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Top 50 most valuable Nes ntsc games to keep on eye for collectors

noreply@blogger.com (Dungeoncrawler) — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 14:42:46 PDT

This is going to be stat-heavy posting. I've compiled a list about Nes (ntsc) games for collectors to keep on eye when browsing internet auction houses, that are generally considered the most worthy.

I've made simple calculations with excel to determine "overall value score" for each Top50 game. The value is based on Ebay.com average selling prices listed by rarityguide.com (knows 772 Nes titles) in combination with Jason Smith's Nes Game Price Guide (which presents cartridge-only ntsc prices). The calculation is not perfect, but it gives direction well in my opinion. Roughly overall score consists of evenly weighted "Ebay Loose", "Jason Smith's Loose" and Ebay Cib game values -- Ebay Nib values do affect the score but are only 1/3 compared to any of the previous three. Why? Well I feel that Nib is the most insecure factor having low amounts of items sold, a lot of ripping off, it's just bit insecure and may falsify some games "overall score". I could had left it off, but since some games are actually valuable as Nib, but as Cib or loose not so -- It's there affecting a bit.

Jason Smith's Price Guide is one of the best ones built by any single person (with help of the Nes community), based on his personal experiences as a collector, and by combining recent Ebay selling prices with Smith's Guide -- I feel I'm combining auction house market prices with vision of hardcore Nes game collector (and community). This should be good median. In addition I've included seperately prices for Ebay Nib, Cib and Loose for each Top50 games, in addition with "Smith's Guide's Loose"-price -- so you can make better picture out of each game how it should sell. Remember that Jason Smith's prices are last updated from 2007' and are dated, so they have increased hugely in past 5 years (only about 10% of Ntsc prices his guide lists from 2007 for example do actually belong to that $20+ value category as Ntsc Loose cart)! While I've taken it in account with "overall score" totally, each separate Smith's price presented here is 5 years old -- so be aware of that!

Things to consider when seeking Nib games are that some common releases which are considered as classics may not be so worthy as Cib or Loose, but may be very valuable as Nib (sealed) -- at least people tend to ask a lot of them. Take The Legend of Zelda or Super Mario Bros for example. Also with some very old games like Donkey Kong releases or Balloon Fight this might be the case.

Rarity is presented by three numbers on scale from 1 to 10, of which first represents Game, second Box, and third Manual. I've used nintendoage.com as a source for this.
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Table of Contents:

Top 50 most valuable ntsc games (Ebay)
Top 10 most valuable ntsc NIB games (Ebay)
Top 10 most valuable ntsc CIB games (Ebay)
Top 10 most valuable ntsc Loose games (Ebay)
Popular ntsc Nes games that didn't reach any listings above (Ebay)
Top 50 most valuable ntsc Loose games (Jason Smith Guide 2007')
Top 30 most valuable Licensed ntsc Loose games (Jason Smith Guide 2007')
Top 30 most valuable Licensed Pal Loose games (Jason Smith Guide 2007')

Rarity - based on cart, box, manual rarity values from nintendoage.com
NIB (New, sealed), CIB (Complete in box, used), L (loose cartridge only) - based on Ebay.com average selling values from rarityguide.com
L (2007' Jason Smith Guide) - Based on Jason Smith's Nes Game Price Guide from 2007' release, compiled of his personal experiences.
All values are Ntsc unless otherwise mentioned

1. Stadium Events (Bandai) - 1987

Rarity (cart/box/manual): 9/10/10
NIB: $38 000
CIB: $12 000
L: $2200
L (2007' Jason Smith Guide): $450+
Notes: Warning! Pal version seems to sell much less than ntsc, roughly 1/10th of ntsc value, and is also much more common (7/8/8)! Pal Loose is around $100-200 and $1000-2000 for Cib. Nib unknown. This is because US version was discontinued shortly while Pal was pressed much more.
Overall Score: 89 380 pts.
Check availability (Amazon)

2. Peek A Boo Poker (Panesian, unlicensed) - 1991

Rarity (cart/box/manual): 8/9/9
NIB: $3 585
CIB: $1 207
L: $518
L (2007' Jason Smith Guide): $425
Overall Score: 19 995 pts.
Check availability (Amazon) - N/A 4/2012

3. Myriad 6 in 1 (Myriad, unlicensed) - 1992

Rarity (cart/box/manual): 10/10/10
NIB: $4 165
CIB: $1 122
L: $479
L (2007' Jason Smith Guide): $450+
Overall Score: 19 921 pts.
Check availability (Amazon) - N/A 4/2012

4. Hot Slots (Panesian, unlicensed) - 1991

Rarity (cart/box/manual): 8/9/9
NIB: $3 423
CIB: $1 123
L: $526
L (2007' Jason Smith Guide): $425+
Overall Score: 19 477 pts.
Check availability (Amazon) - N/A 4/2012

5. Bubble Bath Babes (Panesian, unlicensed) - 1991

Rarity (cart/box/manual): 8/9/9
NIB: $3 319
CIB: $1 205
L: $458
L (2007' Jason Smith Guide): $425+
Overall Score: 19 182pts.
Check availability (Amazon) - N/A 4/2012

6. Cheetahmen II (Active Enterprises, unlicensed) - 1992

Rarity (cart/box/manual): 8/8/x
NIB: $1 195
CIB: $649
L: $333
L (2007' Jason Smith Guide): $350+
Overall Score: 13 562pts.
Check availability (Amazon)

7. 6 in 1 Caltron (unlicensed) - 1992

Rarity (cart/box/manual): 8/9/9
NIB: $1 900
CIB: $770
L: $280
L (2007' Jason Smith Guide): $250+
Overall Score: 11 605pts.
Check availability (Amazon)

8. Flintstones: Surprise at Dinosaur Peak (Taito) - 1994

Rarity (cart/box/manual): 8/9/9
NIB: $1 256
CIB: $608
L: $282
L (2007' Jason Smith Guide): $120
Notes: Pal version is slightly more rare (9/10/10), but lower demand makes it bit cheaper than ntsc value presented above. Don't mix with Flintstones: Rescue of Dino & Hoppy which is not very valuable!
Overall Score: 8 278pts.
Check availability (Amazon)

9. Bubble Bobble Part 2 (Taito) - 1993

Rarity (cart/box/manual): 6/7/7
NIB: $688
CIB: $369
L: $123
L (2007' Jason Smith Guide): $100
Overall Score: 4 962pts.
Check availability (Amazon)

10. Little Samson (Taito) - 1992

Rarity (cart/box/manual): 7/8/8
NIB: $995
CIB: $463
L: $120
L (2007' Jason Smith Guide): $20
Notes: Jason Smith's price seems to be off, it's way too low - probably was even at 2007.
Overall Score: 3 772pts.
Check availability (Amazon)

11. Action 52 (Active Enterprises, unlicensed) - 1991

Rarity (cart/box/manual): 6/7/7
NIB: $510
CIB: $270
L: $100
L (2007' Jason Smith Guide): $70
Overall Score: 3 690pts.
Check availability (Amazon)

12. Secret Scout: In The Temple of Demise (Color Dreams, unlicensed) - 1991

Rarity (cart/box/manual): 7/8/8
NIB: $686
CIB: $214
L: $87
L (2007' Jason Smith Guide): $50 (bluelabel), $55 (black-)
Overall Score: 3 052pts.
Check availability (Amazon) - N/A 4/2012

13. Menace Beach (Color Dreams, unlicensed) - 1990

Rarity (cart/box/manual): 8/8/8
NIB: $737
CIB: $225
L: $77
L (2007' Jason Smith Guide): $45 (else), $55 (black-cart&label)
Overall Score: 2 904pts.
Check availability (Amazon)

14. Dragon Warrior IV (Enix) - 1992

Rarity (cart/box/manual): 5/6/6
NIB: $812
CIB: $124
L: $41
L (2007' Jason Smith Guide): $85
Notes: Ntsc only.
Overall Score: 2 874pts.
Check availability (Amazon)

15. Bonk's Adventure (Hudson) - 1994

Rarity (cart/box/manual): 7/8/8
NIB: $679
CIB: $354
L: $72
L (2007' Jason Smith Guide): $22
Overall Score: 2 753pts.
Check availability (Amazon)

16. Snow Brothers (Capcom) - 1991

Rarity (cart/box/manual): 6/7/7
NIB: $634
CIB: $203
L: $78
L (2007' Jason Smith Guide): $30 (Pal-B FRG)
Notes: Frg version bit more rare (Cart: 7).
Overall Score: 2 443pts.
Check availability (Amazon)

17. Challenge of The Dragon (Color Dreams, unlicensed) - 1990

Rarity (cart/box/manual): 8/8/8
NIB: $1 111
CIB: $153
L: $69
L (2007' Jason Smith Guide): $20 (else), $40 (black-cart&label)
Overall Score: 2 420pts.
Check availability (Amazon) - N/A 4/2012

18. Stack-up (Nintendo) - 1985

Rarity (cart/box/manual): 6/8/8
NIB: $905
CIB: $355
CIB (2007' Jason Smith Guide): $200+
L: $37
L (2007' Jason Smith Guide): $12
Notes: Box and manual very rare making Nib and Cib valuable. Canadian and Uk Pal versions rarer (Cart: 8).
Overall Score: 2 216pts.
Check availability (Amazon)

19. Moon Ranger (Bunch Games, unlicensed) - 1990

Rarity (cart/box/manual): 7/8/8
NIB: $693
CIB: $233
L: $70
L (2007' Jason Smith Guide): $12 (bluelabel), $15 (black-)
Overall Score: 2 175pts.
Check availability (Amazon)

20. Mario's Time Machine - 1994

Rarity (cart/box/manual): 6/8/7
NIB: $1 647
CIB: $179
L: $37
L (2007' Jason Smith Guide): $18
Notes: Box very rare increasing Nib and Cib. No Pal existing.
Overall Score: 1 970pts.
Check availability (Amazon)

21. Panic Restaurant (Taito) - 1992
Rarity (cart/box/manual): 7/8/8
NIB: $360
CIB: $206
L: $54
L (2007' Jason Smith Guide): $18
Notes: Esp release bit more rare (Cart: 8).
Overall Score: 1 838pts.
Check availability (Amazon)

22. Power Blade 2 (Taito) - 1992
Rarity (cart/box/manual): 7/8/8
NIB: $298
CIB: $184
L: $58
L (2007' Jason Smith Guide): $14
Notes: Ntsc only.
Overall Score: 1 776pts.
Check availability (Amazon)

23. Maxi 15 (American Video, unlicensed) - 1992
Rarity (cart/box/manual): 7/8/8
NIB: $243
CIB: $107
L: $44
L (2007' Jason Smith Guide): $40
Overall Score: 1 771pts.
Check availability (Amazon)

24 Chiller (AGCI/HES/Sharedata, unlicensed) - 1992
Rarity (cart/box/manual): 6/7/7
NIB: $296
CIB: $80
L: $33
L (2007' Jason Smith Guide): ACGI $25, Sharedata $75, HES $14
Overall Score: 1 761pts.
Check availability (Amazon)

25. Dragon Warrior III (Enix) - 1992
Rarity (cart/box/manual): 4/6/5
NIB: $1 010
CIB: $123
L: $46
L (2007' Jason Smith Guide): $20
Notes: Ntsc only.
Overall Score: 1 710pts.
Check availability (Amazon)

26. TMNT Tournament Fighters (Konami) - 1994
Rarity (cart/box/manual): 7/8/8
NIB: $582
CIB: $164
L: $35
L (2007' Jason Smith Guide): $25
Notes: European Noe-version bit more rare (Cart: 8) than that Ntsc above. Increases Noe pressing's price slightly.
Overall Score: 1 677pts.
Check availability (Amazon)

27. Chip N' Dale Rescue Rangers 2 (Capcom) - 1994
Rarity (cart/box/manual): 6/7/7
NIB: $555
CIB: $166
L: $50
L (2007' Jason Smith Guide): $15
Notes: Noe, Scn, and Frg releases noticeably more rare (Cart: 8).
Overall Score: 1 657pts.
Check availability (Amazon)

28. Contra Force (Konami) - 1992
Rarity (cart/box/manual): 6/7/7
NIB: $631
CIB: $124
L: $43
L (2007' Jason Smith Guide): $25
Notes: Ntsc only.
Overall Score: 1 650pts.
Check availability (Amazon)

29. Operation Secret Storm (Color Dreams, unlicensed) - 1991
Rarity (cart/box/manual): 7/8/8
NIB: $576
CIB: $84
L: $35
L (2007' Jason Smith Guide): $32
Overall Score: 1 536pts.
Check availability (Amazon)

30. Chubby Cherub (Bandai) - 1986
Rarity (cart/box/manual): 4/9/7
NIB: $655
CIB: $298
L: $13
L (2007' Jason Smith Guide): $6
Notes: extremely rare Box raises otherwise not-so-valuable game's price when Nib or Cib.
Overall Score: 1 529pts.
Check availability (Amazon)

31. Solomon's Key 2: Fire 'N Ice (Tecmo) - 1993
Rarity (cart/box/manual): 6/7/7
NIB: $451
CIB: $129
L: $47
L (2007' Jason Smith Guide): $16
Notes: Known as Fire 'N Ice in America and Solomon's Key 2 elsewhere. Noticeably more rare (cart: 8) in non-Us releases.
Overall Score: 1 517pts.
Check availability (Amazon)

32. King Neptune Adventure (Color Dreams, unlicensed) - 1990
Rarity (cart/box/manual): 8/8/8
NIB: $172
CIB: $100
L: $46
L (2007' Jason Smith Guide): Blue back-label $20, black $40+
Notes: Very rare unlicensed game.
Overall Score: 1 489pts.
Check availability (Amazon)

33. Tetris (Tengen, not Nintendo, unlicensed) - 1989
Rarity (cart/box/manual): 5/6/6
NIB: $400
CIB: $78
L: $37
L (2007' Jason Smith Guide): $32
Notes: Do not mix with Nintendo's release! Black cart.
Overall Score: 1 480pts.
Check availability (Amazon) - N/A 4/2012

34. Castle of Deceit (Bunch Games, unlicensed) - 1990
Rarity (cart/box/manual): 8/8/8
NIB: $564
CIB: $128
L: $46
L (2007' Jason Smith Guide): $12 (blue), $17 (black)
Overall Score: 1 470pts.
Check availability (Amazon)

35. Pro Sport Hockey (Jaleco) - 1993
Rarity (cart/box/manual): 6/9/7
NIB: $544
CIB: $179
L: $22
L (2007' Jason Smith Guide): $18
Notes: Ntsc only. Quite rare overall, but Box is extremely rare making Cib and Nib very valuable conditions.
Overall Score: 1 423pts.
Check availability (Amazon)

36. Bomberman II (Hudson) - 1993
Rarity (cart/box/manual): 6/7/7
NIB: $276
CIB: $156
L: $36
L (2007' Jason Smith Guide): $18
Overall Score: 1 421pts.
Check availability (Amazon)

37. Mega Man (Capcom) - 1987
Rarity (cart/box/manual): 3/4/4
NIB: $1 521
CIB: $106
L: $26
L (2007' Jason Smith Guide): $10
Notes: Price of Nib mystery, perhaps good games as such rarely are left unopened? But Cib is quite worthy too. Not rare as Nstc, but other releases (Noe - Cart: 6, Ukv & Eec - Cart: 7) are quite much rarer.
Overall Score: 1 384pts.
Check availability (Amazon)

38. Dusty Diamond's All-Star Softball (Broderbund) - 1990
Rarity (cart/box/manual): 5/6/6
NIB: $176
CIB: $83
L: $41
L (2007' Jason Smith Guide): $25
Notes: Ntsc only.
Overall Score: 1 338pts.
Check availability (Amazon)

39.Blackjack (American Video) - 1992
Rarity (cart/box/manual): 6/7/7
NIB: $408
CIB: $97
L: $41
L (2007' Jason Smith Guide): $20
Overall Score: 1 310pts.
Check availability (Amazon) - N/A 4/2012

40. Tagin' Dragon (Bunch Games) - 1990
Rarity (cart/box/manual): 7/8/8
NIB: $283
CIB: $83
L: $47
L (2007' Jason Smith Guide): $N/A
Overall Score: 1 242pts.
Check availability (Amazon)

41. Bandit Kings of Ancient China (Hudson) - 1990
Rarity (cart/box/manual): 6/7/7
NIB: $345
CIB: $101
L: $38
L (2007' Jason Smith Guide): $15
Overall Score: 1 217pts.
Check availability (Amazon)

42. Rad Racket: Deluxe Tennis II (American Video) - 1991
Rarity (cart/box/manual): 7/9/8
NIB: $413
CIB: $105
L: $32
L (2007' Jason Smith Guide): $15
Notes: Ntsc only and very rare release overall - especially as boxed!
Overall Score: 1 182pts.
Check availability (Amazon)

43. Mighty Final Fight (Capcom) - 1993
Rarity (cart/box/manual): 5/6/6
NIB: $374
CIB: $86
L: $30
L (2007' Jason Smith Guide): $20
Notes: Noe version is rarer (Cart: 7).
Overall Score: 1 178pts.
Check availability (Amazon)

44. Mega Man 5 (Capcom) - 1992
Rarity (cart/box/manual): 5/6/6
NIB: $559
CIB: $94
L: $34
L (2007' Jason Smith Guide): $13
Decently rare game as Ntsc. SCN and NOE versions noticeably more rare (Cart: 7) than Nstc while FRG is there in between both (Cart: 6).
Overall Score: 1 177pts.
Check availability (Amazon)

45. Duck Tales 2 (Capcom) - 1993
Rarity (cart/box/manual): 6/7/7
NIB: $310
CIB: $92
L: $43
L (2007' Jason Smith Guide): $12
Notes: Scandinavian version (Scn) noticeably more rare than the rest (Cart: 8) - you can probably add that to the price compared to above Ntsc prices from Ebay.
Overall Score: 1 175ts.
Check availability (Amazon)

46. Godzilla 2: War of The Monsters (Toho) - 1992
Rarity (cart/box/manual): 6/7/7
NIB: $319
CIB: $87
L: $31
L (2007' Jason Smith Guide): $20
Notes: Ntsc only, Don't mix with Godzilla (1): Monster of the Monsters!
Overall Score: 1 175pts.
Check availability (Amazon)

47. Donkey Kong Jr. Math (Nintendo) - 1985
Rarity (cart/box/manual): 5/9/8
NIB: $722
CIB: $89
L: $16
L (2007' Jason Smith Guide): $20
Notes: Extremely rare box and rare manual raises Cib and Nib value while very early release year probably brings Nib very high. Non-US versions bit more rare (Cart: 6). Also loose version seems to have asking price of $100+ at the moment in Amazon. Weird comparing to Ebay's $16 average above. Comments?
Overall Score: 1 137pts.
Check availability (Amazon)

48. Adventures of Lolo 3 (HAL) - 1991
Rarity (cart/box/manual): 5/6/6
NIB: $210
CIB: $82
L: $32
L (2007' Jason Smith Guide): $20
Notes: Slightly more rare as non-US release (Cart: 6).
Overall Score: 1 133pts.
Check availability (Amazon) - N/A

49. Mega Man 6 (Nintendo) - 1994
Rarity (cart/box/manual): 4/5/5
NIB: $629
CIB: $79
L: $25
L (2007' Jason Smith Guide): $15
Notes: Was never released as Pal.
Overall Score: 1 080pts.
Check availability (Amazon)

50. Battletoads & Double Dragon (Tradewest) - 1993
Rarity (cart/box/manual): 6/7/7
NIB: $218
CIB: $85
L: $30
L (2007' Jason Smith Guide): $16
Notes: Bit more rare as Ukv and Ita versions (Cart: 7).
Overall Score: 1 443pts.
Check availability (Amazon)

Top10 most valuable ntsc NIB (Sealed) games:

1.Stadium Events - $38 000
2. Myriad 6 in 1 - $4 165
3.Peek a Boo Poker - $3 585
4. Hot Slots - $3 423
5. Bubble Bath Babes - $3 319
6. 6 in 1 - $1 900
7. Mario's Time Machine - $1 647
8. Mega Man - $1 521
9. Flintstones: Surprise at Dinosaur Peak - $1 256
10. Cheetahmen II - $1 195
...
Runner-ups not in above overall Top 50:
11. Popeye - $1 154
13. Donkey Kong Jr. - $1 111
15. Donkey Kong 3 - $1 000
17. Mario Bros - $916
20. Balloon Fight - $758
21. The Legend of Zelda - $749
22. Duck Hunt - $744
31. Pro Wrestling - $633
34. Super Mario Bros - $604
35. 10 Yard Fight - $600
36. Double Dragon - $591
39. Excitebike - $571
44. Wrecking Crew - $530
45. Gumshoe - $517
47. Mario Is Missing - $509
48. Rainbow Islands - $500
50. Donkey Kong - $495

Top10 most valuable ntsc CIB games:

1. Stadium Events - $12 000
2. Peek A Boo Poker - $1 207
3. Bubble Bath Babes - $1 205
4. Hot Slots - $1 123
5. Myriad 6 in 1 - $1 122
6. 6 in 1 - $770
7. Cheetahmen II - $649
8. Flintstones: Surprise at Dinosaur Peak - $608
9. Little Samson - $463
10. Bubble Bobble Part 2 - $369
...
Runner-ups not in above overall Top 50:
26. Sword Master - $155
33. Arkanoid - $110
39. Sqoon - $97
41. World Class Track Meet - $96
43. Final Fantasy - $93
46. Mermaids of Atlantis - $89
47. Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Hillsfar - $89
48. Clu Clu Land - $89
50. Kid Icarus - $87

Top10 most valuable ntsc Loose games:

1. Stadium Events - $2 200
2. Hot Slots - $526
3. Peek A Boo Poker - $518
4. Myriad 6 in 1 - $479
5. Bubble Bath Babes - $458
6. Cheetahmen II - $333
7. Flintstones: Surprise at Dinosaur Peak - $282
8. 6 in 1 - $280
9. Bubble Bobble Part 2 - $123
10. Little Samson - $120
...
Runner-ups not in above overall Top 50:
32. Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Hillsfar - $40
33. Die Hard - $39
42. Mission Cobra - $34
43. L'Empereur - $34
45. Ultima: Warriors of Destiny - $33
46. Cowboy Kid - $33
49. Might & Magic: Secret of Inner Sanctun - $33

Popular Nes ntsc games that didn't reach any listings above - (CIB/NIB/L):

Addams Family - $47 / $21 / $7
Adventure Island - $70 / $31 / $9
Adventure Island 2 - $131 / $45 / $15
Adventure Island 3 - $159 / $65 / $27

Battletoads - $85 / $37 / $7

Bionic Commando - $88 / $26 / $7

Bomberman - $68 / $30 / $13

Castlevania - $274 / $54 / $7

Castlevania II: Simon's Quest - $200 / $41 / $7

Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse - $335 / $47 / $11

Commando - $81 / $21 / $6

Contra - $460 / $45 / $20

Bard's Tale - $111 / $40 / $10

Batman - $60 / $26 / $7

Batman Returns - $68 / $31 / $11

Batman: Return of The Joker - $111 / $33 / $13

Blades of Steel - $51 / $23 / $6

Blaster Master - $60 / $20 / $4

Bubble Bobble - $460 / $54 / $23

Chip 'N Dale: Rescue Rangers - $59 / $24 / $9

Dragon Warrior - $94 / $38 / $8

Dragon Warrior II - $206 / $66 / $25

Duck Tales - $137 / $35 / $7

Double Dragon II - $130 / $28 / $6

Double Dragon III - $118 / $27 / $6

Faxanadu - $38 / $15 / $6

Ghost 'N Goblins - $128 / $20 / $6

Goonies II - $86 / $19 / $6

Gradius - $38 / $15 / $7

Ice Climber - $445 / $53 / $8

Ikari Warriors - $233 / $26 / $5

Ice Hockey - $121 / $12 / $6

Ikari Warriors II: Victory Road - $163 / $21 / $4

Ikari Warriors III: The Rescue - $88 / $24 / $10

Journey To Silius - $33 / $14 / $6

Kid Icarus - $254 / $87 / $13

Kirby's Adventure - $55 / $22 / $7

Legend of Zelda, The - $749 / $68 / $15

Lemmings - $139 / $40 / $20

Little Nemo: Dream Master - $94 / $18 / $6

Maniac Mansion - $165 / $52 / $16

Mega Man 2 - $437 / $43 / $13

Mega Man 3 - $399 / $36 / $10

Mega Man 4 - $419 / $48 / $20

Metal Gear - $217 / $42 / $7¨

Metal Gear II: Snake's Revenge - $205 / $35 / $8

Metroid - $427 / $38 / $9

Micro Machines - $81 / $39 / $15

Mike Tyson's Punch Out!! - $414 / $63 / $22

Ninja Gaiden - $193 / $43 / $9

Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword - $134 / $50 / $7

Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom - $123 / $53 / $21

Paperboy - $71 / $35 / $10

Paperboy 2 - $433 / $40 / $12

Pac Man (Tengen) - $114 / $20 / $8

Pac Man (Namco) - $259 / $52 / $20

Prince of Persia - $117 / $30 / $10

Simpsons: Bart vs. The Space - $59 / $15 / $5

Simpsons: Bart vs. The World - $49 / $20 / $7

Simpsons: Bartman Meets Radioactive Man - $138 / $36 / $9

Spy vs. Spy - $85 / $24 / $8

Star Tropics - $43 / $17 / $5

Star Tropics II: Zoda's Revenge - $72 / $24 / $7

Super C - $199 / $33 / $11

Super Mario Bros. / Duck Hunt - $7 / $6 / $5

Super Mario Bros. 2 - $355 / $34 / $10

Super Mario Bros. 3 - $259 / $31 / $8

Star Wars - $90 / $29 / $9

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - $125 / $23 / $8

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II - $148 / $25 / $7

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III - $140 / $32 / $12

Tetris (Nintendo, not Tengen) - - $74 / $15 / $6

Track & Field - $96 / $21 / $6

Track & Field II - $31 / $10 / $4

Ultima: Exodus- $68 / $24 / $6

Ultima: Quest for Avatar - $153 / $41 / $9

Wizardry - $96 / $27 / $7

Wizardry 2: Knight of Diamonds - $188 / $49 / $17

Wizards And Warriors - $95 / $33 / $7

Wizards And Warriors II: IronSword- $97 / $33 / $6

Wizards And Warriors III - $77 / $30 / $12

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link - $359 / $59 / $15

Watch out paying overprice for popular Nes games above. They are not as rare and valuable than Top 50 although some of them might still be quite worthy!

Also look out for Game Action Replay (NIB/CIB $786/$328) that's an separately installable accessory for Nes, ment for saving games. And non-games such as Miracle Piano Teaching System (NIB/CIB $692/$159), and Color A Dinosaur (NIB/CIB $460/$184).

Top 50 most valuable ntsc Loose games by Jason Smith Guide @ 2007':

1. Stadium Events - $450+

2. 6 in 1 Myriad (unlicensed) - $450+
3. Bubble Bath Babes (unlicensed) - $425+
4. Hot Slots (unlicensed) - $425+
5. Peek A Boo Poker (unlicensed) - $425
6. Cheetahmen II (unlicensed) - $350+
7. 6 in 1 (Caltron, unlicenced) - $250+
8. Flintstones II: The Surprise at Dinosaur Peak - $120
9. Dragon Warrior IV - $85
10. Chiller (Sharedata, unlicensed) - $75+
11. Baby Boomer (unlicensed) - $75
12. Metal Fighter (unlicensed) - $75
13. Raid 2020 (unlicensed) - $75
14. Action 52 (unlicensed) - $65-75
15. Spiritual Warfare (unlicensed) - $60
16. A Secret Scout (unlicensed) - $50-55
17. Menace Beach (unlicensed) - $45-55
18. Silent Assault (unlicensed) - $45
19. King Neptune Adventure (unlicensed) - $40+
20. Maxi 15 (unlicensed) - $40
21. Operation Secret Storm (unlicensed) - $32
22. Tetris (Tengen, unlicensed) - $32
23. Crystal Mines (unlicensed) - $30
24. P' Radikus Conflict (unlicensed) - $30
25. Snow Brothers - $30
26. Sunday Funday (unlicensed) - $30
27. Chiller (AGCI Inc., another vers., unlicensed) - $25
28. Contra Force- $25
29. Dusty Diamond's All-Star Softball (color label) - $25
30. Galactic Crusader (unlicensed) - $25
31. TMNT: Tournament Fighters - $25
32. Trolls of Treasure Island (unlicensed) - $25
33. Bonk's Adventure - $22
34. Little Samson - $20
35. Challenge of the Dragon (unlicensed) - $20
36. Dragon Warrior III - $20
37. Blackjack (unlicensed) - $20
38. Donkey Kong Jr. Math - $20
39. The Adventures Of Lolo III - $20
40. Big Nose Freaks Out (Aladdin Deck, unlicensed) - $20
41. Dizzy The Adventurer / Fantastic Adventures of Dizzy (Aladdin deck, unlicensed) - $20
42. Godzilla 2: War of Monsters - $20
43. King Neptune (unlicensed) - $20
44. Linus Spacehead (unlicensed) - $20
45. Micro Machines (Aladdin deck) - $20
46. Mighty Final Fight - $20
47. Qix - $20
48. Super Dodge Ball - $20
49. Quattro Adventures (unlicensed) - $20
50. Quattro Sports (unlicensed) - $20

Top 30 most valuable ntsc Licensed Loose games by Jason Smith Guide @ 2007':

1. Stadium Events - $450+

2. The Flintstones: The Surprise at Dinosaur Peak - $120

3. Dragon Warrior IV - $85

4. Snow Brothers - $30

5. Contra Force - $25

6. Dusty Diamond's All-Star Softball (color label) - $25

7. TMNT: Tournament Fighters - $25

8. Bonk's Adventure - $22

9. Little Samson - $20

10. Dragon Warrior III - $20

11. Donkey Kong Jr. Math - $20

12. The Adventures of Lolo III - $20

13. Super Dodge Ball - $20

14. Godzilla 2: War of the Monsters - $20

15. Mighty Final Fight - $20

16. Qix - $20

17. Mario's Time Machine - $18

18. Bomberman II - $18

19. Solomon's Key II: Fire 'N Ice - $18

20. Ms. Pac Man - $18

21. Panic Restaurant - $18

22. Pro Sport Hockey (white label) - $18

23. Dragon Warrior II - $17

24. Casino Kid 2 - $17

25. Super Cars - $17

26. Battletoads & Double Dragon - $16

27. The Jungle Book - $16

28. Bandit Kings of Ancient China - $15

29. L'Empereur - $15

30. Uncharted Waters - $15

-Followed by "Blue Marlin, Chip 'N Dale Rescue Rangers 2, Final Fantasy, Magician, Mega Man 6 and Might & Magic: Secret of The Inner Sanctum".

Top 30 most valuable Pal Licensed Loose games by Jason Smith Guide @ 2007'

1. Stadium Events: Family Fun Fitness (7/8/8) - $250+

2. Rodland (9/10/10) - $225+

3. The Jetsons: Cogwells Caper (8/7/7, Scn version, rest are cheaper) - $150+

4. Mr. Gimmick (8/?/?, scandinavia only) - $125

5. Trolls in Crazyland (8/8/8, Noe/Ita only) - $95+

6. Flintstones: The Surprise at Dinosaur Peak (9/10/10) - $90

7. The Mighty Final Fight (7/6/6) - $45+

8. Snow Board Challenge (9/4/4, Esp) - $45

9. Devil World (8/?/?, 5-screw, scandinavia only) - $40

10. Die Schone Und Das Biest (Beauty and The Beast, 6/6/6) - NOE - $40

11. Hammerin' Harry (8/?/?) - $40

12. Snow Brothers (7/7/7) - $30

13. TMNT: Tournament Fighters (8/8/8) - $30

14. The New Ghostbusters II (7/?/?) - $30

15. Phantom Air Mission (9/5/5, Esp) - $30

16. DragonBall (Dragon Power, 6/5/5) - $28

17. Les Chevaliers Du Zodiaque (7/?/?, Frg only) - $27

18. Banana Prince (7/?/?/) - $26

19. Panic Restaurant (7/8/8) - $25

20. The Addams Family: Pugleys Scavenger Hunt (8/8/8) - $25

21. Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade - $25

22. Tecmo World Cup Soccer (8/8/8, Frg)- $25

23. Elite (Rest 8/?/?, Ukv 6/7/7) - $23

24. Battletoads & Double Dragon (7/7/7) - $20

25. The Adventures of Lolo III (6/6/6) - $20

26. Aladdin (Ukv 6/7/7, rest 5/?/?)- $20

27. Corvette ZR-1 Challenge (Race America, 7/7/7) - $20

28. The Lion King (7/7/7) - $20

29. Parasol Stars: Rainbow Islands II (7/?/?) - $20

30. Smurfs (Ita 8/9/9, rest 7/?/?) - $20

-With Astfrix, Ufouria: The Saga, Super Turrican, and Solomon's Key2: Fire 'N Ice coming up next.

...

Keep on eye these unlicensed pirates:

Vindicators - $150

Pipemania (black&white text only) - $125

6 in 1 Real Pack - $80

Jackpot - $60

Maxi 15 - $40

Mindblower Pack (Piggypack version) - $25

Duck Maze - $23

I can't emphasize enough that above and all Jason Smith Guide prices are dated, but most likely games that were most valuable 5 years ago still pretty much hold top spots, which is why I have included his lists seperately. Pal Licensed Loose Top30 is a bonus for anyone who wants fast insight on most sought after Pal games.

As for end notes there's two boxes I own with games sold previously over decade ago (sadly) - Little Samson and Flintstones: The Surprise At Dinosaur Peak. Samson's box is in mint condition and Flintstones is very good. I'd really love to complete these collections some time when I have more cash and run bit lucky finding cartridges and hopefully manuals too. If you have extra cartridges (preferrably PAL-B) of either these games or manuals in english for sale, feel free to contact me and maybe we could nagotiate a deal :- )

www.thegamersdungeon.com

Shadowrun Returns - PC game development starting as soon as crowdfunding is done

noreply@blogger.com (Dungeoncrawler) — Fri, 11 May 2012 15:38:37 PDT

Shadowrun sequel is being crowdfunded in kickstarter.com right now already past it's goal by 300%. The game is titled as "Shadowrun Returns" - though it necessarily isn't going to be the final title. Wasteland 2 is not only game sequel of a classic game crowdfunded this year - it seems that people have demand for old school games and their sequels made with sticking to their roots instead of turning them into First person shooters like Syndicate. Well actually Shadowrun already came out like that in 2007. But "Shadowrun Returns" will be different case - and it's coming for PC, and for Apple & Android tablets.

While Wasteland 2 reached $3 million pledge, Shadowrun Returns doesn't seem to be reaching quite as high amount, but is also doing well. With a promise for game to be made if $400 000 would be reached, Shadowrun Returns has already reached $1.2 million in donations, with 11 days left to go. This means just one thing, Shadowrun sequel will be made - it's already sure thing. The development should start right after "kickstarting" has been wrapped up and finished in 11 days.

The game will be incluenced with it's prequel of course, released in early 90's for SNES and Sega (Genesis?) - as well as by the original pen and paper Shadowrun role-playing game known from the 80's. The project is lead by american game designer Jordan Weisman and his team called "Harebrained Schemes" - who promise game to be graphically and storywise rich, old school 2D turn-based single-player rpg with deep tactical combat, including gameworld mixing cyberpunk in style of Blade Runner with urban fantasy, crime and sci-fi. Character creation and extensive dialogue options guaranteed!

(Jordan Weisman)

The team seems quite right making this game seeing Weisman was involved in the original pen and paper Shadowrun, and rest of the team seems to have experience from those kinds of an rpgs too, which can be only a good thing for a serious role playing game. Weisman is founder of Fasa and known from miniature wargames and table-top games such as Battletech, Mechwarrior, Shadowrun, Mech Commander, Mage Knight and so on. This sounds about equally interesting to an old school game freak like myself than Wasteland 2, so looking forward to it! However it may be year or few before Shadowrun sequel sees the daylight. One thing's for sure, way of the crowdfunding looks very promising - at least in a part of big well known names and game franchises.

-www.thegamersdungeon.com

Chris Huelsbeck aims to crowdfund new Turrican soundtrack edition with $75 000 donations

noreply@blogger.com (Dungeoncrawler) — Fri, 11 May 2012 15:39:20 PDT

This time it's not about the game, it's about game music. Chris Huelsbeck (or Hülsbeck) is quite legendary german game and computer music composer, who composed music to over seventy games in the 80's - mostly for Commodore 64 and Amiga. He's soundtracks for Turrican and The Great Giana Sisters grew into cult status and I personally love Turrican music.

(Chris Huelsbeck (Hülsbeck)

This crowdfunding boom seems to grow and Huelsbeck is one to try his luck on it. He released Turrican soundtrack for CD originally in 1993 - and is now into making by his own words - "a follow-up" for that. The project will aim to create Turrican Soundtrack Anthology Limited Edition Box Set with 3 CD's of brand new recordings of Turrican music, containing nearly all music from the Turrican franchise games.

Huelsbeck explains about doing brand new recordings and arrangements for any track that was ever included in 1993 Turrican music cd. He also talks about plans to make special comppositions of songs like Turrican 2 Title Track, The Great Bath, Concerto for Laser and Enemies - with live orchestra included.

I like Huelsbeck's compositions a lot and wish him luck! He aims for $75 000 total with this crowdfunding project, currently running in $34 000 with 46 days to go. Read more at his kickstarter.com Turrican music project page.

(Original version - perhaps with slight modifications)

-www.thegamersdungeon.com

Wasteland 2 Crowdfunding successful - raises over $3 million

noreply@blogger.com (Dungeoncrawler) — Fri, 11 May 2012 15:39:52 PDT

Brian Fargo, Michael Stackpole and rest of the development team of InXile Entertainment have a good reason to celebrate today. Their sequel to Wasteland (PC, 1988) which they describe as "The godfather of post-apocalyptic rpgs is back!" has reached more than it's goal in terms of developing money, that InXile gathered by crowdfunding, which means that the fans have donated and similarly sort of pre-ordered Wasteland 2 before it has even started development. You can read Wasteland (1) short presentation at this other article.

(First piece of Wasteland 2 concept art by Andree Wallin)

The goal for crowdfunding to make the game was $900 000 which was reached less than 48 hours. InXile gave the donations little over month of a time - and while the event has ended within the last day the end score now remains at massive $2 933 252 in "kickstarter.com" where the crowdfunding project was held. The fans then donated additional $112 089 more directly in PayPal - which makes over $3 million dollars all together! The sum is roughly same than Fallout 1's development costs all together. That's a lot of money to put on a game that hasn't even started it's development yet, so Fargo and the team certainly has a lot of demand from the fans to reply to. They will start developing Wasteland 2 very shortly, and actually have previous plans and such gathered over the past years when they did not get big publisher to fund the game - so they are not starting from plain zero.

This shows how powerful crowdfunding can be. And it's pretty certain that InXile's example will be imitated by several other game developers. But because paying for a game year or two beforehand is sort of a risky, you either need a great plan to present or team with big names in it, or perhaps a game sequel to the franchise where there is huge demand. It may not be easy to get people to donate games in years of advance otherwise.

(Brian Fargo - InXile Entertainment)

Nevertheless InXile boys have done it and you can watch their celebration videos from the last night at here (you must forward it to approx. 1h30min because there's empty gap before the party part). When Fargo was recently interviewed about crowdfunding he made few interesting mentions about the advantages of the method:

-A kickstarter (crowdfunding project) project allows game developer to bypass publisher and their demands totally. It also allows you to bypass retail, since you can publish downloadable games in services such as GOG (Good Old Games) or Steam. Wasteland 2 is going to have boxed versions with thick old school game manuals available though. Kickstarter project service takes their share of the total amount funded and that's it. For example Kicking It Forward which InXile Entertainment used for Wasteland 2 takes 5% cut of the finished product.

-www.thegamersdungeon.com

Famous people in gaming industry - Chapter #1 - Jon Van Caneghem, Peter Molyneux, Guido Henkel

noreply@blogger.com (Dungeoncrawler) — Fri, 11 May 2012 15:41:57 PDT

These articles series present some famous gaming industry persons, and what they are doing these days. Chapter #1 includes: Jon Van Caneghem, Peter Molyneux, and Guido Henkel.

1. Jon Van Caneghem (US)

Jon Van Caneghem is american born video game designer, birthdate not known by the public but between 1962-1963, most famous in the past for launching New World Computing game development company in 1983 - programming and designing major part of Might & Magic: The Secret of Inner Sanctum by himself. The game came out 1986, being success enough to influence a sequel to be made by Caneghem and the rest of the team in 1988 called "M&M II: Gates to Another World. The game series didn't stop there - but were extended eventually all the way up to Might & Magic IX (2002) where it ended as "a flop" after several great releases. Might & Magic universe also expanded by coming out with "spin-off" series called Heroes Of Might & Magic, which became about as famous as the original M&M franchise. Caneghem did game designing for spin-off series also. These games are highly regarded even today, and you can get all Might & Magic universe games cheap from GOG.

(New World Computing - old and new logo)

His work with New World Computing ended in 2003, when 3DO who was New World Computing's mother company at the time, filed bankruptcy taking N.W.C. down with them. After this Caneghem worked for NCSoft's mmo (bit of a mystery which what was the game called) as executive producer in 2004-2005, leaving in less than two years of working there. He then co-found Trion Worlds Inc. in 2006, which produces browser games, mmorpg's and so on. He worked with Heroes of Telara for Trion, and left soon afterwards in 2009. It was around mid 2000's that he was rumored to have secured over $100 million of investment capital from Time Warner, NBC Universal, GE, and Bertelsmann.

What is he up for today? Caneghem joined Electronic Arts ranks in 2009 - and eventually was given a position of general manager in new gaming studio "Victory Games", which is a part of EA - a department with goal to develop strategy games. Victory games were soon integrated into BioWare label in late 2011 - and thus renamed "BioWare Victory", where Caneghem holds rank of general manager ever since.

(Victory Games was soon renamed into BioWare Victory)

His job with BioWare Victory in future is to lead Command & Conquer franchise and it's future releases - which for him is probably dream job, since in an interview by commandandconquer.com he says that he's a huge fan of strategy game genre and Command & Conquer series. The latest games that he has been playing are Civilization V and Starcraft 2 - with C&C and Heroes Of Might And Magic games still installed on his computer getting regular spin every now and then (finally a designer who can stand playing his "own" game). Caneghem was interviewed in 2011 and asked about the future game for the franchise, in where he stated:

"I can tell you it’s a Command & Conquer game for the PC, but we’re not yet at a stage where I can go into any details—we’ll be prepared to make a more formal announcement later in the year. We’re not just working on a game, though. Our general focus is on the future of Command & Conquer. That means updating a lot of the core technology to create a stable base for future development, and leveraging that work on this first game." Read full interview by commandandconquer.com at here.

Caneghem has created bit of a name for himself outside gaming industry also. In 90's and 2000's he found a hobby with racing cars and has won or placed in races ever since. He started the hobby from unofficial races in Hollywood Hills down the Mulholland Drive, which eventually grew into more "serious" hobby - taking him competing into GT2, CSR, DSR, S7, SGT, and Pro7. Caneghem has won races with Cal Club, and was 2005 Season Winner in SGT2.

(Caneghem found passion in racing, race he was involved into but he's car is not clearly seen here)

(Might & Magic VIII - The last good M&M game - in my opinion better than it's reputation)

2. Peter Molyneux (UK)

Peter Douglas Molyneux is british computer game designer and programmer, born in 5th May 1959 Guildford, Surrey, UK. Molyneux was recently awarded in 2011 with "Lifetime Achievement Award (god game)" by the "Game Developers Choice Awards" - now accompanying with other award winners such as Richard Garriott and Sid Meier. Molyneux made his first game "The Entrepreneur" and released it in 1984. It was text-based business simulation, and he was waiting it to be a success, thinking that game like that would sell easily at the time. He started duplicating hundreds of tapes with two Tandy Corporation Recorders - however the game sales were a flop - with currently known sales record of two sales.

After the failure Molyneux tried completely different type of industry - selling baked beans to Middle East. He started company called Taurus Impex Ltd. As a fun side note Commodore International mistook Molyneux's company for Torus, offering him ten free Amiga Systems to help him porting his networking software. It was pure accident, when Molyneux bit later realized this and lived in fear ever since of Commodore discovering their mistook for the name, and claiming the free Amigas back. Somehow this issue with Commodore was solved without much damage to Taurus, and Molyneux's company was able to design and release a database system for Amiga called "Acquisition - The Ultimate Database for Amiga". All this beans and Amiga database rant may not sound very interesting, but it was vital part for the next step.

(Populous - first "god game" created for computers)

Obviously the Amiga database had sold well enough to give Molyneux and his partner-in-business Les Edgar a chance to form a new company in 1987 - this time based purely in gaming industry. This company was called Bullfrog Productions. Many gamers remember Bullfrog from the 90's. Where did it disappear? Read on. Bullfrog released first "god game" ever for computers in 1989 called Populous, later on coming out with few more sequels and ports to other gaming systems. Other than that, Molyneux worked as designer/programmer for Populous II, Syndicate, Theme Park and Dungeon Keeper (lead designer) for Bullfrog Productions to mention a few.

In 1995 Electronic Arts - who was Bullfrog's publisher at the time - bought the studio. This made Molyneux EA's vice-president and consutant. As for the Bullfrog's part, last game ever published under their logo was in 2001 called "Theme Park Inc." and in 2004 the company was merged into EA UK - that's where Bullfrog's last fragments disappeared into. On Molyneux's part departure from Bullfrog/EA axis happened bit earlier. After the release of Dungeon Keeper in 1997, Molyneux decided to call his quits with the company.

(Bullfrog Productions's tale ended in merging with EA UK)

He went on and formed a new developing company the very same year (1997) called Lionhead Studios. Soon he came up with a concept to a game - a concept bit similar than Populous - a new "god game". This game was to be called Black & White. The game took three years of development and $6 million dollars investment of his very own money by Moleneux - when it was finally released in 2001 - now standing with Metacritic score of 90%. A sequel for Black & White came out in 2005. After this Molyneux continued working with Lionhead, which came out with Fable for Xbox in 2004 - an open-world action/rpg of a sort.

(Black & White by Lionhead Studios, another "god game")

What is he up for today? Soon after Lionhead was acquired by giant corporation Microsoft in 2006 - Microsoft Game Studios to be more precise with the division. Molyneux continued as a lead designer with his favorite child Fable for three more sequels, and was promoted to Creative Director of Microsoft Game Studios Europe in 2009. He announced beforehand that when the most recent Fable game - Fable: The Journey would be finished - he would leave Lionhead and it's mother company Microsoft.

Moleneux kept his word and quit Lionhead and his position in Microsoft this very year 2012 with "mixed emotions" by his own words. He also states that "it felt the time was right to pursue a new independent venture -- I have left the lovely amazing Microsoft and Lionhead. Now for something really amazing, scary and brave new company called 22 Cans (Source)". What will happen with Fable is a bit unknown for now, since Moleneux left. As for 22 Cans, everything's completely mystery, but this indie-like company will most likely focus on games in future - with Mr. Moleneux on board - and are now hiring staff (for all coder and designer gurus out there).

3. Guido Henkel (GER)

Multi-talent Guido Henkel was born in Germany, but other than that there's not much to be found of his origins from internet. Birthdate isn't known by public. Henkel may be a bit more unknown name for many gamers than the previous two personas - and one reason might be that he has kept slightly lower profile about himself. However he doesn't deserve any less praise. Henkel might in fact be a bit more interesting face than previous two. He's not only game designer/producer/developer, but in addition passionate writer and musician (guitarist) - who has written books, written dialogue, and composed songs for games. Henkel also has decent skills in arts and graphics, cover art designing for example. He even states in his blog that he has played heavy metal bands for several years in the 80's (though I cannot find info what bands did he play with, did they ever release anything?). Germany was well known cranking out heavy metal in that era - having several bands like Accept, Destruction, Kreator.. well that's another story for another place.

(Guido Henkel played guitar for heavy metal bands in the 80's)

In 1983 (most likely) Henkel found a company called Dragonware Games - a company being one of the first game developers in Germany ever. They did third-party products for publishers such as Ariolasoft - a games for platforms such as Atari ST and Amiga mostly - such as text based adventure "Hellowoon: Das Geheimnis Des Zauberstabs". The company eventually transformed into bit more known company called Attic Entertainment Software found in 1990 by Guido Henkel, Jochen Gamma, and Hans-Jürgen Brändle. Attic, rings a bell?

Attic was widely known, at least in Germany, but perhaps outside the country not so. Known from what? Well from highly regarded pen-and-paper influenced Realms Of Arkania franchise of course! Praised by those few who ever played it. These games had hugely in-depth character building and skill system, combined with party based first person adventuring and pseudo-isometric (almost top-down angle) turn-based combat, movement limited by action points per turn - and the battlefield was square based bit like chessboard. If you're an rpg fan who has never tried it, well you definitely should. Realms Of Arkania: Blade of Destiny was released in 1993 - influencing sequels Realms Of Arkania Vol. 2: Star Trail and Realms Of Arkania III: Shadows Over Riva.

In the credits for Realms Of Arkania trilogy Guido Henkel is credited for "chief, programming, music composing, deleatur (copy editing), and traveling manager". In several online sources he is listed as a "composer" for several songs in Realms Of Arkania titles - he most likely composed most of the music, which at least in Shadows Over Riva is really atmospheric and top notch! Also, he's known to be writer, how much dialogue and storyline for Realms Of Arkania did he write (because I did not find writing credited to anyone specifically)? Perhaps only he himself knows.

(Realms of Arkania franchise mixed 1st person adventuring with isometric turn based battle system)

Henkel found a website called DVD Review in 1997, which operates still today under his wing as in role of chief editor, working along with his wife Thu-Lieu. As the name refers - it's a website about dvd reviews and movie news.

In addition to Realms Of Arkania, Henkel was part of development team for Fallout 2 and Planescape: Torment (1999). Again, his part on Fallout 2 lies in the shadows. However he was a producer and project director for Planescape: Torment - working for Interplay's ranks. Henkel was said to be increasingly frustrated with the publisher of the game - Interplay - who put pressure on the development team to release the game faster, and to cut out some material. Henkel sticked with the game as a producer until it's Beta state, with passion to making sure that the game wouldn't be released half-ready. He quit this job in 1999.

(Planescape Torment's cover art was actually illustrated from photo of masked up Henkel)

In 2000-2001 Henkel was a VP of product development for eMusement Inc, which was supposed to do massively multiplayer role-playing game for Tokyo division of Squaresoft. This project was cancelled however and he had to find another project to work with. In 2001 Henkel decided to try his skills with another new company - also related with computers. The company was called G3studios, which focuses in games for handheld platforms such as pocket pc, Gameboy Advance, and phones platforms like Symbian, MS Smartphone, J2ME and Bew Handsets. G3studios is also a publisher for various gaming platforms. The website - though is up and running - has not been update for a while however, and copyright sticker says 2001-2010. Has Henkel stopped working for this project? In an interview by http://historicalnovelreview.blogspot.com he states:

” -- I practically stopped making games the day I started writing “Demon’s Night,” the first of my Jason Dark supernatural mysteries. I was a little bored with doing games and wanted to try something new. I loved the experience and ever since, my books have been my main focus that I have devoted all my efforts to.” -- read full interview by historicalnovelreview.blogspot.com here.

What is he up for today? His book Demon's night was released in 2009, which could pretty much explain why G3studios website hasn't been updated in couple of years very actively. This also leads us to the conclusion of what Henkel does these days. Past few years he has been focusing in writing books, which according to his works are being published by his own company G3studios - so the company has not been completely ditched afterall. He is fascinated with supernatural mysteries, and writes constantly books about that topic, especially for his own Jason Dark - Ghost Hunter franchise with titles such as Dead By Dawn, Heavens On Fire, Ghosts Templar, Curse Of Cali and so on, and offers his eBook services for a price. His dvdreview.com seems also be up today. About gaming he states (2012):

"I can’t even get excited about the major games that are being released these days. To me they are virtually all repetitive dribble, the same old unimaginative, testosterone-fueled, sophomoric stuff we did 25 years ago. The difference is that I’ve gotten a lot older and I really do not care all that much for the themes or the visual presentations of today’s games. Most of the time I just shake my head and wonder what they’ve been thinking when they made the game. There are only so many first-person shooters one can play… or at least that’s how I feel, especially when they all look, sound and feel the exact same for the past ten years." -- read full interview by historicalnovelreview.blogspot.com here.

This pretty much indicates that Guido Henkel isn't going to focus in gaming too much in the future, but rather into writing, the question is, will he use his music composing skills to anything related for us gamers? You can also buy several of Guido Henkel's books at Amazon.

(Realms of Arkania III: Shadows Over Riva sound score composed by Guido Henkel)

-www.thegamersdungeon.com
(This article is copyrighted by www.thegamersdungeon.com, if you're reading the article elsewhere then you're reading stolen material. Support us by reading the article at it's original source!)

GOG.com Weekend Promo - Interplay Games -50% Off

noreply@blogger.com (Dungeoncrawler) — Fri, 11 May 2012 15:42:36 PDT

Another fine campaign by Good Old Games (GOG).

This weekend they offer Interplay games -50% off for their game downloads - and since they all seem to be $5.99 by regular price, they're all just $2.99 per game with the discount. There are 31 Interplay games included in the campaign, and you can get the whole lot for $92.69 - if you're total nut or Interplay fanboy.

Some games really worthy of mention are Fallout 1 & 2, and Fallout Tactics, which are definitely much more valuable than $2.99 a piece, that's a great deal right there! Other Interplay games include releases such as these that I'd raise up the pedestal:

Descent 1 + 2 pack
Die By The Sword + Expansion
Freespace + Expansion
Freespace 2
Jagged Alliance 2: Unfinished Business
Kingpin
Stonekeep

Ten overlooked computer games that deserve attention - Part 1/2

noreply@blogger.com (Dungeoncrawler) — Fri, 11 May 2012 15:43:38 PDT

These ten computer games deserve more attention than they originally got (in my opinion anyway). Whether it be a great game that was only rated for average, or a decent game which was not perfect by any means, but isn't known literally by anyone thus at least deserving a run. Part 1/2 includes "Overlooked Games" position 6-10.

Read Also Part 2/2 at here - positions 1-5 (Coming soon):
5. Grim Fandango
4. Anachronox
3. Knights of Honor
2. See only at the article!
1. See only at the article!
(This article is copyrighted by www.thegamersdungeon.com, if you're reading the article elsewhere then you're reading stolen material. Support us by reading the article at it's original source!)

10. HardWar (:The Future is Greedy, 1998)

(Mayday mayday! I'm sorry I shot down your twin brother)

“There is a war going out out there – WAR – and it ain’t easy – HARD – HardWar” – so ends the introduction movie to the game, which itself is quite promising clip. Fine acting and cheesy as hell rant by main character about surrounding world. Reminds me of Kyle Reese’s rant about Terminator-800 to Sarah in The Terminator “It can’t be bargained with – it does not feel the pain!” and so on. Anyways, to the point.

HardWar is totally unknown sci-fi space flight simulator released in 1998 by Gremlin Interactive/Interplay. It was developed however by The Software Refinery. Can’t say I know anything else about them. And to be honest I don’t think many others do either. I hardly hear this game mentioned anywhere, and it’s slightly shame as it was a flight simulator that should be eventually matched with several alike, that actually are known several times better.

This game has share of it’s similarities between likes of Elite and Freelancer, or even Privateer. You play a freelance pilot, a “moth pilot” to be precise as the space ships are called as such. You start the game by selecting your past from few options, which defines mostly your starting gear and ship – as well as who hate you. The game takes place on city of Misplaced Optimism, a space colony located on Saturn’s Moon Titan.

That’s also main difference between Elite and Privateer, instead of flying in space, you fly on planet’s surface, in sort of “craters” connected together by tunnels. Bounty hunt, scavenge, rob (although different factions will not be to pleased if you shoot down their cargo ships..) or buy and sell materials. Whatever you wish. Despite the nice intro video, the story might never quite take off and the game is not perfect by any means, but definitely deserves a glance by those who enjoy this type of games.

9. One Must Fall 2097 (1994)

One of the better, and obscure fighting games for computer, with one static screen viewed from side in every battle - screen that doesn't scroll. It was developed by Diversions Entertainment and released by Epic MegaGames in 1994. This game plays out pretty much like any Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter or Killer Instinct – as for a broad statement.

What you can do is select out of ten fighters, with each having their own Story mode and background, as well is different amount out of the three stats: Power, Agility and Endurance. The next pick is your robot, of which you can choose out of ten different ones – each with their own moves and attacks. That makes 10 x 10 possible character and robot combinations (or do I suck in math?), which is pretty cool.

The arenas have “hazards”, meaning that there are varying elements that can kill you other than the enemy: spikes pushing out of back-wall will pierce you if you’re not careful and observe the right timing when they extend. Or you may throw your enemy into an electric wall to give him nice warm shock.

Graphically this game is quite nice, and still looks allright. Nothing spectacular, it’s just it’s artistic style that has aged well in my opinion. Game music (main theme) is also quite kick ass, and reminds me of good old times when game soundtracks were made out of steel instead of tin. Criminally unknown. This game was released as "freeware" by the game developer in late 90's and can be thus downloaded legally for free now for example at DosGamesArchive.

(Nostalgic menu theme)

8. X-Com: Apocalypse (1997)

(X-Com Apoc happened in single city instead of full Earth)

Developed by Mythos game, who also developed original UFO: Enemy Unknown in 1994. This game caused some controversy by both press and fans. X-Com Apocalypse came out 1997 and it was rated 92/100 with “Good Game” award in finnish Pelit-magazine (surprisingly) while there were many opinions from the lower rating end also. We at The Gamers Dungeon rated it 87/100, read full review here. Why was this game hated by some?

Well for starters Mythos decided to dump down the game’s scale (geographically thinking) by limiting the game world from whole Earth to only one city Mega-Primus. While it may sound limiting, that may not be the whole truth. In Earth mode of two previous games, you couldn’t actually play the whole earth, just specific spots where events happen. While in previous X-Coms in world map screen (equal to Apocalypse’s city view screen), the events involved mostly only seeing flying ufo’s and such. In Apocalypse Mythos tried to create one, decently large, living and breathing city – instead of static looking Earth view with only thing to see really to be different U.F.O’s flying around. Did they succeed?

I’m not saying that Apocalypses city view works better than in previous X-Com games equal – Earth screen. They are just widely different – and I like them both different ways. But limiting the game area from Earth to single city may sound less interesting idea. It’s like being demoted from Earth Police to City Sheriff. The city however worked quite nicely as a platform for X-Com world. Not perfect, but managed to hold it’s own. In my opinion at least.

Another thing was to change game from turn-based combat to either turn- or real-time based, depending of your choice. “The game lost it’s roots!” someone might yell, but I don’t personally see what’s the problem here, since you can play either one, and they both work okay. Why adding another way of playing is bad, when you can actually still play it turn-based also if you wish?

Well Apocalypse sure had toy’ish looks on it’s graphics. Enemies, the city, pretty much everything looks quite crappy – quite, but not totally. Not perhaps pleasing the eyesight the most, one can still ignore it as graphics are not totally bad. Soundtrack is quite haunting also and this game has atmosphere quite high.

The game plays nice, offers very lengthy run before you’re finished. And you get to visit alien dimension even at the end. Other than changing games world setting and adding real-time as an option, it stayed true to X-Com’s roots – and is unfairly bashed in my opinion. Hunting down the UFO’s in the city is not actually that bad, and once you enter the combat screen invading UFO – as an old fan of the franchise you should feel pretty much home. If you hated this when it came out for it’s idea, perhaps giving it another go wouldn’t be so bad idea?

(Combat was true to it's roots, in addition with optional real-time)

7 The Temple of Elemental Evil (2003)

Developed by Troika Games (who also did Arcanum) and published by Atari in 2003, Temple of Elemental Evil stands as one of the rare role-playing games for computer using AD&D 3.5 edition rules – and was praised for implementing them well into the game. At same time the game was criticized for lack of a good story and being released totally unfinished and buggy. As it stands for now, Metacritic score for the game is 71 - which is way low for patched up and modded version.

Troika then patched the game later on, when wide audience didn’t give rats ass anymore. The game still holds quite faithful fanbase, who have also came out with great mod called Circle Of Eight Mod Pack. The game has reached the stage where it’s now well playable and polished by patches and the fan mod, and any AD&D game fan should definitely give it a go.

Story shortly: Six miles from Hommlet a group of hovels formed a center for evil activity – they built a small chapel dedicated to an evil god. Locals ignored this as the temple was located in marsh – a mistake right there. For three years these evil forces robbed and pillaged lands around Hommlet – but they got too power-hungry and were eventually defeated in an open combat after challenging kingdoms of the north. The evil forces were slain and their temple – destroyed – sealed with magic and spells. Temple served as a mecca for adventurers who used to visit it, but over time they stopped coming and the village went on to continue it’s life normally. Until now..

This is one of those large freely explorable top-down party-based AD&D cRPGs where you control a party of five, free of your creation character by character from the scratch. The game’s graphics hold well even today, with only menus looking bit bland, but the environments themselves look very nice. This game was unfinished back then and thus overlooked greatly - but has now been hugely fixed, and once it’s now totally playable and cheap –one could get it for cheap (for example GOG.com sells it as all patched up download with extras, manuals, for $5,99), add Circle Of Eight mod pack (instructions and links here) and enjoy the ride.

(Circle of Eight mod patched the game and added tons of new content)

6 Arx Fatalis (2002)

Arx Fatalis is a computer role-playing game developed by small studio Arkane Studios (who also are about to released Disnohored this year, read preview here), which was released in 2002 for PC and later ported for Xbox (if I remember correctly this was the order). Arx Fatalis stands for “fatal fortress”

The game was hugely influenced by dungeon crawlers, especially those with bit more open world, if that’s even possible in case of pure dungeon crawlers.. well actually it is, because it’s biggest influences came from Ultima Underworld I and II, which succeeded creating dungeon crawler with open world – sort of. In Arx Fatalis you create one character with varying skills and stats, which mostly involve spell and combat skills, and then you’re off to go for adventure viewed in first-person.

The Fortress consists of various levels such as in Ultima, which has Trolls, Goblins, Dwarves and Humans, and such, as inhabitants – which you will be encountering when adventuring on. At the beginning of the game you start by waking up in a prison cell, which you will eventually escape from – and discover that your main quest is to imprison the God of Destruction, Akbaa, who’s trying to manifest himself in Arx Fatalis.

Arx Fatalis involves authentic spellcasting system, but I’m not going to go on explaining it here – I’ll just say that this game’s very overlooked and don’t get mentioned too often. Metacritic score of 77 might not do it full justice in the eyes of dungeoncrawler type of games fan – so if you feel like being one, then this game is one to be checked out for sure!

To be found downloadable at GOG.com for $5,99.

-www.thegamersdungeon.com

Bioware not getting greedy with the "new ending" DLC

noreply@blogger.com (Dungeoncrawler) — Fri, 11 May 2012 15:44:08 PDT

Well, one might speculate if it's good or not to release DLC that changes the original, criticized ending for Mass Effect 3, thus destroying it's meaning totally. The fan uprising against original ending made Bioware to consider about changing the ending -- which is now reality, since the DLC has been confirmed by Bioware's Muzyka and Hudson.

Earlier on we here at The Gamers Dungeon speculated whether this would had been planned move to cash out the fans. Well it seems this is not the case. Bioware has stated that the upcoming DLC will be free for download, which gives them bit respect on that part -- even if one might disagree about changing the ending. It's a brave move for sure, because Bioware cannot please both groups: controversy has split fans in two -- those who don't want the ending to change and those who do. The move will be one to remember, for it's ending one of the highly rated modern game series.

The new DLC is called "Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut" which pretty much sums up it's content, and will be released later this Summer for Xbox360, PS3, and PC -- free of charge. The exact release date is still unknown.

Bioware's Muzyka states:

"We are all incredibly proud of Mass Effect 3 and the work done by Casey Hudson (the franchise's executive producer) and team. Since launch, we have had time to listen to the feedback from our most passionate fans and we are responding.

"With the Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut we think we have struck a good balance in delivering the answers players are looking for while maintaining the team's artistic vision for the end of this story arc in the Mass Effect universe."

In addition with Hudson:

"We have reprioritised our post-launch development efforts to provide the fans who want more closure with even more context and clarity to the ending of the game, in a way that will feel more personalised for each player."

I think this puts the end to the speculation what's to come. Pleased or not pleased, let us and the readers know?

GOG.com Weekend Promo - Might & Magic Universe Games -50% Off

noreply@blogger.com (Dungeoncrawler) — Fri, 11 May 2012 15:44:36 PDT

That's right.

All Might & Magic or Heroes of Might & Magic releases are -50% in GOG this weekend in exception of Heroes V and VI.

I'm quite tempted to get digital copies of M&M7: For Blood and Honor, and M&M8: Day of The Destroyer for $2.99 a piece! M&M9 and Crusaders of Might & Magic is also the same price.

Other than that the rest are $4.99, such as every Heroes of Might & Magic releases up 'till IV, and M&M 1-6 6-pack. The whole lot of ten games all together seems to cost $41.90 - which in my opinion is pretty darn good price for ten Might & Magic games, although M&M9 and Heroes Chronicles: All Chapters might be a bit of a filler. This promo ends next Sunday night. If you ever still wanted to play Heroes games under modern Windows, might be a great chance.

Sadly Heroes V is not that cheap, but you can still get it together with Assassin's Creed - Director's Cut for $19.99 which is not totally bad either (runs 'till Apr 12).

Gamers Dungeon's Classic Game Quiz - 100 Questions of 90's games and then some

noreply@blogger.com (Dungeoncrawler) — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 04:41:58 PDT

Win Amazon gift card or game from GOG - What's your favorite game ever and why?

noreply@blogger.com (Dungeoncrawler) — Fri, 11 May 2012 15:45:12 PDT

Note: This competition has been ended and the prizes have been e-mailed for winners!

Deathstrap won $14,77 worth Amazon.com gift card
GrumpyWookie2 won $11,60 worth Amazon gift card
Tatyanalgreen15 won $5,99 GOG game of his choice

who wanted to forfeit and give it off to someone else more in the need - no 4th place partaker - so prize was granted to the winner Deathstrap - who chose Ultima VII Complete Edition.

Congrats for all the winners!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks to our readers for your support, thegamersdungeon has generated little bit of ad revenue. We thought it would be fun to hold a little competition and give some of that revenue to our readers in form of prizes. The competition starts immediately and ends at 23.59pm EST ~~this Sunday, 1st Apr~~ next Sunday 8th Apr. Extended because no replies yet.

Here's what you have to do: post a reply to this article (at the bottom of the page) and tell us what do you think is the best game ever that you have played, and explain why it is the best game for you. Game from any gaming console, or computer from any era counts. Plain and simple. Remember to either include your e-mail address at the end of your reply to the thread.

Answer example: "I really think that The Legend Of Zelda from NES is best game ever because it's epic feel and large scale adventure. example.email@x.com" etc.

or reply without e-mail included to the article, but in addition also e-mail to (dungeoncall@gmail.com) the very same answer that you posted as a reply to this post (that way you'r e-mail is left hidden of others if you wish, but we know how to contact you with e-mail if you win - and give you the gift card claim code). If you choose this route, reply both this post and our e-mail within short period of time, so none can't steal your answer and claim the price by it.

Your favorite game does not need to be flawless on all it's areas, just tell us what's the game you had most fun with, what was memorable in it, and what made it fantastic gaming experience?

We'll will pick out three our favorite answers and give prizes to them. Winners will be announced to this post at the beginning of the week after 8th Apr. If only one replies, the rest of prizes (2nd, 3rd) will be saved for later competitions (only reply wins prize 1 obviously). We're giving away:

Prize 1: $14,77 gift card to Amazon.com
Prize 2: $11,60 gift card to Amazon.com
Prize 3: $5,99 priced game from GOG.com of your choice

Please note that in order to claim a gift card you will have to have Amazon.com account (specifically .com, NOT .ca, .co.uk or any other extension), or create one. You can also always re-gift the card claiming code to someone else who has Amazon.com account if you don't have it.

Same goes for GOG.com in part of third prize. You'll have to have an account to claim the gift. If you win third prize, register GOG and browse their catalogue, and tell me which $5.99 costing game download you want, and I'll send you a gift card to claim that specific game!

Have fun, be creative, and enjoy reading others answers too. Be respectful towards others opinions.

-www.thegamersdungeon.com

Preview into Age Of Decadence - Open Beta (2012, PC)

noreply@blogger.com (Dungeoncrawler) — Fri, 11 May 2012 15:46:41 PDT

What Is Age Of Decadence?

Age Of Decadence you say, I never heard of it. What is Age of Decadence? Well you might as well have missed this one even if you were Pc gaming regular. Age of Decadence is an indie computer role-playing game developed by Iron Tower Studios, set in post apocalyptic fantasy world inspired by the fall of Rome. The game plays as isometric top-down 3D with controllable zooming and rotating the view and uses Torque Engine. Age of Decadence's world is low magic universe, and by playing open beta you probably wouldn't even recognize it's supposed to be post apocalyptic by it's art. There isn't much destruction in the world visible in beta, where you can do questlines for one town. But it's definite Roman setting. Almost feels like you were in historical setting, unless you read the dialogues carefully.

Open Beta let's you explore the first, relatively small town, and it's quests - containing hours of gameplay. After starting up the game, you're thrown into game's main menu screen with fantastically drawn concept art picture and surprisingly good atmospheric main-menu tune. The drawings really bring character to the game's art, too bad they are not used much other than at menus and character portraits, which are also great. This gives promising initial feel of the game.

(This article is copyrighted by www.thegamersdungeon.com, if you're reading the article elsewhere then you're reading stolen material. Support us by reading the article at it's original source!)

(Concept art is totally inspiring)

Character Creation

Next step is character creation. Another part that may please fans of the bit older computer role-playing games. It's presented with quite stat-heavy character creation screen, but the screen is split into areas very reasonably. It's also nice to see that while hovering over any stat-name or skill, practically anything in the screen, the game gives you better description what the particular stat means, and what it does in the game. You can also modify your character's looks. However as a minor complaint character portrait editing screen is way too small. It's impossible to see closer details of your character's face. The screen is also too dark. I'd had rather just picked out hand-drawn portrait or something. Other than that, no complaints.

The character creation is particularly interesting with several choices. Most of the skills are commonly known from AD&D style rpgs (although AoD uses it's own ruleset), and work quite similar. However there are some differences, but we'll return that later. You have six stats such as Strength and Charisma, which do play large role indeed. In AoD it's not adviced to try and play jack-of-all-trades hybrid class, and trying to be master in everything. You'll end up dead pretty soon. You'll have two choices either master on one thing only, or being at least emphasized for example on combat, while having some diplomatic skills as backup. Just don't spend everything evenly.

(Character creation is quite in-depth with nice touch)

Skills are split in two divisions: "combat skills" and "general skills". Once again if your character has high intelligence and charisma, you'd better off emphasizing on general, rather than on combat skills. While forcing players to focus on certain type of character and restricting players to try master everything may be more restrictive, it makes you to play certain "role" better way. Combat skills contain eight weapon types from melee weapons to bow and crossbow. In addition there's three general skills, of which "Block" and "Dodge" are defensive, and "Critical strike" is offensive.

Weapon Skills And Combat

Your weapon of choice does matter in combat. For example dagger is a good weapon against lesser armored opponents, with it's piercing damage, while hammer and axe might be better at heavily armored opponents and can also known enemies down. Bows are better against enemies without shield, which seems to parry arrows very effectively - being archer's nightmare. Block may offer better overall defense than Dodge, but Dodge skill provides chance for a counter-strike and is somewhat more effective against weapons which do high damage against armor and shield. Talking about shields they can get broken too, even more often when struck by heavy weapon. The thing noticeable is also, that combat skills are not only used in combat, but also in dialogue options, when conversation leads to a situation where it makes sense.

Iron Tower Studios have included several nice little twists to the combat system making it more realistic and varying. It reminds me of Fallout franchise, being turn-based relying on "Action Points", which you can spend every turn certain amount depending of how high Dexterity skill you have. You can also choose different hitting/slashing styles with weapons, or aim to specific body part, which affects how many action points that action takes. I'd say that the system is more varying than Fallout's, and takes several additional things in account at combat. Battles are also square-grid based which makes it clearer to keep track of movement. Bright colors of the grid don't really fancy me, but luckily you can change grid opacity and tune it down in the menu, so it doesn't bother.

(Combat is one of the games best parts)

Combat sequences tied to quests seem to be interesting and very challenging. *Spoiler warning!* At one point me and two imperial guard initiates disguised as raiders were set to kill merchants. This was our initiate mission to join imperials. The battle against merchants and their guards was tough 3vs4 with us underhanded. While I finally managed to get alive through the combat, being not fighter, and only decent archer, we were set back to Barracks to report of our success. Good news is that our little qualifying test to join Imperial Soldiers was successful - bad news is that we the three initiates are standing on dark narrow alley with no way out, and our commander tells us that they don't need three new members but only one - kill the rest!. Holy crap.

No chance to save game in between. Lucky for me the other two were equally competent in melee with each other, and while the other tried to hack me with sword, I ran off from in between the two to a most far corner I could find, and luckily the other two started fight against each other leaving me in peace. I loaded my crossbow and shot at whoever was winning. At the end there was two "almost dead" contenders, and when other went down, I successfully shot an arrow to the remaining guys chest. Lucky me, because I'd never had won melee battle against either of them. Great moment in Beta and one additional way of playing that sequence smart.

(A moment of glory!)

General Skills And Dialogue

Age of Decadence has twelve skills from roguelike lockpick and sneak skills to persuasion and streetwise. Surprisingly Pickpocket is missing. Unlike in many other computer rpgs, Age of Decadence's skills are used heavily in character conversations and dialogues, but are rarely used in exploration mode. It's both good and bad. I was first annoyed that when I explored an Inn, and found some chests lying around in rooms, I wasn't able to even try to lockpick and open them. Later on I learned that they were just decoration, and that you cannot lockpick anything unless you're in story mode and within dialogue - in case the quests involves action such as that. That means no rewarding free exploration for loot, at least not so much. Bit disappointing on that part.

So skills are mostly used only in dialogue mode, but that's where the beauty of Age Of Decadence also lies. The dialogue itself is totally fine, and is presented with "storytelling"-like fashion. Dialogue is very descriptive and atmospheric, and usage of skills within conversation truly shines, perhaps better even than in Fallout. You get several choices in conversation depending of your skills, and your answers choices really seem like connected to certain skills. You're also sometimes brutally punished for being an idiot, or trying to achieve successfully a dialogue option requiring skill that you don't really have. Great thing is that if you decide to for example threaten some character to accomplish your goal, there are several possible effects: he may do as you will, or he may do it but remember your threats in your next quest sequence and refuse to help you in a future making you to achieve your goal harder way in future quest sequence, he may just plain refuse, or he may get offended enough to actually kill you where you stand.

Age of Decadence makes you think your answers to player characters wisely, and outcomes can be greatly different on each play through. Conversation system makes you feel like you're really "playing a role". It's remiscent to Fallout system, but at least in the first town dialogue branches were totally cool. Also special mention about totally great, dark humor flavored death screens with description related about how you died. Really exemplary work with this part Iron Tower!

(Conversation example and a "moment of shame")

For example if you need to get worst competitor out of the town, you may lure him to an empty house and try persuade him to leave, using persuasion skill - but you may also have an option tied to trading or streetwise. If you fail, you can try full out combat. This is far as regular game would go anyway. In one episode I tried just that, but after the game claimed that I had successfully persuaded the target to leave the town, my instincts looking the guy into eyes while he was about to leave told that he was lying about leaving (high perception skill revealed this). Now I have an option to let him go or try and backstab him while he turns away, relying on "critical strike" skill. While I was no combatant, and my crit strike was low, I failed miserably the assassination and was forced into a battle with dagger. I eventually won by re-loading the save several times. Perhaps there would had been even more optional choices, if I didn't want to fight it out - but that was left unfigured.

That's just a simple scenario even, which tells something about the game's dialogue complexity and it's ties to the skills of your character. There's one area of the character creation yet uncovered, which is your "background". You can be either: Assassin, Thief, Praetor, Loremaster, Grifter, Drifter, Mercenary or Merchant.

(Threatening assassin's guild is perhaps not wisest idea)

Choosing Your Background

All of the backgrounds have unique game beginning with unique relations to several of the game's factions. The "Background" sets general tone of your relationships at the beginning of game, and who you start as friends with. This influences your first quests, who you work for and so on. But all is bound to change due in time, if you wish to help another faction instead. There are eight factions in whole containing for example "Imperial Guards", "The Forty Thieves", "House Daratan" and "Commercium" - which is merchants faction. Enough factions to cover interesting story with such excessive dialogue as it stands in this game if you ask me.

Good Craphics For an Indie Game but?

Lets talk a bit about graphics. They are definitely fine for an indie game, but how about compared to other games in general? Well, graphics manage to hold their own. The game basically looks like of early 2000's regular release. The textures look quite nice, and lightning effects along shadows make the world bit more vibrant. The game isn't overly heavy either and should run on bit older computers, although do require relatively much power.

What sucks? Well character models look quite poor, especially females who look like men, but in general also. They are low detailed and lack personal looks. Same could be said about the house and object models around the first town. While textures are pretty good, there's no enough varying objects and other art to spice up the city fully, leaving it looking bit too plain. I'm comparing to all games now, not just indie part. Graphics lack a bit artistic style in general to bring life around the environment, but hold their ground nevertheless. Isometric 2D with artistic style probably would had been better choice though. It's sad that the great hand drawn art is used only in portraits and menu screen, because it really kicks ass.

(Graphics are actually quite nice at some parts)

3D view doesn't come without problems either, because while it's "ok" to use, view ends up being too narrow sometimes with objects blocking your vision. You can freely zoom and rotate camera to some extent, but it just doesn't seem to do such a great job. Zooming with middle mouse button is way too slow anyway, and after any conversation, which zooms in to character, the game leaves you with zoomed-in view and you have to zoom out seperately after each conversation, which is kind of irritating.

Menus and inventories, along other screens are informative and good. Seemingly Fallout inspired inventory screen is pleasing, only that it's a bit improved version of Fallout's having old-school "paperdoll" included, with a grid covering all areas of your body you can place an item to (left hand-right hand for weapon shield, head for helmet etc.). Crafting menu is also here, although I didn't have time to create crafter character yet. Only complaints about them would be item descriptions for example that are overlapping from the boxed area where they are meant to fit, and dialogue text font being tad too small in conversations. I believe such errors would be fixed to the final release. Some desrciptive icons for actions would be nice, such as "go to stairs" or "talk", and the neon green movement cursors "blob" looks plain horrid. The game also contains area map, with important places pre-marked at it, so you can fast travel between them. It's completely fine, but it lacks one important thing, a marker that shows where you're currently at and what direction you're looking to. Small thing as that would make navigation much more easy.

(Fallout inspired character screen taken one level beyond)

Sounds are also bit lackluster in Beta. While music is pretty good, there's no much other sounds included (at least yet). Some menu clicks and hit sounds in battle are in. But anything else is out. Ambient sounds such as loud conversation at the market area, clashing of the swords in barracks training area, and so on would help creating atmosphere to even higher level.

The Gameworld

The gameworld at least in first town is same time great and mediocre. When you're on the quest, the roleplaying experience is top notch with great dialogue. When conversation ends with one guy and the quest sets you to visit another character, you're teleported directly at the new guy. It's good thing for cutting filler material, but tunes down feeling of free exploration a bit.

It may be good thing in Beta, because the less good thing about exploration seems to be "free roaming" that isn't much rewarding that least in starter town. While there's much of things going on within the quests, traveling across the town feels tad too empty and hollow experience. There's no much other things to do than talking to the quest characters. No really joy of discovery. Only way you bump into events is talking to someone, or walking 'till you "bump" into someone, which automatically leads you to conversation. Other than that there's no much interaction with environment. Hopefully Iron Tower comes up with something in final release that will also please those wanting to explore areas freely. Some sort of running events in the town would bring it to life. Rare descriptions "You see x" when adventuring are nice touch though.

(At some parts the town feels empty and hollow)

Lore and Streetwise skills play important role, because post-apocalyptic Rome is greedy place with scam-artists and such selling junk and cheating money from the stupid. It's very cool feature that Age of Decadence features people that will cheat you, unless you're smart and/or have skills to call out a cheat. Player characters can rob you, or sell you an item claiming it's ancient artifact with magical powers, while it's just junk. More the Streetwise skill, better you're at spotting scammer, while Lore should affect on giving better item descriptions on anything. Noteworthy thing is that no magic item ever presents it's stats. As I understood you may either get accurate or inaccurate descriptions for items depending of your skills, but you may never know their stats. I read that Iron Tower did this to prevent people just stat-grinding for magic items.

It actually made me laugh in awe, when within first hour of play I had been already lured to an empty house to buy items for "deal too good to be true", robbed for buying kebab, and given money reward for completing quest - then buying scam item from the very same person by all my quest reward money in belief of getting "ancient artifact", which turned out to be junk. Cool.

Epilogue

The game ran mostly very fine, although there were few of crashes and bugs I encountered. Hopping between Windows and the game made me lose all combat icons, and when I entered combat, I could not hit, only receive hits. The game makes me enter one quest specific combat empty handed every time although I have weapon pre-chosen, which is sort of bad since the game's combat is challenge anyway. It makes you miss one turn, that can be lethal in combat. The game crashed few times in few days, not that much, but still proves that code can be optimized.

Age of Decadence Beta isn't perfect package in all areas, but it definitely has it's fascination - despite inconsistency. Beta leaves things to be fleshed out for final release while leaves hopes up for a great game. The game stands out in story mode, quests, dialogue, and is very good in combat part too. It lacks a bit in graphics, especially environments design, for the town feels bit hollow at times. I'd assume more sounds to come in at final version but we'll see. Best thing about this indie rpg is that it really makes you "play the role" in quest and story mode, and does it great. Being one of the best games in that department released for quite some time. Don't ditch this just because it's "indie release"! Age of Decadence sends quite big promise, and deserves recognition from role-playing fans.

-www.thegamersdungeon.com

What is GoG.com (Good Old Games) ?

noreply@blogger.com (Dungeoncrawler) — Fri, 11 May 2012 15:47:28 PDT

GoG is also known as Good Old Games, and was formed 2008 by the guys from CD Projekt company - a polish game company known of "The Witcher" franchise. It's online pc game store selling mainly old classic games as copy-protection-free (DRM-free) downloads, but they have been recently expanding also to include newer releases into their selection, as well as some indie releases like "Legend Of Grimrock" for example. This means you don't need a cd at any point - plus they are legal company and have made deals with the companies that own the rights to the games they sell. Regular price for game download is from $5.99 dollars to $9.99 but they have regularly campaigns, -50% promotions etc, when you can get classic games like Jagged Alliance, Fallout and so on very cheap. Their catalogue is ever expanding and contains truly classic games along several rarities. GoG's biggest competitors are most likely Steam and Gamersgate.

(GoG.com Website's main page with game adds and promotional campaigns)

Why do I promote GoG? Well simply because I think it's an awesome online game store which I like personally a lot. Unless I really want a physical copy of some great game, as a part of "collection", GoG is way to go. Good Old Games is probably the best online store for classic game downloads at fair price. Not only that, but GoG games are Windows 7 and XP ready for you when you buy them, being pre-customized to use Dosbox application. If you're not familiar with Dosbox, it's a free Dos-emulator for several windows versions including the newest ones, slowing your games down and be allowed to be played in Win 7 for example. It has it's own hassle though it's relatively easy to customize, but Good Old Games' idea to pre-customize games for you not having to mess around with DosBox - since games are DosBox ready the second you complete the installation - is very welcomed addition.

GoG includes additional extra goodies with their downloads for each game, when you buy one online. Such as game manuals in pdf format, possibly cluebooks, wallpapers, other game art and so on. GoG have regular discount campaigns and they tend to gift free games, for both regular customers and affiliates, who can then use those games freely for example as their own gaming community's competition prizes or such. They also have a large community forum at their website broken into game specific sub-forums.

(Part of my GoG collection and sample of extra goodies to download)

All you have to do is register GoG, buy some game downloads with all common methods of payment, and get instant fast download for the game after payment with easy to use "GoG downloader" app. I've had great download speeds this far, and when the download is complete, just install and play any of those Dos games without having to worry what Windows you are using. You can re-install or re-download the game any time again if you needed to do so. Sounds good?

(GoG.com Downloader looks like this, small and quick app)

Another very cool thing is that GOG listens their customers wishes. As they are expanding their back catalogue, they do it so that they will include some games that customers wish the most. To assure this, GOG holds a voting system for games which aren't in their selection yet. Any registered member can basically go over the "voting page", and give a vote to any of the games in the "wishlist", or add his/hers own suggestion of a game to be included there in case it's not in the list yet. You can see whole voting system and the current wishlish here.

At this very moment I'm writing, GOG has 317 games in their catalogue, and it's ever expanding. Their selection have games from companies such as (including their own Witcher games):

Activision
Atari
Apogee
Codemasters
EA
Empire Interactive
Epic Games
FunCom
Interplay
Kalypso
Rebellion
Square Enix
Team 13
Topware Interactive
Ubisoft

Regular price picks from GoG.com game catalogy

Some good deals for regular price at GoG for example includes:

Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura - $5.99
Baldur's Gate: The Original Saga - $9.99
Baldur's Gate 2 Complete - $9.99
Betrayal At Krondor (/w -Antara) - $5.99
Crusader: No Remorse - $5.99
Deus Ex: GOTY Edition - $9.99
Dungeon Keeper - $5.99
Fallout - $5.99
Fallout 2 - $5.99
Freespace 2 - $5.99
Gothic - $9.99
Heroes of Might & Magic III Complete - $9.99
Icewind Dale Complete - $9.99
Icewind Date II Complete - $9.99
Jagged Alliance - $5.99
Jagged Alliance 2 - $5.99
Lands Of Lore 1 + 2 - $5.99
Might & Magic 6-Pack (I-VI) - $9.99
Might & Magic 7 For Blood And Honor - $5.99
Realms Of Haunting - $5.99
Stonekeep - $5.99
Syndicate - $5.99
Thief Gold - $9.99
Thief II The Metal Age - $9.99
Ultima VII - $5.99
Ultima Underworld 1 + 2 - $5.99
Vampire The Masquerade: Redemption - $5.99
And much more...

-www.thegamersdungeon.com

(GOG.com "Complimentary Cake" commercial)

10 Interesting Mods To Bring Your Old Computer Games Alive

noreply@blogger.com (Dungeoncrawler) — Fri, 11 May 2012 15:48:59 PDT

Game Mods or so called "modifications", are independent projects created by fans for the original games. They may vary largely from changing minor things in game mechanics to complete game overhauls. I feel that most of the mods are not very professional, but it's cool that people make them for fun. Then of course we have those more ambitious mod projects for real, that aim high. Majority of them fall in their progress state for reasons like "no time", or development team just loses the interest at some point. Minority of ambitious game mods turn out to be legends though.

When I've been browsing "My top 10 mods" style of lists, I usually encounter the most obvious mods such as Counter-Strike (used to me a Half Life Mod at first), Team Fortress and countless Quake mods. Along those are of course (and justly) several Elder Scrolls Oblivion, Skyrim, and Morrowind mods, such as Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul / Nehrim mods. Bethesda surely knows their fan modding community. Instead of the most obvious ones, let's take a look into ten slightly less obvious mods that are very good, and may bring your old favorite games to life again!

Take a note that while installing mod, it may screw up your old savegames, or at least make them useless before new clean install of the game! These games require you to buy the original game to work.

1) "Jagged Alliance 2 v1.13" - Jagged Alliance 2

Jagged Alliance 2 ($9.99 Download in Amazon.com and GoG.com) is one of the best top-down party based strategy games ever released, with fantastic turn-based combat and great characters. This mod is probably one of the best mods ever released for free. Jagged Alliance 2 is so great game on it's own right, that you may worry a mod to mess things just up. Well I encourage you to try this one out! 1.13 mod was meant to fix bugs only at first, but the project took a turn to do much more later on - doing very large overhaul for the game - especially to it's "game engine". 1.13 does leave old quests and maps intact.

It features major additions, or should I say enhancements to the original game while keeping the basis and originality to the roots. The mod not only fixes loads of bugs and balances gameplay, but it adds new character creation with some new portraits, adds new "skill traits" to existing mercs and tweaks them around a bit, and brings several new mercs into the game. Higher resolutions are supported. Expect tons of new weapons (like several sniper rifles and heavy machine guns), armors, items, larger battles, improved backpack system, and even better combat with some great tweaks added. AI is also largely improved. This mod is major overall enchantment and battles feel better than ever. For all of you who ever thought that "man I wish I could play Jagged Alliance with friends", 1.13 also features multiplayer mode!

Go to the mod Website and read more

(Just a small portion of the new guns that JA 1.13 offers)

(This article is copyrighted by www.thegamersdungeon.com, if you're reading the article elsewhere then you're reading stolen material. Support us by reading the article at it's original source!)

2) "Circle Of Eight" - Temple of Elemental Evil

Temple of Elemental Evil ($14,95 Boxed Amazon.com or $5,99 Download GoG.com) was one of the most bugged cRPGs released up to date. It's party based top-down classic cRPG with D&D 3.5 ruleset. Even when fully patched with official updates, the game has still lost of troubles. Also the story and content did feel bit bland at the places. Well unofficial Circle Of Eight mod is about to fix major of the issues and add quite a bit of new content as well!

Basically the mod is mixture of major bug fixes and large additions of new content in terms of items, spells, monsters and full quest-lines, and areas. City of Verbobonc acts as a "hub" for new quests, such as gladiator-like arena battles, or investigating mysterious cults. The mod is ever in progress and current version includes 6 different "New content" additions to explore and experience: Welkwood Bog, Hickory Branch, Arena of Heroes, Moathouse Respawn, Verbobonch, and War Of The Golden Skull.

This mod is remarkable, because the original game had huge potential, but was released as unfinished. Circle of Eight doesn't only fix the bugs, it adds much more stuff far beyond making Temple Of Elemental Evil totally worth playing again, and the lands of it more interesting place to explore. Comes with "Standard" and "New Content" versions, so you can choose whether to stick with original content, with bug fixes, or to have new areas and quests included also.

Go to the mod Forums and read more

(Verbobonc, one of the new content additions)

3) "The Nameless Mod" - Deus Ex

Deus Ex (Boxed $5,49 Amazon.com or Download GOTY $9,99 GoG.com) was sort of an (seemingly) open world first-person action-adventure game in sci-fi setting, that would bring movies like Matrix to your mind. The game included some rather clever mini-games such as hacking computers, and usage of skills which you could eventually raise for your liking by spending skill points.

Released finally after 7 years in making, this Deus Ex mod boats as huge total single-player conversion mod for Deus Ex. It has nearly 200 000 lines of fully voice acted dialogue, and two different approx. fifteen hour campaigns, including multiple branching storylines. The mod's story has a lot of humor in it, but it's made with style.

"In Forum City, the Internet is serious business. As its name implies, the city is the physical embodiment of Internet forums and bulletin boards. It's more like The Matrix or Tron than Second Life, however, as the troubles of the city are no laughing matter. Embracing the style of Deus Ex, Forum City has as much crime and conspiracy as the world of JC Denton — but most citizens would have it no other way.

The balance of power has been upset. Unthinkably, a Moderator has disappeared, and panic is gripping the city. With the remaining Moderators spread far too thin, the lawless have found themselves with the freedom to prey upon others, and formerly suppressed rivalries threaten to explode into open conflict. You are called upon to silence the discord."

Go to Mod Website and read more

(a whole new lengthy story awaits along The Nameless mod)

4) "In The Wake of Gods" - Heroes of Might & Magic III: Shadow Of Death

HOMM III (/w HOMM IV $9,49 Amazon.com or Download $9,99 GoG.com) was a great fantasy based strategy game, in addition with some rpg elements (like hero stats and leveling), and had it's pace going one single mission at the time. Basically you'd start with a one town, which to build to acquire buildings that produce better troops for you to use in battles.

Wake Of Gods represents many different things for different players, and works as addon to the original game content - but is first and foremost "highly customizable toolbox for map makers and players". It features new monsters, new artifacts, and new objects - which are very well balanced in my opinion. It adds for example monsters of level 8 compared to maximum level 7 of the original version, to boost up end game on maps. The mod is mainly used to play existing maps, or generate random maps. Player gets then an option to "WoG:ify" existing map, which changes the map by changing/adding new WoG monsters, items etc. to the old map and spicing it up. It's a nice way to boost maps if you like playing single scenarios.

WoG also expands game customizability by adding additional game settings menu you can modify pre-entering the new scenario. You can modify game rules, for example disabling all teleport and fly spells, in case you felt they made HOMM III unbalanced. I like this mod, since it's mainly done very well and the new additions don't feel like seperate from the original game concept.

Attention: requires Shadow Of Death Expansion!

Read more at Heroes Community Forums or Download WoG 3.58

(One of the few creature updates presented by WoG)

5) "Complex Mod" - Homeworld 2

Homeworld 2 and especially it's predecessor HW 1 are one of the most respected rts-based space strategy games of all time released on pc. Complex Mod is totally free and advanced game mod based on Homeworld 2's game engine. It's aimed for more experienced and hardcore RTS (Real-Time Strategy) gamers, who love the genre.

It adds around 30 new units for Hiigarans, 10 for Vaygr, and boasts several new maps. The "research tree" has been expanded, physics modified and AI enchanced. Graphics and user interface have been overhauled more up to date. New parameters such as crew, rank, experience system, or game year are also now included within the game.

Go to Complex Mod Website and read more

(Complex mod makes, well, Homeworld 2 much more complex)

6) "Crossfire" - Freelancer

Freelancer is open world space simulator in veins of something like Privateer franchise. While it has it's main questline and several missions, in addition it has many smaller missions offered at the planets around the galaxy. Buy a ship of your liking and equip it as you will, and start making money by hunting outlaws or by transporting raw materials. Explore the huge galaxy freely, or stop for a beer at a space station bar.

Crossfire is probably the most graphically advanced mod out there for Freelancer boosting visuals of the game, and sound as well. However it also features over 60 additional systems to explore with more than 100 of dockable stations and planets. In addition phenomenal 190 new ship models, 20 new clansystems and more. The mod works both in singleplayer and multiplayer mode. Multiplayer servers also use Anti-cheat software to prevent cheating.

Go to Crossfire Mod Website and read more

(Crossfire 1.9 boost game graphics and galaxy size, 2.0 coming out in half year)

7) Median XL - Diablo II: Lords of Destruction

Diablo franchise if forefather to the hack'n'slash style cRPGs by Blizzard. Median XL is most likely the most popular, and biggest mod made for Diablo II. It gives a big overhaul for original Diablo II while keeping basis of gameplay mechanics the same. The mod replaces some character skills, improves items, monsters, and quests.

It features whole new skill trees with brand total of 30 brand new skills per character class. It improves monster AI, and also presents new "elite" and "heroic" monsters. 30 new "uberquests" are presented for the very high level characters to give some end-game challenge. New items, rares, runes and gems are to be found over the land. Items now have six tiers. And much more.

Go to Median XL Website and read more

(If it's been a while since you last time played Diablo II, maybe it's time for re-run?)

8) "Tropical Mod" - Master Of Orion 3

Master Of Orion franchise is similar to Galactic Civilizations. It's basically Sid Meyer's Civilization in space. A turn based strategy game where you control certain race, explore the space and conquer planets. Also diplomacy with other races is important factor along the space combat itself. Master Of Orion 1 was a classic, and Master of Orion 2 took the game even beyond that. Master of Orion 3 (Boxed $9,99 Amazon.com or Download $5,99 GoG.com) was a major disappointment.

The game came out quite unfihisned, unpolished and while some of the graphics were allright, stat heavy menu interface never looked too appealing or practical either (at least in my opinion), AI was inconsistent and battles looked terrible. But I know some people learned to like that game after learning it's tricks after some time. Moo 3 is sort of a game that at least I, want to love, but it just keeps pushing me back for it's big faults.

"Tropical Mod" for Moo3 is sequel for "Strawberry Mod". Basically it's combination of essential mods and fan made bug fixes, with some additions on it's own. It's large overhaul and fixes several issues with Master Of Orion 3. It also changes the core gameplay a bit, to make the game less broken. The game should be more balanced and few additional weapons are added also. The major factor is in rebalancing and fixing the broken game.

If you ever thought that Master of Orion 3 had any potential at all, but ditched it for it's huge problems, maybe it's time to take another glance with this mod installed.

Go to Atari Forums and read more about how to install the mod, and it's full features.

(Master of Orion isn't the prettiest chi.. game around, but with balance fixed it may be worth a try)

9) "Fall From Heaven II" - Civilization IV

Civilization, well you all know it, it's turn based strategy game about managing your tribe, nation, or kingdom and it's relations, as well as conquering other worlds. The story take place on Earth, starting from times long before Christ after Ice Age, and ending in near future. How you run your kingdom and how you play your game, is heavily tied to your research choices, do you research war technology or perhaps laws and production?

Fall From Heaven II mod takes Civilization IV to another level. It's a dark fantasy mod (total conversion) that sets totally different tone from original Civilization, when you start the game after the Ice Age. The world is not empty, it has inhabitants that are like ripped from a fantasy novel - vampires, undead and demonic creatures - even dragons. It presents over 20 new civs, 30 new leaders, hundreds of new units with over 40 more powerful "hero units".

Some other major changes include Magic and Spellcasting, units that can gather experience and become stronger, and be upgraded. Heroes, which are world units and can be only build once. And new technology trees. Fall From Heaven II has quite classical good / evil fantasy theme in it.

Attention: requires Civ IV: Beyond the Sword patched up to 3.17

Go to Mod Website and read more

(Fall From Heaven changes Civilization 4 tone quite totally)

10) "Aliens TC" - Doom

Doom, the forefather of first person shooters, well perhaps after Wolfenstein 3D. One of the first and most memorable at least to say.

Aliens TC was almost fully made by a man named Justin Fisher, who had an idea to make a total conversion mod for Doom, turning the game into Aliens setting (known from the movies also). This mod became very well known and highly rated due it's great (technical and looks) level design and suspenseful atmosphere. One guy did hell of a job! Many sounds were extracted from the film and used in the game.

Want to kill aliens with pulse gun Doom style? Here's a game for you, with about ten levels to wet your pants.

Go and get the Aliens TC v2.0 here

(Dare to look behind?)

Other interesting mods in development that you may not have heard of:

DaggerXL - The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall

In progress currently. Graphics conversion to make Daggerfall environments look way better. Hopefully the guy making this gets the job done at some point, since the mod looks quite appealing. Check mod website here and forums that are better up to date here.

(Spiced up Daggerfall - I'd love to give final version a run)

Horn of The Abyss (HoTA) - Heroes of Might & Magic III

A mod that will change several things to HOMM III adding several new towns and re-aligning existing units a bit to fit along with new towns. New units, artifacts, items, graphics and art etc. So far this mod looks very professionally made to my eyes, great graphics, exiting choices with new Towns. Looks like a mod of very dedicated fan community! Looking forward to this. Read more about the mod at Heroes community forums here.

(One of the new towns in Horn Of The Abyss Mod)

Mass Effect 3 - BioWare To Release Completely New Ending As DLC After Fan Outrage?

noreply@blogger.com (Dungeoncrawler) — Fri, 11 May 2012 15:49:19 PDT

Mass Effect 3 current different endings have not pleased big part of the fans. In fact, huge amount of players who bought the game were somewhat outraged by the current endings (which I'm not going to discuss here too much, so I won't spoil it for those who didn't finish the game yet). Obviously the ending didn't satisfy the fans, being final ending for Mass Effect franchise and completing the trilogy. The fans also didn't like much day-one DLC-Pack "From Ashes".

Earlier this morning Bioware co-founder Dr. Ray Muzyka released a statement addressing that development team of Mass Effect 3 is working on "game content initiatives", which should answer several questions of the story for fans better way. It's not yet known how much those "initiatives" will change the actual game's story and content. But it looks like BioWare is focusing on releasing whole new ending at least as an DLC pack. Further details are unclear yet, and BioWare should come out with better detailed statement next month.

Muzyka tells: "We're working hard to maintain the right balance between the artistic integrity of the original story while addressing the fan feedback we've received --- This is in addition to our existing plan to continue providing new Mass Effect content and new full games, so rest assured that your journey in the Mass Effect universe can, and will, continue."

"Retake Mass Effect" movement has started collecting donations with "Retake Mass Effect ChipIn Fund", trying to influence BioWare to make new endings after the disappointment. At the end of this day they had already raised funds of $75 000, and the donations will run until April 11.

Whether it's reasonable or not to change the ending is a good question. Some fans demand it, while the others see changing the original ending as an insecure move by BioWare, breaking the original work totally. People who liked the original ending may hate BioWare for changing it, since it makes the original to lose it's meaning as "the ending for trilogy" - suddenly the end they believed to close the story was pointless?

Also if BioWare decides to change the ending only with no other major additions or changes to the game, and cash out with it as downloadable DLC pack, I personally smell greed and hope all it was not planned move. I think that if they decide to change the ending, they may as well do free DLC-pack which does only that without other additions to the game, and so doesn't force fans already finished the game to buy whole lot of extra content to see just the new ending. It would be kinda immoral to come out with unsatisfying ending scenes first, and then sell the new ending with high price later on. What do you think?