• Tag Archives Midway

  • Video Games (December 1982)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment


    Source: Video Games – Volume 1, Number 3 – December 1982



    Video Games was an early 1980s video game magazine covering systems like the Atari 2600, ColecoVision, Intellivision, Arcadia 2001, Vectrex and others of the time. The December 1982 issue includes:

    Features

    • Video Games Interview: Ken Uston – From stockbroker to blackjack whiz to video game maven, the celebrated author knows no bounds. An exclusive interview by Roger Dionne.
    • Programming for Dollars – Game designers are turning ideas into megabucks. Who are they, how do they do it and could you become one of them? Dale Archibald is on the case.
    • The Selling of Intellivision – The maker of Barbie has come a long way, baby. An inside look at Mattel and its prime-time duel with Atari. Also, a rare interview with George Pimpton. Susan Prince and Steve Hanks do the job.
    • The House That Pac Built – Space Invaders, Galaxian, Pac-Man, Gorf, Ms. Pac-Man, Tron! Midway Manufacturing has done them all. On the even of the Company’s 25th anniversary, Andrea Stone paid a visit to the coin-op Goliath.

    Special Section

    • From Cutoffs To Pinstripes – On Atari’s 10th birthday, Video Games brings you the company that started it all. An incredible report by Steve Bloom.

    Departments

    • Hyperspace – A few words of hype from the editor.
    • Double Speak – Some words of advice from our readers.
    • Blips – Pac-Man gets a TV show, gamer clubs, Siggraph ’82, drugs in arcades, the latest and greatest high scores, why Wall Street is saying all those terrible things about video games.
    • Soft Spot – Perry Greenberg pulls no punches as he guides you through the ever-expanding software maze. Reviews of 16 brand new cartridges, including Atlantis, Pitfall and The Empire Strikes Back.
    • Book Beat – The mad, mad, mad world of a video game book author. Between hands of poker and the change of cartridges, Roger Dionne found the time to tell us how it’s done.
    • Coin-Op Shop – Eugene Jarvis returns with more expert opinions on the latest batch of quarter-eaters. Je also has a few things to say about Tron.
    • Hard Sell – The TV-game system that nobody knows. Introducing Emerson’s Arcadia 2001. Critique by Sue Adamo.
    • Comic Relief – Our resident funny men are back on the loose. John Holmstrom’s “Bernie,” Gene Williams’ “Joysticks,” and Peter Bugge “Video Kid.”
    • Outtakes

    …and more!


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  • War Gods (Nintendo 64)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Kabuki Jo scores a pole-in-one in War Gods, by Eurocom/Midway.

    http://darth-azrael.tumblr.com/post/164058852197/n64thstreet-kabuki-jo-scores-a-pole-in-one-in-war

    War Gods is essentially a Mortal Kombat clone which is not surprising given its development history. It was released initially as an arcade game and ran on essentially the same hardware as Mortal Kombat 4 would run on. The developers were largely the same as well. The arcade game was released in 1995 with the Nintendo 64 and other ports released in 1997.

    Unfortunately, War Gods is not a great game. It is a pretty mediocre fighter with fairly uninteresting characters. It did have pseudo 3D gameplay and implemented a 3D button so that you could do foreground and background actions. It had mostly the same controls as the Mortal Kombat series but these did not map particularly well to the Nintendo 64 controller, at least for this game.

    The above images are from the Nintendo 64 version but War Gods was also released for the PlayStation and Windows.





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  • MLB SlugFest 2003

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    ‘MLB SlugFest 20-03 – ‘We Call it SlugFest for a Reason’’

    [PS2 / XBOX / GCN] [USA] [MAGAZINE] [2002]

    • GamePro, July 2002 (#166)

    http://darth-azrael.tumblr.com/post/159606642340/vgprintads-mlb-slugfest-20-03-we-call-it

    Today and even back in 2003, most baseball games and sports games in general had become simulation oriented with the goal of being as realistic as possible. While there is certainly a large audience for such games, absolute realism isn’t always what is desired.

    The MLB SlugFest series of games takes your typical baseball video game and adds a few arcade touches to it in order to make it a litte more exciting and fun. MLB SlugFest 2003 was available for the GameCube, PS2 and Xbox and it added several touches to your typical baseball simulation. By default, it shortens games to seven innings so that games play a little faster (though you can still play a full 9 innings if you want). When pitching, you have four pitches to choose from and can aim at one of nine points in the box but all pitches are strikes. This also has the effect of shortening the game and adding a bit of an offensive tilt to it. The pitcher also has the option of intentionally hitting the batter. This can decrease the impacted hitters stats but it can also cause that player to catch on fire which temporarily gives him unlimited turbo. Each player’s turbo meter can be used for a few different purposes. it can be used to “clear out” defensive players. Essentially charging them while base running with the goal of knocking the ball away from them so they do not get the tag. Defensive players can use the turbo meter in an attempt to prevent this. The turbo meter can also be used to run faster etc. Hitting is as simple as pitching. You simply select the spot you are aiming for and time your swing.

    This game generally got positive reviews and the graphics were as good as other sports games on the market at the time. The sound is also great and even includes humorous commentary. Those looking for the most realistic baseball experience will probably want to look elsewhere but for those simply looking for a fun baseball game, this is definitely one. There have been several sequels including MLB SlugFest 2004, MLB SlugFest: Loaded and MLB SlugFest 2006.





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