Well, it was a severely cost reduced machine compared to the Beeb so one would expect some concessions.. Though I have to agree the cost saving measures weren't the smartest ones, hampering both performance and compatibility.. So not much of success story there indeed ;-) Dave Haynie (Commodore U.S.A.) did an infinitely better job at designing the Amiga B2000CR for instance, making that iteration the main machine, leaving the original, the Rev4 German A2000 in the dust and making it pretty rare ;-)
The best celeb tie in game by far was Jimmy White's Whirlwind Snooker by the late, great Archer McLean. It was genuinely the best snooker game at the time on the Amiga.
There are at least three celebrity endorsed games that i can think of that pre-date Daley Thompson's. In third place, Eddie Kidd's Jump challenge, which was released about the same time so may or not pre-date Daley. In second place, Bruce Lee, which definitely predates Daley, April 1984. and, perhaps inevitably in first place, and I really hope it is the first, Chuck Norris Superkicks, released in late 1983.
Just sat down with a coffee in my TWIRling mug and turned the TV on, and it's my favourite show and the computer that taught me programming, the Elk - what a great start to the day 🎉
There is always part of me that hopes Dave will accidentally click the "Out of Context" mode button when he goes for the "Out of Contest" one and we just get a load of random answers and have no idea what the question was.
Jeff Capes. Around the late 1980s I was on a ferry from Hoek of Holland to Harwich. Capes was also aboard on his own. I caught sight of him a handful of times during the crossing. Not once did I see anybody approach him for an autograph. Maybe he looked too scary.
Saying the 'U' Word, doesn't mean you avoided mentioning Ultima!! As you clearly stated, RPG games originated pretty organically from table-top RPGs in the seventies - with Dungeons & Dragons being the greatest influence. It's always interesting to see how the early PC iterations of Wizardry in particular were ported obsessively to all of the available Japanese computers of the time, directly influencing the direction of JRPGs. Great Show as per usual guys. *Turns out Nell coudn't resist the mentioning the 'U' Word after all!! 😂
Moonwalker Arcade is an isometric brawler on the Sega system 18, its completely different from the side-scrolling Mega Drive game (as well as the top-down micro one)
The Elk was my first computer. I spent so much time on it as a child. A few years back I decided to purchase one to rekindle my fond memories of the Electron. So glad that I did. It's great to see a solution to revive these old machines.
For top down racing, I want to give mention to Rally Speedway (Atari 8 bit), I have fond memories of that one, especially in two player mode. It was fast, you could go off road, and there was a track editor.
Thanks for all the great videos! I think One on One: Dr. J vs. Larry Bird (1983) was the earliest celebrity athlete based title. I'm not sure though. There's some online mention of that but I can't seem to confirm it.
There were 2 Elvira Mistress of the Dark games (I remember those on the Amiga and later on the PC), Colin McCrae's Rally game (I loved that game. I loved the sound design in it when going from asphalt to gravel and the sound changing). First Wizardry game I played was 8 I think? The last one and it was brutal. Favorite top down racing game would be Skidmarks on the Amiga, was amazing and felt really good to drive.
I must admit, I think dropping mode 7 for the sake of cost reducing out 1 chip was probably not worth it. Personally I think it would have been worth living with the cost of that chip and the complexity of getting it working, to keep mode 7 would have been worth it. The electron did eventually did get a mode 7 add-on from jaffa systems, so you could run mode 7 BBC software on it, but you would have spent more in total than just buying a BBC.
I recall playing Brian Jacks Superstars on the Spectrum. I think he was an Olympic Judo medallist. I believe it came out after Daley Thompon's and was a poor man's Daley Thompson's.
Whilst I agree now that 'Pele's Soccer' is probably the first, I think it's worth mentioning that that Sega changed their Road Race game to a licensed 'Fonz' game in the 1970s (I guess it doesn't count), and there was also and Evel Knievel Pinball game at that time as well.
The early celeb games I remember (from the Spectrum, but available on other platforms) Brian Jacks Superstar Challenge, Frank Bruno's Boxing, Geoff Capes Strongman, The Shakey Game (included on a Shakin' Stephens LP), Thompson Twins Adventure, Bruce Lee, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Roland's Rat Race, Barry McGuigan, Nigel Mansel... Then on the other side of the coin there's the early video game characters that became almost celebrities themselves.. Horace, Willy, Sabre Man, Jet Man, Monty Mole, Pacman, Mario, Kong... And the early-80s programmers that became minor celebrities - Matthew Smith, Jonathan Joffa Smith, Kevin Toms, The Stampers, The Darlings, The Oliver Twins, Tim Follin, Jon Ritman, Jim Bagley, David Jones, Clive Townsend, Don Priestly, Sandy White, Steve Crow, Steve Turner.... that's just the legends from the ZX81 and Spectrum (and missing a bunch)... Sorry. Nostalgia tsunami.
You talk about the BBC in schools and I am sure it was in some but the Research RM-380Z and it's off spring the RM-480Z where more business like. The BBC and the Electron where more "HOME" computers.
There's the very odd 1983 Bally Midway arcade cabinet, with VERY early digitised faces of the band, on the 8bits, earliest I could think of was Eddie Kidd Jump Challenge (also '84), but can't confirm the actual dates (I refuse to count the Shakin' Steven's game bundled with the single 'The Bop Won't Stop' in '83, for... reasons)
I had wished to get that grenade stick for my C64 for Christmas and regretted it within the first minute after opening the hard cardboard tube it was sold in. Probably used the stick for less than 5 minutes in total over the couple of years I owned it.
wizardry 1-5 were remade (with automap and new graphics) for the ps1 japan but had built in english mode. Super famicom had 1-3 and 5. Actually Japan loves wizardry in general, there were 2 gb title, 1 gbc, a couple more for snes. And a bunch of PC variants.
Yes. You are right: Wizardry was HUGE in Japan. That is why they ported it to the Famicom, the PC Engine, the FM-7, the MSX, the NEC PC-98, the Super Famicom, the Sharp X1. I would even dare to say Wizardry was bigger in Japan than in the West. Also, very interesting to note, that the only physical release of this Wizardry remake from Digital Eclipse is for… Japan.
that's what I was thinking - both were '84 releases, but can't seem to confirm their dates of release that year...Brian Jack's Superstar Challenge was close too, basically a DT Decathlon rip, in early '85
41:30 UK Units of data storage in the early 80: Number of copies of The Bible, number of copies of Yellow Pages, number of copies of The Complete Works of Shakespeare & number of copies of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Ken Griffey Jr. Baseball on the Gameboy was my one and only celebrity tie-in game growing up. I also tried Beyond Two Souls recently, but didn't enjoy it near as much.
Election will definitely matter. If you care about this kind of thing, its extremely clear which side appoints the type of folks consumer-friendly and which side doesn't. Lon doesn't want to explicitly say which, and I don't blame him, but it's not difficult to figure out and is extremely consistent through modern history (Hint: the consumer-friendly party doesn't have a trunk)
Yes I agree, I'm a huge fan of Micro Machines (I played it on the Megadrive). And after you mentioned top down racers I went to the Nintendo Switch store to find a top down racer. I found 'Circuit Superstars' which is very good. You also mentioned fake Australian Chris, hopefully you'll press the button and get him back now and again. The trolling banter was always good, with Neil giving the ultimate 'Chris hasn't played' troll on Pong - have you played it? And he jokingly walked out 😀
Interesting info about Dave's portable air conditioning unit. Sounds like it's becoming fixed! There are self contained air to air heat pumps that fit on external walls, more popular on the continent. They require two large hole in the wall, the air intake being separate from the air exhaust. I think the portable units use one hole for both, which reduces their efficiency (COP).
@@ThisWeekinRetro Sounds like you did your research. I did have a look at those portable units for heating, was put off by the refrigerant being propane, but it's not a lot. The main thing was the need to stick the hose out a window which seemed like a bad move if you are trying to heat a room in the winter. Would be interested in knowing how successful the hole is.
I sooo agree with you regarding the younglings who think Nintendo is the alpha and the omega of video games. Let us keep on writing: in Europe, IN THE 80s, VIDEO GAMES WAS ABOUT MICROS!!!! No need quotation maks here 😎
30:05 Desert Bus inspired a Doom WAD called Revenant Bus. From the WAD: You are the mighty Bus Slayer, and you are on a mighty quest to drive your mighty Hell Bus from Mt. Erebus to Limbo and back in the deserts of Hell. Along this 400 mile trip, you must obey the posted 66 mile per hour speed limit at all times. Also, there is a teleporter in the back of the bus which summons an angry Revenant every seven seconds for the entire duration of the trip. Will Bus Slayer complete his round trip safely? Can you uncover the WAD's dark secrets? How many Revenants can fit in a bus? Answers to all these questions and more await in Revenant Bus!
The creator of Final Fantasy and Hironobu Sakaguchi attributed Ultima as the inspiration for the game. And Dragon Quest took elements of Both Ultima and Wizardry. The issue is Ultima had a much much bigger presence in Japan than Wizardry ever had. So I don't think Wizardry should be the game to gainer the highlight for "This Article" :P
it is actually the opposite: Wizardry was HUGE in Japan. That is why they ported it to the Famicom, the PC Engine, the FM-7, the MSX, the NEC PC-98, the Super Famicom, the Sharp X1. I would even dare to say Wizardry was bigger in Japan than in the West. Also, very interesting to note, that the only physical release of this Wizardry remake from Digital Eclipse is for… Japan.
if you didn't have decathlon you weren't really there.. i genuinely knackered two cheapo joysticks with that game before i got a competition pro which stood up to my waggling,,lolol i guess the obvious celebrity endorsed is jimmy whites whirlwind snooker