Trash 80) I noticed that installed on it was a simple game entitled Wolfenstein 3D. Created by a small company called id Software, it ended up taking a lot of my free time, as well as becoming one of the greatest games of all time. Maybe it was because it involved traversing through a vast labyrinth from a first person view, or maybe it was because I collect material involving World War II (as my DVD collection of Patton and Saving Private Ryan would prove). Whatever … Continue reading Mortyr 2093 – 1944 is no Wolfenstein→
Tecmo’s Dead or Alive was released back in 1996 for both the Sega Saturn and the Sony PlayStation. Being based on Sega’s own Model 2 engine (which was previously used for Daytona USA, Fighting Vipers, and Virtua Fighter 2), it was no surprise that this game looked like its arcade predecessor on the Saturn. However, on the PlayStation, the characters might have looked more rounded, but the backgrounds were extremely flat (partly due to the Saturn using its special VDP2 processor to generate the backdrops). Unfortunately, to see DOA on the Saturn you would have had to own an import … Continue reading Dead or Alive 2 kills→
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