Sega’s Pirate TV - edgy, innovative, funny and brilliant!

I’ve already done a post on how much more creative and innovative gaming commercials on TV were in the 80s and 90s and a prime example of this is Sega’s brilliant ‘Pirate TV’ campaign, Sega had always been regarded as the cooler, more ‘down with the kids’, and streetwise company compared to the more family friendly image of Nintendo and this series of commercials kind of confirmed that.

I don’t really remember the ads the first time around so am grateful for this compilation that someone has uploaded to YouTube https://youtu.be/xml2_CfTevM 

A great series of commercials, the likes of which I think we shall never see again…….

The SNES/Megadrive era or the present day PS5/XBox Series X era - which was/is the better time to be a gamer? My answer may not entirely surprise you!

This is something I often think about and have come to the conclusion that the SNES/Megadrive era was the better time to be a gamer, I shall detail the reasons why in a moment.

To add balance I should also mention that I do own a PS5 and a Nintendo Switch, both of which I absolutely love and wouldn’t be without.  Particularly on the PS5 I’m constantly blown away by how far games have come since that time especially in terms of graphics, they’re of an almost lifelike quality now that wouldn’t have been thought possible back in the 16-bit era.  And the library of games is just as impressive too, so even though I do enjoy a good gaming session on my current consoles, the 16-bit era for me will always be the ‘golden age’ of gaming and these are my reasons why I think that :

• The games were quicker to load and start playing, very few everlasting cut scenes at the start of the game and no constant downloading of updates - the game you bought was the game you played
• Thanks to clever marketing and move creative and innovative advertising (Sonic 2uesday, Mortal Monday) a new game launch felt more like an event than now
• We had two gaming shows on TV, Channel 4’s GamesMaster and Sky’s Games World
• You could walk into any WH Smith and walk out with an armful of gaming magazines, they were plentiful!
• The games were just as much fun then as they are now, in fact in some cases more so
• It was just basically for me a really great era of gaming!

And that, for me, is why the SNES/Megadrive era was the better time to be a gamer and why I will always have and always will continue to enjoy these games on my excellent retro handhelds!

If only I had a time machine, now where’s my DeLorean?

Memories of Special Reserve, Sawbridgeworth and Silica Shop

I have fond memories of my visits to Special Reserve up in Sawbridgeworth, Herts and Silica Shop’s main store in Sidcup.  Special Reserve were based a few minutes walk from Sawbridgeworth railway station out of Liverpool Street and every trip there felt like a special day out, their prices in particular for SNES and Megadrive games were excellent and often cheaper than anywhere else and they always had a great selection each time I went up there.  They also used to do really useful and informative catalogues with full details of the titles available.

You no doubt used to see them advertising regularly in gaming magazines such as Mean Machines and C&VG.  

The other shop I used to enjoy visiting was the main branch of Silica Shop in Sidcup, this was when I owned an Atari 800XL and then an Atari ST as they specialised in hardware, software and accessories for Atari machines, again like a trip to Special Reserve it felt like a worthwhile journey to Silica Shop as I’d always pick up something cool for my Atari machine, it was a small shop from the outside but inside it was packed with Atari goodies! It was also always worth picking their regularly updated A5 catalogue.

Sadly both shops have long since gone but the memories of my days out to both will live on.

Nights into Dreams - my favourite Saturn game ever!

When I owned a Sega Saturn my favourite and most-played game by far was Nights into Dreams, a stunning looking game released for the machine in 1996 and still playable and great fun to this day!  In fact I’m still getting a lot of fun and nostalgia out of playing it on my retro handhelds!

The story of the game follows teenagers Elliot Edwards and Claris Sinclair (you choose which to play as at the start of the game) who enter Nightopia, a dream world where dreams take place, they begin a journey (with the help of an exiled ‘Nightmaren’) to prevent the evil ruler Wizeman from destroying Nightopia and ultimately the real world.  This is achieved by flying around the beautiful landscape and collecting enough energy to defeat Wizeman and save Nightopia.

Graphically, the game looks absolutely stunning and the landscape you fly around is gorgeous! A favourite part of the game for me is flying through a certain ring and having a limited time to perform tricks such as ‘loop the loop’.

The game was released as a set with a special controller designed for the game with an analogue stick, something the original Saturn controller didn’t have.  This made flying around and performing the tricks a lot easier.  I can still remember going to my local Dixons to purchase this set and they were also giving away a Nights into Dreams baseball cap which I still have somewhere to this day!

Also released was Christmas Nights into Dreams, given away in the UK as a disc with the Official Sega Saturn Magazine, this is basically one level of the game but if you set the Saturn’s clock to a time and date in December the characters are dressed in festive costumes and the landscape takes on a distinctly snowy appearance.  Various other changes to the game are also made at other times of the year such as Valentine’s Day.

The music in this game is also brilliant, matching the game perfectly and it’s annoyingly catchy too!

It’s almost worth buying a Saturn just to play this game, it really is that good! I shall be enjoying this for many years to come on my retro handhelds, now where’s my Nights baseball cap?

Retrogaming problem? Who ya gonna call? Not Ghostbusters, but……Discord and Reddit!

One of the issues with having Retrogaming as a hobby is that every so often you’ll encounter a problem or issue you simply cannot solve and over the past few weeks I’ve found two resources absolutely invaluable in providing a solution so am going to share them with you…..

The first is Discord, best described as a social network and discussion board dedicated to videogaming generally, there are numerous groups you can join for everything from gaming websites to retrogaming and this is the reason I use it in particular, there is a really excellent group called Retro Handhelds which is a wonderfully friendly group split into different sections such as separate discussions around specific machines or a general discussion board, I’ve posted a few issues on the appropriate section recently and have always quickly received a friendly reply with the solution.  To join a group you need to accept an invite, these can be found by doing a Google search then pressing the ‘Accept Invite’ button which appears, the group will then appear on the website or app, depending on which you’re using.  At the time of writing I’m a member of around 15 or so groups, mostly retrogaming themed but if you only join one group the Retro Handhelds group is a must.  A really excellent resource for finding solutions, general discussion and information.  Android and iOS apps are also available.

Next we move onto Reddit which is not just for retrogaming but pretty much anything! Again as with Discord iOS and Android apps are available.  On Reddit you simply search for the subject you’re interested in and if there’s a group (sub-Reddit) available simply press the ‘Join’ button and you’re in! There are many sub-Reddits dedicated to Retrogaming and specific retro handhelds and as with Discord I’ve found this absolutely essential for solving retrogaming problems, for the majority of posts I’ve submitted I’ve received a reply usually within a few minutes detailing the solution which has really helped me on a number of occasions now.

So, if you’re into your retrogaming like myself and you encounter an issue, in the words of The X-Files, you are not alone, help is available!