Station to Station

Rumors are circulating that the proposed PS5 will play every PlayStation game ever made - which means those that appeared on all it's predecessors.

Source

I have explained before that when the PS3 was released, i noticed it had no backwards compatibility - so not willing to part with my PS1 and PS2 games, I gave up on PlayStation and have since never looked back.
I mean, it was certainly a turnabout face, when the PS2 offered full PS1 backwards compatibly, right?

Since then, I have no idea about what Sony have done since in regards to backwards compatibility. Sure there are some PS1 and PS2 games available on the PSN but whilst good news for those games on there, it's no so great for the games not on there.
So to have such a turnabout face is a surprise on my end. What made Sony, known for shunning backwards comparability change their mind?

Are companies actually waking up to the dangers of poor gaming historical preservation?
Did Sony see the backwards compatibility functions on the Xbone and grow jealous?
Did Sony glance at GoG and see the success/brand-loyalty/money they were generating?
Did Sony see an opportunity arise with Nintendo's weakened position with their closure of the Wii Shopping Channel and their condemnation of ROMs?

But, as always, these are just rumours.
The real judgement comes when the PS5 shows it's face.....

Wii aren't ever getting back together

On the weekend, I paid one final visit to the Wii Shopping Channel to download any games that I had missed. Fortunately for me, I was still able to.

I also had a look around and, predictably, there was nothing there. Where once were games for sale are now blank spaces.

It is indeed a sobering thought that an aging 8gb SD card is the only means I have to play certain games.

The Day Wii Parted

And so, the day has come: the Wii Shop Channel has been closed down by Nintendo.

I suppose the real feat here is that something has latest well over a decade in an industry that tends to move at a lightening fast pace. But such wording does describe a problem that is growing within the gaming industry: Things are moving so quickly that it is difficult to keep up. Subsequently, far too often many older games are being forgotten.

Whilst I've spoken about the sorry state of gaming preservation, I do have some anger directed at Nintendo for their cavalier approach to their history. Whereas the likes of Steam and GoG have their games available forever, Nintendo would rather have their games being made difficult to get a hold of let alone play. It is indeed frustrating that many classics are going unplayed and many aspiring game developers are unable to learn from the pioneers who came before them.

Still, the Wii Shop Channel was, for me, the singular reason i got a Wii. The means to play all those historical classics, that passed me the first time around, was a delight to behold. And it's the same reason why I still hang onto my Wii - and, with all my downloads from the Wii Shop Channel safe on a SD card, I certainly see myself continue to use it in the future. 

Rest In Peace you glorious thing you.

Noseblud

In recent months I played a lot of Age of Empires 2: Age of Kings.
And during the Attila campaign i came across this:

Somehow the anime geek in me will never find this not funny.

Face Facts

Well Red Dead Redemption 2 has been out for a while now.
Thus the excitement and anticipation in the lead-up to it's release now seems a distant memory. ]
I suppsoe that's to be expected with any game relased, but there's something i wnat answered.

Has anyone correctly identified the characters in the promo art?

 Original image located here. Accessed 21st January 2018

I remember this being a big deal, with people trying to match names to the faces (I tried it myself) but now we've had the time to get to know these characters, with recognizing famailiar faces and being introduced to new ones. So has anyone put names to the faces?

No Tickets to Paradise

During the holiday period, i came across something that made me irate:

Original video located here. Accessed 18th January 2019

Admittedly, Nintendo's lawsuit against various ROM sites (including Emuparadise) is news to me. Somehow, I have not been keeping abreast with the emulation front since I've been playing old games that have been easily accessible (via Virtual Console, Steam, and GoG).

I am however disgusted with this hostility towards emulation. For me, emulation is providing a vital service in preserving old games and making them readily available - even in the face of companies who are doing nothing of the sort and subsequently getting irate and bringing in the lawyers.

Little counter-productive don't cha think?

No doubt this fracas will result in some bad PR for Nintendo. And may make the topic of emulation a greater talking point than previously. So it would be interesting to see what will happen in the aftermath of this.....

Return of the Dragon

Happy New Year!

So here we are: Another year, and another series of posts to fill up a blog that flat out refuses to die. 

So to kick things off for 2019, this was something that caught my eye during the holiday period: Panzer Dragoon 1 and 2 will be getting a remake.  

This is good news for me. Whilst it does present hope that the fabled Saga may be following suite (admittedly however slim), the real treat is that Sega have made a big step in acknowledging their post-Megadrive history and are making some of their lesser-known/overlooked classics in a new light. I heard rumours that Sega were considering dusting off some old IP and here, we have some proof to back it up

So, there's some hope for 2019. So lets see if that potential is met....