Incredible pictures from an era of games we never got to experience

[sweeneezy]

A couple of my favorites from fmtownsmarty

Spoiler

 

[Perkel]

This thread only proves we need more cyberpunk and occult games.

 

[felipepepe]

I hiss every time he calls the PC-98 a console.

 

[Matador]

Awesome thread. Words can't do justice to those stunning computer art designs.

 

[oddech_wymarlych_swiatow]

Not sure but there was talk of a Last Armageddon translation at some point.

There's a translation patch but only for inferior NES port.

 

[Maxwell's Demon]

Why isn't there a Japanese version of GOG.com?

 

[felipepepe]

Why isn't there a Japanese version of GOG.com?

There is. It's called Project Egg and it's even older than GOG: https://www.amusement-center.com/project/egg/

They charge a $5 subscription fee every month and give you access to 150 free games, but the big, popular ones must be bought individually - usually costing $5-10 each as well. They have tons of goodies, like soundtracks & manuals, and great proprietary emulators.

The problem is that their marketing sucks and they are 100% focused on Japanese customers. Probably because filthy gaijins will just pirate.

 

[Beastro]

*Girls head in a coma. I know, I know, it's really serioussssss*

 

[Shinji]

I think I read this in an interview -- probably from the Untold History book -- that japanese developers in the 80's used to heavily borrow elements from western games (e.g. Wizardry, Ultima), but then they would change a lot of stuff to make it more appealing for the japanese audience.

Btw, thanks for necroing this thread.

 

[PorkyThePaladin]

... that japanese developers in the 80's used to heavily borrow elements from western games (e.g. Wizardry, Ultima), but then they would change a lot of stuff to make it more appealing for the japanese audience.

Furry-san ... on your right is a dark hallway, at the end of which is a chest with a katana... HA-YA! And on your left, is a vending machine with used panties.

 

[SpaceDriftingGrimoire]

I think I read this in an interview -- probably from the Untold History book -- that japanese developers in the 80's used to heavily borrow elements from western games (e.g. Wizardry, Ultima), but then they would change a lot of stuff to make it more appealing for the japanese audience.

Btw, thanks for necroing this thread.

You are correct; Even the likes of both Hironobu Sakaguchi of Final Fantasy fame and Yuji Horii (Dragon Quest) cited the Wizardry and Ultima series game design as direct inspiration for their games. So much so that while Wizardry has (at least to a certain extent compared to Ultima) fallen into obscurity in the West in Japan the series continued to have ports (SNES), remakes (PS1) and new entries for quite some time. The series even had special commemoration celebrations there a few years back.

Wizardry's popularity was prominent enough to spawn this...

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

Why isn't there a Japanese version of GOG.com?

There is. It's called Project Egg and it's even older than GOG: https://www.amusement-center.com/project/egg/

They charge a $5 subscription fee every month and give you access to 150 free games, but the big, popular ones must be bought individually - usually costing $5-10 each as well. They have tons of goodies, like soundtracks & manuals, and great proprietary emulators.

The problem is that their marketing sucks and they are 100% focused on Japanese customers. Probably because filthy gaijins will just pirate.

Interesting...

 

[Shinji]

I think I read this in an interview -- probably from the Untold History book -- that japanese developers in the 80's used to heavily borrow elements from western games (e.g. Wizardry, Ultima), but then they would change a lot of stuff to make it more appealing for the japanese audience.

Btw, thanks for necroing this thread.

You are correct; Even the likes of both Hironobu Sakaguchi of Final Fantasy fame and Yuji Horii (Dragon Quest) cited the Wizardry and Ultima series game design as direct inspiration for their games. So much so that while Wizardry has (at least to a certain extent compared to Ultima) fallen into obscurity in the West in Japan the series continued to have ports (SNES), remakes (PS1) and new entries for quite some time. The series even had special commemoration celebrations there a few years back.

Wizardry's popularity was prominent enough to spawn this...

When it gets an anime, you can bet that it's something popular in Japan.

 

[abnaxus]

New HG101 article on Last Armageddon: http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/last-armageddon/

 

[CryptRat]

After a few dungeons, you’ll open the way to the Tower of No Return. But at the entrance, you’ll discover that you need to view all 108 lithographs in order to enter the tower. There’s no in-game checklist, so hopefully you’ve been keeping track of which ones you’ve seen this whole time! This is one of the only design decisions in the game deemed so regrettable that it was softened in a later release – the PCE CD version requires you to visit only 12 particular red lithographs, thankfully.

Ho, so that may be what I've missed, since I remember it was a tower where a monster wouldn't let me in after I was told to go there or something. But unless I was very unattentive or don't remember well it only says I can't enter and doesn't mention the monoliths. Looks like I'll have to get back to the game some day now that I'm aware of that (unintentional cheating), although the game is not particularly interesting past the setting and open world, fights are only mediocre and dungeons were very empty up to then.

 

[laclongquan]

... that japanese developers in the 80's used to heavily borrow elements from western games (e.g. Wizardry, Ultima), but then they would change a lot of stuff to make it more appealing for the japanese audience.

Furry-san ... on your right is a dark hallway, at the end of which is a chest with a katana... HA-YA! And on your left, is a vending machine with used panties.

Talk about fucking C&C...

 

[abnaxus]

Accidentally looking at this thread again, I realized I recently played the game corresponding to the first picture you posted.

It is called "Red", a cyberpunkish adventure game.

 

[PorkyThePaladin]

Spoiler

Spoiler

Or am I?

 

[I eat frozen vegetables]

Retro Japanese computer games are the final frontier for English speaking gamers. It's an entirely different world and comparing the prowess of computers like these to what was released in the west is enlightening to say the least. Another solid thread for the site and more homework for me to do with my education of western RPGs.

 

[Strig]