My Top 10 Creepy & Spooky Video Games - It's a Pixel THING - Ep. 103

Celebrating this year’s Halloween, I’m gonna point out my 10-all-time favorite heart pumping titles since I first started playing video games!

So, are you ready for some horrifying and spooky action?...


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#top10

#halloween

#creepy

#scary

#horror

#survivalhorror


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Video Games' Prices Through the Years - It's a Pixel THING - Ep.#89

Are you happy with video games' prices? Do you buy and support this "new" practice for Special and Collectors Editions?

Let's take a look at video games' prices through the years!


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TOP 5 Games Played in 2015 for the First Time - It's a Pixel THING - Ep.#77

Last year I’ve played a lot of stuff, but I believe that only one game was a 2015 release! With that in mind, here’s my Top 5 video games that I’ve played last year for the very first time!


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DiRT Rally [2015, PC] Review - It's a Pixel THING - Ep.#74

A new rally simulation has finally arrived!

This year, Codemasters surprised everyone when they’ve announced, back in April, DiRT Rally as an early access on Steam and that they would shape the game with the feedback from players.

Let's take a look at what DiRT Rally turned out to be now that its final version is here!


Official page: https://www.dirtgame.com


Buy it now from Steam: http://store.steampowered.com/app/310560/


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Video Game Pickups #5 - 22 Games + Awesome Retro Stuff - It's a Pixel THING - Ep.#57

Let's take a look at my new T-Shirt & the 22 video games, and other gaming related stuff, that I've added to my collection over the last three months! There's stuff for the PC, original XBOX, XBOX 360, PlayStation 2, Amiga, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64 and the Amstrad CPC!

Enjoy!


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Trials Fusion with a Retro Twist [PC, 2014] - It's Play Time! - Ep.#4

Just to show the awesome "Retrospective" track that is part of the "Fault One Zero" downloadable pack! Genious!


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It's a Pixel THING's main theme by LASERS (Amsterdam).

Video Game Pickups #4 - 27 Games + Stuff - It's a Pixel THING - Ep.#45

Let's take a look at the 27 video games, and other gaming related stuff, that I've added to my collection over the last couple of months! There's stuff for the PC, XBOX 360, PlayStation 2, Amiga, ZX Spectrum, Sega Dreamcast and for the original Xbox!

Enjoy!


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It's a Pixel THING's main theme by LASERS (Amsterdam).

500 Subs Special & Future of the Channel - It's a Pixel THING

Thank you guys for this 500 subs celebration video! It's been an awesome ride!

In this special episode of the Pixel THING I bring back some memories from the 80s and 90s and talk about what will be the future of the channel.


Thanks, once again for all the support and for subscribing to the Pixel THING.


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Rally Trophy [2001, PC/Windows] Review - It's a Pixel THING - Ep.#42

Established in March 2000, Bugbear Entertainment started its successful career in video game development with this amazing Rally Trophy that raised the bar in the racing genre.

Published by JoWooD Productions in November 2001, this Windows exclusive title was considered, by many, one of the most realistic and challenging racing games for its time.

Being based on historic rally cars, the physics models, combined with no traction control or ABS or any kind of driving aids, turns Rally Trophy into a pretty good rally racing simulation, a totally new thing that only PC gamers had the chance to try! There was also a planned Xbox version that never came out on the system. Never understood why.

I totally believe that it scared many players, hoping to find a Colin McRae style of racing. That’s why this title is so enjoyable: the difficulty of the controls, the skills needed to master this game, all this attracted me like a magnet!

There are 42 beautiful and highly detailed stages across 5 countries and we’ll encounter several types of road surfaces in Russia, Finland, Switzerland, Sweden and Kenya. So, be prepared to drive a aidless historic car in tarmac, gravel and mud! I can guarantee: it’s super fun! And your co-driver is always goofing around punching you with all kind of hilarious comments!

So, Rally Trophy isn’t just another boring world rally championship game.

I remember that, back in the day, the game was really demanding, graphically speaking. Fortunately it remained playable on all windows versions that came after XP and I could later play it with all graphical options on its maximum. And I can tell you that this is one hell of a gorgeous game to look at! An example of this is, ‘till its release date, the presence of the most complex and dynamic sun flares and effects ever seen in any racing game! And, speaking of effects, those dust clouds and flying particles are a sight to behold! Just beautiful!

We’re given the option to drive a classic, amazing and hugely deformable rally car from yesterday. All vehicles are very well modeled and detailed, with those awesome dashboards with fully functioning dials and such, and it’s an extreme joy to try them all and, probably, slam them into a tree ‘cause your co-driver screamed at your ears that an animal was crossing the road!

The cars available are the Mini Cooper, the Saab 9-6, the Alfa Romeo Giulia, the Fiat 600 Abarth, the Opel Kadett, the Lancia Fulvia, the Ford Cortina and Escort, the Volvo Amazon, the Alpine A110 and, lastly, the amazing Lancia Stratos. Each car handling is well balanced between being realistic and challenging. Also the fun factor is a major player in this game making it extremely rewarding to drive; and sliding is very well implemented, mainly in those cars with rear wheel drive.

I must advise you that Rally Trophy has a steep learning curve. So, if you’re looking for a driving game that you can master in a few hours, you’d better look somewhere else.

Variety is this game’s middle name, with the already mentioned 42 stages with its own and special types of terrain. Now, throw some night stages with snow, mud and rain, with included lightning bolts, and you get a wide range of different extreme driving conditions to dominate. Try to maintain your car intact! Otherwise, if you crash and brake the headlights, you won’t see, like Portuguese people say: “the tip of a horn” (in Portuguese: "a ponta de um corno") on those night stages! And that will be a serious challenge!

To keep the bar really elevated, the developers have taken the engine noises directly from the actual rally cars they are based on, so the sound design aspect of Rally Trophy is also extremely well produced.

As for the gaming modes, we can choose between single race, championship and multiplayer mode, but there’s also an arcade option where we get to play a rallycross type of race with other opponents simultaneously on track that, back then, had a frame rate issue ‘cause there were a lot going on at the same time. Fortunately this was the least important feature in Rally Trophy. So, don’t bother trying.

If you just want more tracks, cars, skins, sounds and other stuff, just head over to nogripracing.com and you’ll be amazed by the quantity and, most of all, quality of the work put together by Rally Trophy’s online community.

To conclude this review, here’s a tip to unlock all modes, cars and tracks: in the game menu simply use this combination of words “KALJAKOPPA” as your name and magic will happen!

Rally trophy is a demanding game, no doubt about it, but, in the end, you’ll be hugely satisfied for completing one more stage! Also, listening to your co-driver yelling at you ears, is, as Portuguese people would say, “to crack the coconut with laughter” (in Portuguese: "de partir do coco a rir")!

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Europress Software & Mini Office Amiga Review - It's a Pixel THING - Ep.#41

Microsoft Word 1.0, that would later be part of the most successful business suite for multi-tasking in a windows type of environment, was introduced, firstly, on a Macintosh computer, in 1984, the first year of the Macintosh. Word was soon followed by Excel 1.0 and Powerpoint 1.0.

A few years later, the first Microsoft Office package, featuring Word, Excel, Powerpoint and Microsoft Mail, was finally presented to the public: Microsoft Office 89 for Mac.

Office for Windows was only introduced in 1990 for Microsoft’s own powerful and improved Windows 3.0 Operating system. My first contact with Microsoft’s new environment and Office applications was in ‘92, with the upgraded Windows 3.1.

In this same year, the Amiga family also got a business suite of their own: Mini Office, from Europress Software, a company that I only knew for being the publisher of the awesome Network Q RAC Rally game for DOS, released a year later.

During the 80s the Europress group consisted of several other companies, including software development, and, with the boom of personal computers, quickly reached, in the early 90s, the top 5 largest British software houses.

It all started in 1965, year when Derek Meakin formed Europress to publish magazines and newspapers. During the eighties, with the growth of the British computer industry, Europress expanded its own publishing business and became involved in software development. Later in the decade, Europress Software was separated from the main company and inside it a new brand for video games was created – Mandarin Software – and presented to the press in, you guessed it, a Chinese restaurant in London.

In the eighties, and under the label Database Educational Software, Europress was responsible for a series of educational packages in the UK that were sold only by mail order. Then, in 1989, the Fun School 2 range of software was packaged more professionally and also placed in store shelves all around the place. These packages were available for the Zed X Spectrum, BBC Micro, Commodore 64, Acorn Electron, Amstrad CPC, Amiga, Atari ST and DOS, and went on through 1998 with the very last Fun School 7 CD-Rom set of education software. The Fun School range went on to sell more than 500,000 copies.

Also, in 1991, Europress bought Newsfield, a highly reputed publishing company responsible for the awesome, and much respected, computer and video games magazines Zzap!64 and Crash. This new branch of the Europress empire, branded Europress Impact, went on for three more years with five new publications (Sega Force, Mega Machines, N-Force, SNES Force, Amiga Force), ‘till it all collapsed in 1994.

In 2012, and under distribution by this company which name I refuse to pronounce (KOCH MEDIA), Europress developed a puzzle adventure game inspired by Jane Austen’s classic novel Pride & Prejudice that also had its debiu in movie theaters back in 2005 with academy award nominee Keira Knightley leading the cast.

Other great video game titles published under Europress Software’s label were:

• in 1992, Dojo Dan, for Commodore Amiga and with an awesome soundtrack by Allister Brimble;

• in 1996, Titanic: Adventure Out Of Time, for Windows and Macintosh;

• in 1997, Rally Championship: The X-Miles add-on, for Windows;

• in 1999, Mobil 1 Rally Championship, for Windows and PS One, and now under Actualize, the re-branded Europress.

But, in 1992, came this weird title that was bundled in a coverdisk of Amiga Action magazine #43): Unsensible Soccer, where we get to play with a team of oranges!

In 1992 came, as well, this business suite of professional software to take advantage of all the multi-tasking and graphical capabilities of the Commodore Amiga. This way, the Amiga could also be seen as a workstation rather than a simple, but powerful, games console. The usual Commodore customers would stick with the brand and potential ones would consider the Amiga platform as a serious contender of the IBM PC and Macintosh in this area, now that the more appealing and highly anticipated A1200 and A4000 were being released. Besides the price of Amiga computers being much more attractive, also this package of office software was hugely affordable compared to its Microsoft’s counterpart! Europress Mini Office’s starting price was only 59 pounds! And you could do just the same stuff and probably more with this one!

Looking at the box, its white background automatically tells us that we’re facing a set of serious software stuff for the Amiga computers. At that time there weren’t many options in this area, just some old and obsolete packages or shareware that no longer suited the need for more modern and thoughtful work.

So, let’s take a deeper look into this Mini Office. In the first of the three application disks there’s the Database, a very important tool for companies. Compared to other database programs on the market, it’s really simple to use and the manual bundled with this suite is clear and highly understandable.

The graphical environment is really good to look at, and, in the bottom, there’s some VCR style buttons for searching and saving, along with other normal functions.

In the same disk there’s a useful set of utilities application allowing users to manipulate information, format disks, delete files, rename, copy and even install Mini Office on the hard drive, if you have one on your Amiga.

As for the spreadsheet application, it works pretty much like all the others with those standard pull-down menus, but it can import ASCII files and can manage binary code, something unusual in this kind of thing back then. To scroll through the sheet we just need to use those VCR style buttons at the bottom.

Jumping right into the word processor, it’s a simple and handy tool that, unfortunately doesn’t support postscript, so, there’s only 7 different fonts to choose from, but it does, however, let us import photos and pictures into the text. All usual utilities in a word processor are present, so it does the job very well.

The graphical utility present in this package is a pretty useful way of representing boring mathematical data. It is way more attractive than just showing a bunch of numbers, right? We just need to import the data from the spreadsheet and we can now draw the graphic. There are various types to choose from and everything is displayed by icons that we can easily understand and identify. Finally, after we’re satisfied with our pretty looking graphic, we can place it into the text in the word processor, just like a picture.

Besides sharing similar design, all applications work together as one which is extremely convenient ‘cause it helps understanding, really quickly, how everything works.

To conclude, Mini Office Amiga is a really friendly package and, back then, would certainly make PC and Macintosh users blush with shame!

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15 Video Games for Valentine's Day - It's a Pixel THING - Ep.#38

First of all, there’s some rules that we need to, somewhat, respect:

1 – Buy a game with your significant other and avoid sequels;

2 – Prepare some snacks and other surprises;

3 – Be patient with your explanation of the controls and gameplay;

4 – Take lots of breaks to avoid getting too tired;

5 – Lose on purpose from time to time;

6 – If your loved one isn’t enjoying it, you need to stop immediately;

7 – If you lose because of your partner, don’t be mad! Just laugh it out loud!

So, here’s my list, without any specific order, of awesome games for Valentine’s day!

Starting with LEGO series of games: 

All of us have grown up playing with those LEGO blocks that have that amazing feeling of transporting our mind to this alternative reality.

Boys and girls, we all are familiar with those cute little characters that are around since 1949. I used to play with these way before I placed my hands on my first video game.

LEGO games are available for a handful of platforms: PS2, PS3, PS4, PSP, Vita, Xbox, XBOX360, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo DS, 3DS, Game Boy Advance, Game Cube, Wii, Wii U, and this is one awesome way to spend Valentine’s day!

Next up: SONIC & ALL-STARS RACING TRANSFORMED 

This is a funny mascot-based racing game in which players race against each other using characters from various Sega franchises. There’s also several varieties of weapons to pick up and use against your opponents, just like in the beloved ReVolt, from 1999.

Sonic is such a cute video game character that will certainly be recognized right away and even bring back some good old memories of playing the very first Sonic game on the Master System or Megadrive/Genesis!

Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed is available for PS3, PS Vita, Xbox360, Wii U, DS, PC and Android and iOS portable devices.

And, what about a good old arcade game from 1982?

Here’s: Ms PAC MAN 

If you have an arcade cabinet in your home, this is one good way to spend some time with your loved one! There’s hundreds of co-op games that you could play with your soul mate. Imagine how hard it is to choose just one.

Because of that, I’ve chosen Ms Pac Man. That way, you’ll be letting your significant other play and you’ll just stay there, watching and be thrilled for getting in return some smiles and laughter.

PLANTS VS ZOMBIES is one of those original ideas that turns certain games into great classics. 

Just imagine having a variety of different plants protecting your brain from getting eaten by zombies! Well, that’s what this game is all about!

Originally available for PC and Mac and, later, for portable systems, XboX live and PlayStation Network, this is a highly addictive and funny game to play alone or in co-op mode.

FEZ is such a beautiful indie puzzle platform game that utilizes pixelated art style with plenty of references to other classics of video gaming like, for instance, The Legend of Zelda, Tetris and Super Mario Brothers.

Available for download since 2012 for Xbox360, PC, Mac, Linux, PS3, PS4 and Vita, this kind of unique two-dimensional puzzle platform game set in a three-dimensional world is so amazingly beautiful that you and your partner will find yourselves stopping to smell the roses for countless times!

Set in a beautiful and challenging world, Rayman Origins  is one of those games that you can’t miss when trying to get someone into gaming.

Released for the PC, Mac, PS3, Xbox360, Wii, 3DS and PS Vita in 2011, this amazingly colorful side-scrolling platformer is playable with up to four local players, but, for valentine’s day, 2 players is enough, don’t you agree with me?..

ROCK BAND series 

is another great opportunity to bring people together. Just form a band with you loved one and choose which instruments both will be using and free yourselves playing and singing some of the most charismatic, influential and brilliant songs ever made!

Grab a PS3 or Xbox360 and start making some noise!

In the end, you’ll be hugging and kissing!! That’s guaranteed.. or your money back!

Another cute and awesome little puzzle game ideal to play with friends and, above all, super special friends, is Critter Crunch, released for PS3, PC, Mac and all iOS devices between 2008 and 2012.

The concept is quite simple, control this furry creature named Biggs and, with his long tongue, we must clear each screen launching smaller critters into the mouths of larger ones filling them up. By doing this, you’ll be helping the continuous flow of the food chain.

Ahhhh.. such a cute game, with regurgitation scenes and all…

Castle Crasher, 

with its unique cartoon art style, is a side-scrolling beat-em-up, with some RPG elements thrown in, that’s so amazingly fun and addictive set in a medieval scenario where a dark wizard has stolen a mystical gem and captured four princesses. Stories like these, of knights in shining armors and damsels in distress, are always welcome in such an important date as valentine’s day. You and your partner will be, for hours, fighting these hordes of funny looking enemies just to breach the castle and save the day!

It’s available for Xbox360, PS3, PC and Mac.

Diner Dash: 

In this strategy and time management type of game we’ll find ourselves working hard on a diner, seating and serving people. You just drag and drop customers on any available table, serve their meal and, when they finish, take the correspondent check. At this time, customers leave you a tip and all the dishes on the table for us to clear so other customers can use that particular table.

This is an ideal type of game to get someone into gaming and it is available for PC, Mac, Wii, DS, PSP, PS3, Xbox360, Android and iOS devices, and it spawned numerous sequels.

  

I couldn’t end this video without pointing a Mario game. So, my favorite is the New Super Mario Bros. for Wii.  It’s a highly addictive super colorful game that needs absolutely no introduction.

This little gem sold over 10 million copies and was considered the fastest selling single-system game ever made! That’s one hell of an accomplishment! Just fantastic.

And this game is enjoyed by all genders, from youngsters to senior folks! So, once again, you won’t miss with this one! Your soul mate will certainly fall into your harms just begging for one more go.

Is this what you really want to do on valentine´s day?...



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Video Game Pick Ups #3 - 24 Games+Stuff - It's a Pixel THING - Ep.#37

Let's take a look at the 24 video games, and other gaming related stuff, that I've added to my collection over the last couple of months! There's games for the PC, XBOX 360, PlayStation 2, Megadrive/Genesis and Commodore Amiga!
Enjoy!

Check out Ivan's "History of Videogames" book: http://www.blurb.com/b/5451321-historia-dos-videojogos-4-a-edicao

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Video Game Pick Ups #2 - 24 Games + Bonus! - It's a Pixel THING

Let's take a look at the 24 video games I have added to my collection over the last couple of months! And there's even a bonus item at the end!
There's games for the XBOX 360, PC and PlayStation 2!

Don't forget to check out the newest KickStarter Project about the 20 years' anniversary of the PlayStation:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1066226221/playstation-game-changer-documentary-and-book

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It's Play Time: Colin McRae DiRT 2 [playing just for fun] - It's a Pixel THING

Playing Colin McRae DiRT2 over network with my brother just for laughs! Great game and great fun! The best DiRT of the franchise!

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The Great Escape [1986, ZX Spectrum] Review - It's a Pixel THING

One freaking cool scene that remains in my conscience is the one of Steve McQueen riding his motorcycle and jumping over a fence. That was something that every small boy would dream on doing!.. And later, receive visits on an hospital bedroom..

The Great Escape was developed by Denton Designs and published by Ocean Software in 1986 for DOS, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC and the ZED X Spectrum.

This arcade adventure game, with a slight stealth flavor, takes place in 1942 and puts us in control of a POW somewhere in northern Germany.

In this quite unique single stage game, you need to follow a certain strict routine, along with all the other prisoners. You could just watch your character go off to his daily business. Let go of the controls, sit back and enjoy.

But, this is a computer game and it asks for human interaction! So, let’s jump right in!

About the daily routine, we must attend the morning roll call in front of the German officers, report to the canteen for breakfast, lunch, do some exercise on the yard, dinner and, at the end of the day, attend the evening roll call and return to the hut for another night under the sheets.

It’s here where you need to start to explore your surroundings if you really want to escape from that dreadful routine. Look carefully around you and you’ll find a stove in the corner, which, when pushed aside reveals a secret tunnel. But it’s too dark to explore though. You’re gonna need a source of light. And this is just the beginning of our quest.

The flying flag from the pole to the left of the main play area serves a number of functions. The higher the flag flies, the higher the morale of the central character. Getting red cross parcels or picking up or using an item of escape equipment, the morale improves. Morale is lowered with searches and arrests and gradually diminishes as time elapses. When the flag reaches the bottom, you’re forced to start a new game.

While the flag is green you have limited control and you can only be searched by the Camp Commander. When you break the routine, the flag turns red and you’re able to pick up and drop objects.

Once you’ve learned all the moves and routines of the camp, it’s time to get your hands dirty. The Great Escape is all about finding objects: keys, torches, tools, etc. Remember to have safe hiding places to drop all the objects you need for the escape. If the guards find any object, they will confiscate and return them to their original location.

Avoiding the guards is rather simple. Just keep out of their line of sight and they won’t notice you.

During the night, powerful searchlights scout the camp and prisoners outside the huts get arrested on sight. Hummm…. Maybe wearing a German uniform might help in this situation, don’t you think?

Points are awarded for escape attempts and for collecting and using objects. There are various routes to choose, each needing its own type of equipment, and once you’ve got everything, you just wait for night to fall and away you go! Once outside, you’ll need a compass and some papers or you won’t get very far..

The whole game generates a very real atmosphere of actually being there, and, sometimes, you do get very nervous if you’re stuck somewhere when the roll-call bell sounds!

In 2003 a new game based on The Great Escape movie from 1963 was released for Windows, Playstation 2 and the original Xbox. Sadly it felt somewhat unfinished and received poor reviews from critics all around the world.

This version of The Great Escape was considered one of the best games ever made for the ZED X Spectrum. The DOS version was also extremely playable, but the simple sound effects, from the PC speaker, and the lack of color made it boring after a bit.

The Great Escape is a brilliant game in both concept and design, and the non-linear gameplay and its isometric perspective was, in 1986, something totally new. 

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Trials Fusion [2014, PC] Review - It's a Pixel THING

This week's episode is about a "not so retro" title that has some good old school references. I'm talking about Trials Fusion and this game is the first Pixel THING's "Not so Retro Review" series.
Hope you enjoy watching these videos as much as I enjoy making them!

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Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine [1999, PC/Windows] - It's a Pixel THING

Inside the box, with, by the way, a simple but superb illustration of Indy’s magnificence, we’ve got a jewel case containing the 2 CDs for its massive eight hundred megabytes of data for the full install of the game and, as well, its full color manual with the beautiful art of Drew Struzan, the guy responsible for the Indiana Jones, Stars Wars, Back to the Future, Harry Potter movie posters and also some of Alice Cooper’s cover albums.

Firstly, and in my honest opinion, Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine is a huge overlooked gem.

Back in 1999, in a time where point-and-click adventure games have already died out its flame, Lucas Arts released the first 3D action adventure game based in Indy’s adventures. I remember that I was extremely anxious and really looking forward to grab this game at my first opportunity! And so I did!

Ok, you all know that I’m a huge Indiana Jones fan and that this game is kind of a poor Tomb Raider clone. But you have to agree that this in one hell of a good venture into the 3D action adventure game genre! Many people talks about how awkward the controls were, but I remember that this was also a problem in many 3D games of the time, Tomb Raider included.

The real facts are that Infernal Machine has an awesome and interesting story, capable of truly fantastic and memorable scenes and successfully captures the essence of Indiana Jones movies.

Remember Sophia Hapgood?.. Well, probably not like this!!.. You’ll most likely recognize her in this photo!.. Well, she’s back! And she’s with the CIA, now!

Project leader Hal Barwood, also responsible for Indiana Jones and The Fate of Atlantis point-and-click adventure game, originally planned this new Indy title to have a plot based in UFOs and extraterrestrials, but this idea was vetoed by George Lucas because, at that time, he was already thinking of a similar story for a fourth Indiana Jones movie, later subtitled, as everyone knows, The Kindgom of the Crystal Skull and only released nine years later, in 2008.

Infernal Machine’s story is set in 1947, after the end of World War II where Indy was involved. While in his dig site in the CanyonLands, Indy is approached by Sophia who tells him that the Soviets are excavating the ruins of Babylon. They are searching for a weapon more powerful than the atomic bomb that would give ‘em an advantage in the Cold War that had already begun. Then, Indy is hired by Sophia to investigate first hand taking us on a fabulous journey around the world through 16 levels from Kazakhstan to the Philippines, Mexico, Sudan and many others.

Basically, in each level we’re required to kill enemies, jump or climb from platform to platform and search for the exit to advance to the next level. It’s that simple. But its execution is amazing and each area feels unique and true to the Indiana Jones movies.

Graphics for today’s standards can look really poor, but, back in the day they were beautifully designed. The exterior may seem a bit artificial, but, indoors, the level of detail is amazing. Also, in my opinion, Indy actually resembles Harrison Ford and its voice acting is superb and faithful to the man in the hat who has got really smooth movement animations as well.

Level design is also magnificent and really can take us on this great quest. There are plenty of different situations and you won’t be easily bored.

Needless to say that the musical score, by Clint Bajakian, is great and based on the original “Raiders March” from Raiders of the Lost Ark soundtrack, by John Williams. As for the sound effects, it helps to add a lot more atmosphere to this great game. The crisp and clean voice overs of the soviet characters and weapon effects were really impressive at the time!

A Nintendo 64 improved version was available in North America and never released in Europe due to continuous delays. For the record, it was on development for too long, about nineteen months, and was only released a year after the PC version had hit the shelves. It also featured some new sequenced musical pieces by my all-time favorite composer: Chris Hülsbeck.

The game’s variety of puzzles received good reviews by the press and the inclusion of a hint system and the film quality-like cut scenes were even applauded. The controls, on the other hand, were a bit infuriating and stressful for many players. But, what’s the rush? With such a good story and beautiful landscapes to explore, this game is to be taken slow trying to enjoy every bit of it, ‘cause there’s even Easter eggs to find!

  

After playing this game I felt the urgent need to watch all Indy movies all over again!  See ya, guys! I’ll be back soon!...

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My 4 Favorite Arcade Off Road / Rally Racing Videogames of All Time - It's a Pixel THING

A quick look at my favorite arcade off road / rally racing games of all time.

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Usar o Smartphone Android ou iPhone como um Controlador de Jogos para Windows e Mac

Todos nós gostamos de jogos casuais. Verdade? Decerto que, hoje em dia, qualquer um de nós possui um Smartphone Android ou iPhone. Correto?..
Que tal esquecermos o teclado e o rato e usar o nosso telefone para controlar os jogos no computador?

Se tudo isto soa bem demais para ser verdade, vale a pena espreitar o Wanderplayer. Com este programa (ainda em beta), poderemos jogar mais de 30 jogos diferentes diretamente no computador (Windows ou Mac) enquanto utilizamos o Smartphone como controlador, prevenindo a má posição que muitas vezes o teclado e rato nos proporciona. Wanderplayer é muito fácil de instalar e em menos de 5 minutos estamos prontos para começar a jogar.


Preparando o Wanderplayer.
Clicar em www.wanderplayer.com para fazer download da aplicação para o computador em questão. O programa ocupa apenas 1MB no disco rígido e consome somente cerca de 4MB de memória RAM quando está em execução (no Windows 7).

De seguida necessitamos de obter a aplicação para o Smartphone Android ou iPhone.

Após o programa instalado no computador, basta iniciar a aplicação no telefone e observar como ambos se conetam entre si. Quando isto acontecer, o ícone Wanderplayer no desktop (no Windows, no canto inferior direito) passa para amarelo e uma mensagem aparecerá. Claro está que, para tudo isto acontecer, ambos os equipamentos (telefone e computador) deverão estar na mesma rede WiFi. Visto que o Wanderplayer foi criado para uso doméstico, não haverá qualquer problema.
E, assim, estamos prontos para começar a jogar!


Como foi mencionado em cima, o programa ainda se encontra em fase beta, logo poderão ocorrer alguns bugs.

A Commodore Está de Volta!!!

De acordo com o site PC Pro, o Commodore 64 vai regressar rejuvenescido já no próximo Verão.

A 1 de Junho, nos EUA, a jóia da coroa dos anos 80 vai voltar a ser comercializado pela própria Commodore com, obviamente, uma nova cara e coração. Manterá o design 'all-in-one' numa actualizada carcaça metálica prateada (ou negra). É claro que, agora, a designação '64' não diz respeito aos 64 kb de memória, mas sim ao processador de 64 bits.

O topo de gama do novo Commodore 64 terá um processador Intel Core 2 Quad, até 4 GB de RAM, disco rígido de 2 TB e rede ethernet gigabit. Em relação ao Sistema Operativo, o C64 virá com o Ubuntu Linux instalado, mas sendo sempre possível a actualização para o Windows 7.

Resta-me esperar que seja lançado, ainda este ano, na Europa..

Anúncio australiano de 1985

O novo C64

O antigo C64