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L.A. Noire Launch Trailer
From the creators of Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption comes a film noir-style cop drama set in 1940s Los Angeles. The wait is almost over! See more in-game footage in the Launch Trailer of Rockstar Games’ L.A. Noire.
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Magnavox Odyssey
Magnavox Odyssey
After the rejection by the military of Raplh Baer’s idea, Baer would spend several years covertly trying to obtain the legal rights to commercially reproduce the game machine he helped design at Sanders Associates in 1966.Eventually the Pentagon became disinterested in the “TV Game” project, and Baer was allowed to pursue the prospect openly. He approached Teleprompter, RCA, Zenith, General Electric, and Magnavox. A deal was struck with RCA, but later fell through because it involved the purchasing of Sanders Associates by RCA. Then in 1970 Bill Enders, who had been a part of the RCA negotiating team, joined Magnavox and persuaded the Magnavox executives to give Baer’s system a chance. The result of this was the production of the Magnavox Odyssey, the first home video game system available to non-military personnel.
The Odyssey had over three hundred seperate parts. It came with hand controls, dice, playing cards, and play money. Plastic overlays which were placed onto the screen by the consumer, provided color playing fields for the various games. The system came preprogrammed with twelve games that utilized all of the aforementioned equipment.
While it could not compete with the Pong units that would be released soon after, the Odyssey did have a very impressive first year, selling over 100,000 units at $100 each.
The real cause for the popularity of the Pong units over the Odyssey was not because of the marketing prowess of competing companies, but rather the creation of low cost LSI (Large Scale Integrated) circuits. These circuits were designed primarily for tennis, hockey, and other Pong-eqsue game mechanics. The low cost LSI’s would allow the market to be flooded by Pong knock-offs.
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Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D War on Horror Trailer
Get a glimpse of the front lines in the War on Horror in this viral style trailer for Resident Evil: The Mercenaries on Nintendo 3DS.
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LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean Video Review
IGN gives its video review of LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean. The Disney movie series has arrived in LEGO video game form, but does it do Jack Sparrow proud?
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Turbo Grafx 16, Duo, and Express
If any one company seemed poised to commandeer control of the video game industry from Nintendo, it was NEC. With a huge and imposing market share in the computer and communication industries, NEC had been driving their developers since 1988 towards the production of a new video game system. Nintendo’s president Hirosi Yamauchi saw NEC as a threat due to their successful semiconductor business, which would give them
a “direct [and] inexpensive source” for chips. Backed by impressive resources, NEC had been able to saturate any and all industries it wanted, and when the PC-Engine was released in Japan in October of 1987, it appeared as though they would do the same for the video game industry.
After refinement of the PC-Engine it was released in America in 1989, with its name changed to TurboGrafx-16. As the first 16-bit system in a market ready for a new format, the TurboGrafx-16 initially sold quite well, selling more consoles in its first month than its competitors had during the same period.
Video game players are a capricious lot. Trends in popular genres change yearly, with nearly as much modishness as the fashion industry. A particular type of game or system that is popular today, can become an embarrassment to own tomorrow. Unfortunately for NEC, the TurboGrafx-16 was to become the poster-child for this phenomena.
When the Sega Genesis was released, its dramatically more impressive graphics, sound and gameplay turned the TurboGrafx-16 passé overnight. The TurboGrafx became a stigma.
Ultimately, NEC was to blame for this. Having never produced entertainment software before, NEC designers had taken a casual approach to producing games. Many games had all the flash of a 16-bit title, but with little by way of depth of gameplay. NEC also depended on third-party developers to build a library of games. However, most developers were contractually obligated to Nintendo, and could not produce software for NEC. In addition to all of this, the TurboGrafx was not true 16-bit. While its graphics processor was 16-bit, its main CPU was merely 8-bit (a 6820, to be exact).
Despite the poor sales of the TurboGrafx, NEC continued to promote the system. A CD-ROM upgrade made it the first CD console, and a refined, scaled down version would be released as a portable system. Its CD capabilities would give one very well known CD producing company, Working Designs, their start. However, NEC would never achieve much success with their TurboGrafx CD. The reason, as Sheff put it, was that “NEC has arrived too soon with too little.” The TurboGrafx would later be reincarnated as the equally ill-fated TurboDuo, once again in direct competition with Sega. During its life, however, less than 1 million TurboGrafx-16 units were sold.
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LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game
LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game is an action adventure game bringing to life the Pirates of the Caribbean world and all its colorful characters in lego brick form.
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Video Game Vault: Robo Pit
Why do we always equip robots with lethal weaponry?
