Thursday, August 3, 2017

[YouTube] Transformers G1: Mirage/Sunstreaker/Sideswipe/Red Alert

                                                     https://youtu.be/G8GrMVha_f4


The Transformers #7
The Transformers are a result of Hasbro purchasing multiple transforming robot toylines from Japanese company Takara (same company that published Battle Arena Toshinden and other video games) and combing them into one. Hasbro released the first toys, referred to as Generation 1, in 1984 along with a cartoon from Sunbow and a comic book from Marvel that featured the same characters but separate stories.

For my first Transformers video I selected all Autobots: Mirage, Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, and Red Alert. As I mention in the video, Mirage was my first Transformer toy and Sideswipe is my favorite, in part because he also represents my favorite car, a red Lamborghini Countach. The others I chose were due to their links to Sideswipe with Sunstreaker being his twin and Red Alert using the same toy mold.

Mirage - Sunstreaker - Sideswipe - Red Alert
Mirage - Sunstreaker - Sideswipe - Red Alert



Mirage - Sunstreaker - Sideswipe - Red Alert

Mirage - Sunstreaker - Sideswipe - Red Alert 












Unfortunately, Mirage suffered a fatality in-between filming, breaking in half at the mid-section but that happens with toys more often than I'd like. Transformers are a little more challenging than other toys to keep in perfect condition due to the moving parts. I'm not really sure what happened with Mirage as I didn't force anything; he must have just been worn out. In the '80s I did play with most of my toys and since then they've primarily sat in boxes and been moved often. For being over 30 years old they have held up rather well, though sometimes it's best to not touch things too much. Although Sunstreaker has a sticker peeling around his front end/foot, most of the stickers are in good condition too.

Sunstreaker with accessories (one of three missiles shown),
instruction booklet, and tech spec card with plastic overlay. 

Sunstreaker instruction booklet front.
Sunstreaker instruction booklet back.

Along with showing the toys and their transformations, being the first video I've made for Transformers I also wanted to show what was included in a typical package. These toys were all packaged in a box while smaller Transformers like Bumblebee were carded. Every toy includes a tech spec card and robot points, and the boxed toys often include one or two booklets, typically a catalog and another containing special offers with an order form. My scanner is a little small for the booklets so I pieced a few together. The catalog booklet I did try to squeeze on the scanner but that did cut a tiny bit off the edges.

Tech Spec cards from the back of the toy packages; they
could use a trim. The Mirage card has a plastic overlay on it.

Robot points appear on the back of every Transformers
toy's packaging.

1984 booklet with art on one side.

1984 booklet with a toy catalog on the reverse side.

Special offers booklet front and back.

Special offers booklet after opening first fold.

Special offers booklet after opening second folds.

Special offers booklet after opening third folds. Here you can
see the cost -- dollars and robot points -- of each toy and VHS
tape. A medium vehicle cost approximately $10.99 at stores. 

If you're interested, I also uploaded some footage of the Transformers: Devastation game today: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Yucx_QoKUg.

Saturday, July 29, 2017

Gaming Ads: Crystal Dynamics

Founded by Judy Lang, David Morris, and Madeline Canepa in 1992, the California-based Crystal Dynamics celebrated its 25th anniversary just a few weeks ago. However, it does not appear that any of the original founders are still with the company. Its first game, Crash 'n Burn, is a racing game with combat released in 1993 for the 3DO console. In 1995 Crystal Dynamics released Gex, which is likely its best known original property. It also published a number of games developed by other studios as you'll see in the ads. Perhaps the most popular of those games is Silicon Knights' Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain, a series in which Crystal Dynamics developed the sequels for.

In 1998 Eidos Interactive acquired Crystal Dynamics and in 2003 the developer was entrusted with the Tomb Raider series. Due to financial shortcomings at Eidos, in 2009 Square Enix acquired the publisher and thus Crystal Dynamics. For the past 10 years the developer has primarily worked on the Tomb Raider franchise as it was rebooted in 2013. The studio is also currently collaborating with Eidos Montreal to develop a game based on Marvel Comics' Avengers.

Crystal Dynamics albums: Facebook - Google Photos




Sunday, July 23, 2017

[YouTube] Sega Master System


                                       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fc-f9QUg2bA

Sega Master System
First released in Japan as the Mark III in 1985, the Sega Master System (SMS) launched in North America in October 1986. Sega was already a year behind the release of the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) which hit stores in 1985. With a year head start and most third-party companies under contract, Nintendo easily dominated the 8-bit market. Nostalgia may be clouding my judgment but I like the Master System and have no regrets getting the SMS over the NES. That being said, I got mine in 1987 and inherited a Commodore 64 around the same time, plus I got a Genesis in 1989 and still played the Intellivision so I had many options and plenty of games to keep me occupied. Sure I've got some not-so-good games for the SMS but Shinobi, Out Run, Wonder Boy in Monster Land, and Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap are all great. I also had quite a bit of fun with games like Rocky, Gangster Town, and Double Dragon. Unfortunately, I never did get Phantasy Star; I'm sure I would have liked that as the sequel on Genesis is one of my favorites.

Sega Master System Box Front

As I mention in the video, I'm not certain what the launch price of the console was in 1986 and the rest of this paragraph is what I cut from the video. Wikipedia can be great but anyone can enter incorrect information too so a second source should always be referenced. That says $199.99 and I do now have a second source that backs it up so maybe it was briefly at that price point. The second source is the database that formerly displayed at allgame.com which is actually the database I work on for a living. That particular data comes from a freelance writer and I expect he researched it (1999). Sega Retro -- good site for all things Sega -- quotes The Ultimate History of Video Games book that was published in 2001 and that states that the console was $139 for a basic system and $149 for one with a second control pad and light gun. However, I do know that book has an error about the Sega CD launch system and I have a hard time believing there was only a $10 difference when one has an extra controller and light gun.

Sega Master System Box Back

The 1986 Sears Wishbook doesn't have the SMS in it but it does list the NES with two controllers and Super Mario Bros. for $89.99 (no Zapper or R.O.B.). In any case, it looks like Nintendo may have already had Sega beat on price in 1986 -- on top of the head start and third-party games -- which is another reason the SMS never had a chance. Coincidentally, my first video was for Starting Lineup Talking Baseball from Parker Brothers that most likely cost $99.99 in 1988. Tonka was the owner of Parker Brothers and was also in charge of marketing and distribution for the Sega Master System which was priced at $99.99 in 1987. The poor sales and price points for these products gives me the impression Tonka was out of its league when it came to electronics and probably should have stuck to toy trucks.

Sega Master System Power Base
The bottom has an extension port but
nothing was released that works with it.

While the Sega Master System didn't compete with the NES in North America, it did fare much better in Europe as the NES released around the same time as the SMS in that region and Sega held its own, even outselling the NES in some countries. Another big market for the SMS was Brazil where the company Tec Toy handled distribution. Brazil is a very different market that I don't have a complete understanding of but it seems Nintendo had no official presence in Brazil aside from knock off versions of the NES that ran pirated games. Brazil actually received Street Fighter II for the SMS in 1997! In the rest of the world Sega was well into the Saturn's lifespan in 1997 and the Dreamcast was only two years away.

Also, in the video I mentioned that I thought Outrun 3-D was released; it was but only in Europe. North America's 3D games are Blade Eagle, Maze Hunter, Missile Defense, Poseidon Wars, Space Harrier, and Zaxxon. If you want to know more about the system and the individual games, the aforementioned Sega Retro is a great place to start (it's sometimes down though, not the most reliable of websites). Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed the video!


Sega Master System Back on Box Side
Hang-On & Safari Hunt on Box Top

Instruction Manual Page 1
Instruction Manual & Pack-In Cartridge


Instruction Manual Page 10
Instruction Manual Page 11

Sega Master System Control Pads
Sega Master System Control Pads

Light Phaser & Manual
Light Phaser on Box Side

The Sega Light Phaser Instruction Manual

Rapid Fire Control Stick

Rapid Fire Unit Instructions














The Sega 3-D Glasses

The Sega 3-D Glasses




The Sega 3-D Glasses Manual

Saturday, July 22, 2017

Gaming Ads: Core Design, Cosmi, and Crave Entertainment

Core Design is best known as the developer of the Tomb Raider series but the company had been developing games for eight years prior to the release of the first Tomb Raider game. It was founded in 1988 and was based in the U.K. Some of Core's earlier games include Asterix and the Great Rescue, AH-3 Thunderstrike, and Bubba 'N' Stix. CentreGold acquired Core Design in 1994 and only two years later Eidos acquired CentreGold and thus Core Design. Since Eidos published the Tomb Raider games all of those game's ads will be seen when I upload Eidos ads.

I played the original Tomb Raider game a fair amount on the PlayStation, though I never completed it. The first one in the series that I finished is Legend which I'd say is also my favorite of the series. After that I completed Underworld, the reboot, and Rise of the Tomb Raider. However, none of those games were developed by Core Design as Crystal Dynamics took over the series after The Angel of Darkness (2003). Core Design was on its last legs at that point as many staff departed and Rebellion took over what remained of Core, minus the Tomb Raider assets.

Cosmi was founded in 1982 and has primarily published games on a variety computers. I own a couple of its games on Commodore 64 but didn't play them much at all as they aren't very good: Shirley Muldowney's Top Fuel Challenge and Steve Garvey vs. Jose Canseco in Grand Slam Baseball. I don't know that any of Cosmi's games were big hits and yet it is still in business today as ValuSoft Cosmi (ValuSoft was acquired from THQ in 2012). More recently, before digital publishing replaced much of the PC retail business over the past five years or so, Cosmi had been publishing a lot of budget software and re-issues of older PC titles in jewel cases. Now it looks like it publishes budget titles digitally as many computer game makers do.

Crave Entertainment was founded in California in 1997. The publisher is no longer in business but it managed to release more than 100 games in a 14 year span so I'd expect many gamers are familiar with the company even if they didn't play its games. While it may not be known as having many great games, it released many ports from one platform to another, and it had a very strong presence on the Dreamcast. Its Dreamcast releases include: Killer Loop, AeroWings (and a sequel), Tokyo Xtreme Racer (and a sequel), Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, Super Magnetic Neo, Draconus: Cult of the Wyrm, Sno-Cross Championship Racing, Ultimate Fighting Championship, Red Dog: Superior Firepower, Starlancer, Razor Freestyle Scooter, The Next Tetris: On-Line Edition, Surf Rocket Racers, Bangai-O, and Soldier of Fortune.

I list all of those in part because I like the Dreamcast but also because that's a significant number of games for a console that didn't even last three years. With 17 Dreamcast releases Crave might have been the console's biggest supporter aside from Sega. While the Dreamcast released in the U.S. in late '99, just before my ads date cutoff of 2000, I'm holding back all Dreamcast ads (only have 21 scanned so far) to group them together and I will be going beyond the '90s for this. However, don't expect it until I'm done posting all of the other ads I have first. This could be a long ways off, perhaps another two years if I wait for the 20th anniversary (9-9-19). We'll see but at some point I'll definitely have some Dreamcast coverage.

The ads for all of these publishers is lacking unfortunately. Each one only has 2-5 and four of Crave's ads are for Shadow Madness.

Core Design albums: Facebook - Google Photos
Cosmi albums: Facebook - Google Photos
Crave Entertainment albums: Facebook - Google Photos


Saturday, July 15, 2017

Gaming Ads: Color Dreams and Commodore

Color Dreams published its first video games in 1989 for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). Like Camerica, Color Dreams didn't have Nintendo's approval so the company had to bypass the lock-out chip on the NES and none of its games carry Nintendo's official seal of quality. It also published games under two other brands; Bunch Games was used for budget titles and Wisdom Tree focused on religious-themed games. In the mid-'90s Color Dreams left the video game industry and now manufactures security cameras under the name StarDot Technologies.

Commodore was founded in 1954 as a typewriter company by Jack Tramiel. It was based in Toronto and over the years has been known as Commodore International and Commodore Business Machines. After typewriters the company produced calculators in the early '70s before releasing its first computer in 1977, the Commodore Personal Electronic Transactor (or Commodore PET) designed by engineer Chuck Peddle. Its second computer, the VIC-20, debuted in 1981 for $299 while its most well known home computer, the Commodore 64 (C64) released in 1982 for $595.

As I wrote in the blog's About section, the C64's 1541 disk drive is where the numbers in the blog name come from. The computer is also prominently featured in the blog's header image and influenced the color scheme. I didn't get a Commodore until 1987 as my family inherited it from one of my father's uncles. While my father attempted to use the C64 for word processing and other useful things, I eventually took it over as I played numerous games on the machine. It didn't replace my Sega consoles but it certainly stole much of my game time away from them as games like Sid Meier's Pirates!, SimCity, Pool of Radiance, and Wasteland had me hooked on computer games.

The C64 wasn't Commodore's last computer, though it is the only one I've used. After the C64 came the Commodore 128 in early 1985 and the Amiga later that same year (Commodore bought the Amiga Corporation in 1983). In 1984 Jack Tramiel resigned due to disagreements with the board of directors and would go on to start his own company. Tramiel managed to purchase Atari's home consumer division where he led the release of the Atari ST computer. Atari, Apple, and IBM were Commodore's primary competitors and as with my Atari ads post, I'll abbreviate here to simply state that despite its numerous successes, Commodore would run into financial troubles that saw the company close in 1994. In 2010 a company called Commodore USA acquired the rights to the Commodore assets and released new computers based on the classics in 2011 but that business venture only lasted a few years.

I would have dedicated this week's complete ads post to Commodore if I had more than a measly two ads. My magazines don't date back far enough as the ads I do have only cover two items in the Amiga line. Let me also add that I've come across a few sets of ads recently that were set to private on Flickr. That was a mistake, of course, and I would guess when that happens you'll see empty albums. I will never create an empty album; if I don't have ads for a company then I will not have an album for it. If you come across any problems with my Flickr albums please let me know, thank you!

Color Dreams albums: Facebook - Google Photos
Commodore albums: Facebook - Google Photos