Smith & Company Creations Official Blog

Monday 4 July 2016

NORTH EAST RETRO GAMING 2016 - PART 1

So this year's Retro Gaming took place at Gateshead Leisure Centre instead of Gateshead Stadium due to an another event taking place there. While the venue was much more better. It is really easy to get there and it wasn't that busy then it was before. I happen to got some bargains and even some classics, especially games that I really want to play on so bad.

They had lots of arcade games to play on, lots of pinball machines and even classic retro consoles such as the NES, Game Boy, Mega Drive/Genesis, Commandore and even the infamous CD-i. Unfortunately, Panasonic's 3DO, Commandore 64 and BBC Micro were not present this time as they did last year. I wonder why, could they be used for a another event taking place or was it broke? But who knows.

Well in foremost, they had two PlayStations, one of them had the two analog joysticks which is great for air combat games. I really want one of those so bad that this peripheral is officially licensed by PlayStation.

Whilst the selection of games for the PlayStation were ok. They had this ''great game'' worth playing. Nah, I'm kidding, it's just Bubsy 3D which is one of the worst PlayStation games of all time with god-awful controls, music and horrendous graphics. But hey, it least they have both Oddworld games.

If you remember back in the 1990's, stores would have those awesome looking kiosks. It was even for sale so I was wondering, who bought this wonderful cabinet and how much was it worth?

Even Nintendo's failed portable console was present at this year's NERG. The game that was running on the system was 3D Tetris. And too me, it doesn't look like the actual Tetris game I ever played, the camera keeps moving by itself and it's just confusing to play. Also, the system sold very terribly, was known for given headaches and it had a very small library of games. 22 in Japan and only a mere 14 in North America. It was never released in Europe and the United Kingdom. Also, here what the controller looks like.

Herc's Adventures, King's Field and many more gems. There's King Field which I wanted but the high price prevented me from buying it as I want to save up and focus and bagging more deals. Maybe in the future sometime? Also, FromSoftware's PS1 titles can tend to get very pricey.

Before Sucker Punch went on to make Sly Cooper and InFamous for Sony Computer Entertainment. Their first game wasn't on a PlayStation system. Their first game Rocket: Robot on Wheels was released as an Nintendo 64 exclusive whilst Ubisoft handled the publishing. It was never released on a PlayStation system.

I also happened to play one of Rare's famous ZX Spectrum classics known as JetPac. You would play as an astronaut collecting pieces to build your rocket then collect fuel to refuel it. Along the way, you would to blast out enemies to get out of the way. You could also play this on Rare's Rare Replay compilation for Xbox One.

Harley Quinn, Spider-Man, Hugo Strange and Ursula from The Little Mermaid? Best cosplayers ever.

And then I end part 1 with one of the best parts ever. Earthbound Zero/Beginnings which is never released in the US/EU which finally got a Virtual Console release last year running from a flash cart. I'm sure you can grab a repro cart from eBay.

And that's part 1, stay tuned for part 2 sometime later this week.

Monday 27 June 2016

10 GAMES THAT DESERVE THE LIMITED RUN TREATMENT

Meet Limited Run Games. An awesome publishing company who has been publishing indie titles for indie developers and fans who really love to a have indie games in their collection. Since the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita were region free. They have been producing very limited physical copies such as Octodad, Oddworld New n' Tasty, Saturday Morning RPG which Europe does not have in their European Store as of yet, Futuridum, Xeodrifter and Breach & Clear which is their first published title.

However, these boxed copies can only be bought on their website and once they are all sold out, that's it. So if you really wish to have any game as a physical box. You have to get it as early as possible. You will never that the Limited Run published games will become collector's items and is worth hundreds. In this list we will list down the 10 games that need the physical treatment. This is not a top 10. Just the 10 games that really needs it. Also, we do not count already-published indie games or Nintendo exclusives since one, some games already had the physical treatment (sorry Shovel Knight, RCR DX and Teslagrad), and two, Nintendo systems are region locked.

10. VELOCITY 2X

You know, FuturLab never had any Limited Run treatment thus far. We know the game was released few years ago and was given away via PlayStation Plus. With excellent gameplay, soundtrack and much more, in my opinion FuturLab should make a deal with Limited Run to produce Limited Run copies for both PSVita and PS4. If EastAsiaSoft made a deal, I'm sure FuturLab could pretty much do it once they make a new IP.

9. STEALTH INC 1+2

And so did Curve Digital along with all of their titles. Curve Digital has been a major supporter for the PlayStation Vita. With addictive gameplay, challenging puzzles and locked on 60fps on both PlayStation systems. I think this would make a great candidate. Now because both games may have small file sizes. They could cram in two games into one cartridge like what Sony did with their HD compilations. Make it happen Curve Digital.

8. SEVERED

Not going to say this, I love this game, the graphics were colourful, precise touch-screen control and runs perfectly on the PlayStation Vita without any lag or crashes. Drinkbox Studios did an excellent job. A Limited Run physical version is a must. While I bought it a few months ago. I never got around to play it. If you never played it, you should give it a try. I mean, who doesn't love to see the beautiful art-style on the PSVita boxart?

7. STEAMWORLD HEIST

Enter Image & Form Games. the studio that has developed two steampunk games for pretty much every single platform, Steamworld Dig, a digging game where you collect loot and upgrades. And Steamworld Heist, a 2D turn-based strategy game where you defeat enemy robots using fancy trick shots and collect loot. Since these games turn out great. I would love to see the psyhical treatment from Limited Run.

6. DON'T STARVE

This game got both PSVita, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 versions and they were cross-buy. Since these games were cross-buy compatible. A cross-buy code could be bundled into any copies of the game. This means getting all 2500 codes from Klei Entertainment would be a bother. However, Few of SCE's psyhical titles actually had cross-buy enabled with the PlayStation Vita and so did the upcoming Mighty No.9 as it was advertised on the box. This gorgeous survival horror would make a great Limited Run edition. All DLC and cross-buy included.

5. OLLI-OLLI 1+2

Limited Run Edition with two games in one cartridge? Yes please! I really like Roll7's OlliOlli games. 60fps per second, no load times, no lag but there was a crash at first until it got patched out. They were also great for break times. I don't care if these games came bundled or separate. It would be great.

4. SUPER MEAT BOY

Super Meat Boy is one of the most popular indie games of all time and was almost released on every platform. It was even given away for PlayStation Plus subscribers. Now how about a Limited Run release of this popular indie game? It has to happen. The PSVita version is flawless with no frame drops after all even with all those particles used. A Limited Run physical release needs to happen.

3. BINDING OF ISSAC

Now, we all know that the PSVita version did not Binding of Issac Aftermath. But both versions got Binding of Issac Rebirth. Binding of Issac however is a another one of those great titles worth playing today. It plays just like the dungeons in The Legend of Zelda except you shoot...tears? I would love to see a Limited Run release of this game.

2. TABLE TOP RACING

Playrise has finally brung back the Micro Machines in 3D. Even though there were two different games in the series. I would like to see the Limited Run release of this game. The game is very challenging, no-frame drops and good quality graphics for the Vita handheld. Even though the game is challenging, it does have it's charm.

And before we reveal the last one. Here's some honorable mentions:

Forma.8
Kick & Fennick
Goat Simluator
Rocketbirds 1+2
Flame Over
Dragon Fantasy
Siralim

1. AXIOM VERGE

Even though I have yet to play this game as of yet. I heard it's a great Metroidvania title but unfortunely, I couldn't get my hands on it due to budget constraints and want to save up. Not only it would make a great candidate for PlayStation Plus but also for the Limited Run range. With a great dark story and interesting levels. This is the one for PSVita owners.

Thursday 23 June 2016

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG IS 25 TODAY

20 Years Ago, SEGA felt that they needed new cool mascot to rival against Nintendo's famous video game character called Mario and to increase more sales for their 16-bit Mega Drive unit (Genesis if you're from the USA). He is the one that replaced Alex Kidd, he is the one that inspired many cartoon characters, he is the one that rivaled Mario. And he is the one that had super-speed and even curls into a ball. His name is Sonic The Hedgehog! One of the most iconic video game mascots in the 1990's next to Mario, Pac-Man and Megaman.

Even though Nintendo's NES was home to most popular games such as Castlevania, Megaman, Mario and many more. The Mega Drive had perfect arcade quality ports and later on it was home to the blue hedgehog. Sonic himself. He was all about speed, collecting the rings, get all the chaos emeralds. thwart the evil Dr. Robotnik to save the animals from becoming robotic salves. One year later, Sonic had a two-tailed sidekick fox named Tails hence he has two tails for a weird reason. SEGA had a major success with Sonic during the Mega Drive age. And yes I own Sonic Spinball. Sonic 3D Blast and Sonic CD too but back then, I never owned these games as a real physical copy for my real SEGA systems.

Until, SEGA struggled with Sonic Xtreme. After many delays and cancellations, the game got cancelled and instead. We got three average Sonic titles which are Sonic R, a very short foot-racing games with only 5 tracks! Sonic Jam, a compilation with Sonic ROM's slapped on as well as a 3D area. And Sonic 3D Blast, the first Sonic game that was made by a third-party developer. Traveller's Tales helped out development of both Sonic R and Sonic 3D Blast. I don't know why SEGA struggled to market 5 consoles at one time. Yet again, the Saturn lost the console war to PlayStation due lack of good titles and even a good Sonic game. But still, it's great for arcade ports.

However, Sonic had some great games and some bad games. But it doesn't stop the blue blur from being popular. When I was a kid, I too used to play on Sonic The Hedgehog as well as watched The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog cartoon back then. It was great until I finally got to play the legit version on the Mega Drive along with Sonic the Hedgehog 2. It's a shame I never owned many Sonic games....Until now. But hey, I still love him none of the less. So anyway. I'm just going to leave you with a couple of Sonic related videos.

Happy 20th Anniversary Sonic the Hedgehog

GOTTA GO FAST!!!

Monday 20 June 2016

DEVIANTART HAS PROBLEMS AND HERE'S WHY

DeviantART is a really fun art social website where people from all over the world share their masterpieces throughout the globe. You can even comish people to draw stuff for you with the use of DeviantART's own currency also own as ''Points'' and also via PayPal. It was first founded way back in 2000 and I only just joined the site since 2008. Later on, I decided to share my original creations with the world. I even happen to make new friends along the way which is great.

Unfortunately though. DeviantART has tons of serious problems that were never fixed for a long time. Even the mobile app is extremely half-assed to use and lacks many key features such as dA's points system, ability to delete images, ability to llamas to people, scraps, sta.sh and hell even lacks micro-transactions that could of been easily used for points and premi.. err I mean ''Core'' memberships. Here, I'm about to list down the main core problems that DeviantART really needs to fix in order to make the community more happy.

10% MISSING THUMBNAILS:
Everytime I browse the website. 1-4 picture thumbnails refuse to load, especially in the new crappy update for search results and on DeviantART's own mobile app. I had to refresh the page three or more times just to get them to load properly and it's being a common problem for two months. My internet connection for my computer and 4G connection for my smarphone however works flawless with other websites so it can't be my internet connection, It's their crap servers and it's getting annoying. I had no choice but to report this issue...5 times for a tiny two month old problem. When I report this problem, I got nothing but the same old copy/paste message saying their Devious tech team are looking into this. Alas, they did nothing but ignoring the issue. Why fix a simple common bug that's not broken when other companies can fix a simple bug no problem without any reports. I also happen to grab a sample if you want to take a look, I get this issue all the damn time.

DEVIANTART'S MOBILE APP:
While it's very nice and simple to use but it's seriously horrific to use at the same time. It lacks the main key features that the main desktop website has. There is no way to use/give/pay dA points, access your sta.sh, give out llamas and no way to purchase points and buy/extend premium membership. Many many mobile apps has micro-transactions, DeviantART on the other hand lacks this. Why? Even worse it still has this annoying thumbnail bug that the main site has and the images even deload for no reason. And let's not forget about this infamous log out bug where you're forced to log in every week. I really want to delete this app but my network provider blocks the website for 4G access due to it's dumb age restriction. One day I will delete this horrible app off my phone. Also, if you click on the weblink on the app, it opens a browser you still get the annoying page warning that there are monsters out there even though dA got rid of it.

While I would include the infamous 500 server error and the annoying warning page. These issues were finally fixed a long time ago. However, the website is still flawed none of the less. DeviantART if you get chance. Please fix your website. Thank you.

Friday 17 June 2016

GOTTA SAY THIS, RIO 2016'S OLYMPIC MASCOTS ARE SO ADORABLE!!

You know I was about to start my new project on the 2016 Rio Olympics and decided to look on who is this year's mascot. These two cutesy characters showed up in the image results and holy cow, these two mascot are so freaking adorable!!

Selfie with the mascots? Make your own over here: https://www.rio2016.com/mascots/app/en/selfie/

The name of the mascot is Vinicious who is quite a mixture of a monkey and a cat and his best friend is a tree-like character called Tom. I don't know about you but Vinicious really reminds me of Adventure Time due to the fact he is like Jake and Finn mixed together. And he can stretch his arms and legs much like Jake. It also reminds that these characters came from a Cartoon Network show. In fact they even had their cartoon shorts shown on Cartoon Network Brazil and on YouTube to coincide with the Olympic Games. Here's one of the shorts below:

And since the mascot are very cute. I happen to do some fanart of them:

I'm so glad the Olympic Games created the most adorable mascots they never made. So cute that I really want the plushies of both of them now. If only...

Tuesday 14 June 2016

WHAT WE HEARD FROM SONY'S E3 CONFERENCE

So I happen to manage stay up all night and I have to admit the conference was all games and less talk this time. Only Shawn Layden and Andrew House appeared and possibly that's it. The conference lasted 1 hour and 15 minutes. So what without further ado. Let's recap what Sony has announced, and no, recently announced titles will:

A NEW GOD OF WAR TITLE:

Finally, Santa Monica Studio is making a brand new God of War game. But I have two questions, why does Kratos now have a son and wields an axe rather than his dual blades? Does it mean that the Greek Age has passed despite Kratos now having a beard. Compared to the older God of War games it turns out that Kratos is now much older than his usual look. I'm very interested what Sony Santa Monica is working on once this game finally releases soon.

NEW IP FROM BEND STUDIO: DAYS GONE:

So last few years ago, we heard that Bend Studio who recently made Uncharted Golden Abyss and a Uncharted card game for the PlayStation Vita is making the open-world survival game for the PlayStation 4 named Days Gone. The concept looked really interesting but it seems Sony also wants the taste of the open world gameplay as well. I'm not how this will turn out since they are so many open world survival games on next gen systems now.

CAPCOM REVEALS THE 7TH INSTALLMENT IN THE RESIDENT EVIL SERIES:

Capcom can't just stop milking the Resident Evil series can they. After receiving average reviews on Resident Evil 5 and 6 which do not focus on the horror aspects. They decided to refer back to the drawing board and work on a new sequel that doesn't involve going round and shoot everything that moves (looking at you Resi Evil 5), Capcom wanted to make the game much more darker than the other Resident Evil games. With it being a Resident Evil game, we may happen to see some familiar characters especially the Umbrella Corporation . Will the 7th installment be any better? You can play the exclusive demo right now if you have a PlayStation Plus membership.

CRASH BANDICOOT FINALLY RETURNS TO PLAYSTATION:

The orange Bandicoot finally returns to the fray after so many teases in many years. Many fans have been asking for it and what better way to celebrate his 20th Birthday. Sony and Activision are going to re-release the classic trilogy over to PS4. But who is going to develop it and which style are they using? On top of that, Crash will also be featured in the up coming Skylanders game as a guest character. I'm hoping to see more information later this year as well as a release date for the remastered collection. Good old Layden never lets anyone down. It's great to have you back again Crash.

KOJIMA-SAN WORKS ON A NEW IP:

Hideo Kojima's Kojima Productions is currently working on a new IP which stars Norman Reedus called Death Stranding. The trailer looked really odd as we saw a man stranded on shore with dead fish and attached to the baby. The concept looked interesting and I'm looking forward to see what Hideo can come up with when the game comes out 1-2 years time.

RATCHET & CLANK DEVELOPERS ARE MAKING A NEW SPIDER-MAN GAME:

Hold the phone. Insomniac Games is making a new MARVEL game rather than Activision/Beenox? That's a really great promise. Insomniac had been making great open-world platformers before such as Spyro for Universal, Ratchet & Clank for Sony and Sunset Overdrive for Microsoft. I'm looking forward to see what Insomniac can do with the Spider-Man license because recently, Spider-Man games that Beenox were been a bit average lately. No date yet unfortunately but it could be likely 2017.

PLAYSTATION VR AND RELEASE DATES:

Sony Interactive Entertainment has confirmed that PlayStation VR will be out on October 13th 2016 and will cost $399 at launch. I do not have a confirmed launch title list as of yet but however. My most hyped game of all-time The Last Guardian has finally gotten a release date of October 25th 2016 which is now available to pre-order on the store. That's is all I got to share. Laters.

Wednesday 15 June 2016

ZOMBIES: THE LAST SURVIVOR, WORST PSVITA GAME OF ALL TIME?