August 2016 – Random Tower

Sorry fanboys, tomorrow ain’t the day for Nintendo NX info

Published August 31, 2016 by Andrew Eisen

The Nintendo NX.

We know almost nothing official about Nintendo’s “dedicated game platform with a brand-new concept” other than what I just put in quotes. That’s pretty much all the Big N has revealed about the sucker and we learned that a year and a half ago. It’s been radio silence ever since and rabid Nintendo fanboys like me have been DYING for new info. Nintendo said it would reveal more about the NX in 2016. Well, we still have four months left in the year and many think September is the month Nintendo will finally lift the curtain.

Yesterday, Nintendo announced a Nintendo Direct for September 1st. Is this it? Is it FINALLY time to learn about the NX?

No.

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Oh The Games We Could Have Had; An Ode To Cancelled Games

Published August 31, 2016 by E. Zachary Knight

Infinity by Affinix Last week I played a short preview of a Gameboy Color game that was never released. Infinity is a Strategy RPG by game developer Affinix. It was a planned release for the Gameboy Color but was never finished and released because publishers refused to pick it up. They were much more interested in publishing games for the newly released Gameboy Advance.

It is a shame that the game was never able to be made. Infinity is a lot of fun. Its gameplay is excellent, if a little buggy (the game is incomplete after all). The story was engaging. I would have loved to see it completed. Sadly, it is likely to never be.

Molehill Mountain Episode 15 – An Informal Chat

Published August 30, 2016 by Andrew Eisen

This week, EZK and Andrew discuss buying the Japanese version of the never localized Ace Attorney Investigations 2 and patching in a fan translation (4:40), muse about the feasibility of publishers building the ability to patch fan translations into their games (10:55), reveal which games have made us RAGE!!! (34:06), debate whether Capcom would use the classic Mega Man design in a hypothetical new game (44:40), talk about games that made us cry (48:16), and cap off the show with a talk about the efficacy of door-to-door proselytizing (59:43). Because why not?

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My Pokemon Go Experience A Month And A Half In

Published August 26, 2016 by E. Zachary Knight

I have been playing Pokemon Go since the game launched in early July. The game has had numerous ups and downs, as can be easily read about on other sites. I am not here to give a review of the game or tell you about all that. What I want to do is document my experience playing this game.

When I say play, I mean that in the loosest meaning possible. There is little play to this game. You toss pokeballs at the mons, tap furiously at the screen in gym battles, spin pokestops, and select options from menus. Not much else. But that is not what makes the game interesting. It is finding the pokemon in your daily lives in real locations. That doesn’t work out for everyone though.

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Which games should be included on a prospective SNES Classic Edition?

Published August 25, 2016 by Andrew Eisen

In November, Nintendo will release the NES Classic Edition, a mini retro console that comes pre-loaded with 30 classic NES games for about 60 bucks.

Being the silly gamers we are, we’ve of course got our eyes set on the presumed next big thing, an SNES Classic Edition! On the last podcast, EZK and I each proposed a lineup of 30 awesome SNES games for just such a console. You’ll find our choices along with a compilation of our readers’ most requested titles below.

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Fan Games And Fan Art; The Greatest Expression Of Fan Love

Published August 24, 2016 by E. Zachary Knight

AM2R: Another Metroid 2 Remake Fan art, fan fiction, fan films, cosplay and fan games. These are just a handful of the ways that fans of fiction franchises choose to express their fandom aside from passive consumption. Not all fans have the gumption and initiative to go beyond consumption but those that do, often go the extra mile and make something that can sometimes rival the originals.

Fan creations are somewhat of a grey area in copyright law. While a lot of it is openly created and distributed, the vast majority of it is done without the express consent of the copyright owner. However, most of those copyright owners look the other way, but not always.

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Molehill Mountain Episode 14 – SNES Classic Edition

Published August 22, 2016 by Andrew Eisen

On this week’s show Andrew and EZK continue through the Bucket List and discover a few things that Zachary has done that Andrew has not (27:04)! Zachary reveals his picks for a prospective SNES Classic Edition game lineup (42:55) then Andrew shares his (1:00:56). They cap it off by going through their viewers’ copious recommendations of awesome SNES games (1:40:28).

Did I say we capped it there? Oops. Andrew finishes out the show by talking a bit about his approach to the use of profanity and potentially offensive humor in his YouTube videos (2:02:14).

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Let’s suggest 30 games for a prospective SNES Classic Edition!

Published August 17, 2016 by Andrew Eisen

In November, Nintendo will release the NES Classic Edition, a mini retro console that includes 30 classic NES games for $60. Naturally, many gamers expect Nintendo will eventually release a similar product that will include a selection of classic Super NES games.

But why wait for Nintendo to announce an official product? Let’s come up with our own list of 30 SNES games for the assumed SNES Classic Edition!

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We Pick Our Own Game Lineup for the NES Classic Edition

Published August 16, 2016 by Andrew Eisen

On November 11th, Nintendo will release the NES Classic Edition in the US for $59.99 (the UK version launches for a similar price around the same time). The mini retro console will include 30 classic NES games and while we all have our favorites, most everyone agrees it’s a pretty solid list of titles.

Still, the RandomTower crew thought it would be fun to come up with our own lists of 30 NES games and revealed them on last week’s podcast. For convenience’s sake, I’ve reproduced our lists below so you can compare them to Nintendo’s. Games not on the original list are highlighted in red.

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How Much Would You Have To Spend To Get All The NES Classic’s Games?

Published August 16, 2016 by E. Zachary Knight

nes-classic-edition-box A few weeks ago, Nintendo announced the NES Classic Edition, a small console with 30 built-in games. These games are some of the greatest games ever released on the NES. Since the announcement, I have mentioned several times how this is a truly great deal to get all these games and a console to play them on for only $60.

However, there are some people who don’t think that it is a great deal, that they could find a much better deal getting physical copies of all these games. To me, that is clearly bunk. However, I decided to take a look at how much one would have to spend to buy all these games and a console to play them on.

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Month: August 2016