Messages

Ah, but you can. Someone did.

A backer took them to court, and the judge decreed that they were pre-ordering, not speculating. They didn't deliver, they had to refund.

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/01/31/crowdfunding_court_case_refund_retro_computers_zx_vega_plus/

"That document is important in my view for this reason: it says 'this order'. Not 'this pledge' but 'this order' has been successfully added to your campaign," said the judge. "That would appear to be something that was probably in my view provided by Indiegogo but there’s no clarification of that. It makes it clear, 'this is an order'. This was successfully added to your campaign. This is the information that was provided to the claimant at the time."

On Monday they said they'd be sending the final emails out within 48 hours. Not via Indiegogo (because apparently they "don't have the capacity", but of course it's so that there's no proof).

It's now Thursday.

No emails.

Funny you should reply - I also played a bit of that TNG Mega Drive game, but when I realised I needed to make notes on paper in order to remember details I stopped

A lot of things today.

First up, The Adventures of Batman & Robin (MD). It looks great and has some fantastic graphical effects (some clever 3D) and all looks suitably cartoony. However, it's so dull! Every level is far too long with the same few enemies over and over. It's also really difficult.

The worst thing is the bug I hit at the end (I think!) of the shooter section in Level 2. There's an airship with a radar dish, and you have to shoot the dish (there are three others before it in the level, so I assume you do the same here). Only it takes no damage. Shots just pass through it. The boss timer never counts down either. I'm not playing through for a third time in case it happens again - that level was so long and tedious.

After that, I played Ghostbusters (MD) for a bit but it's awful. Made it to the first boss but was having no fun so gave up.

Then, Pulseman (MD) which I'd never heard of somehow. I wrote a lot more about it here, but I enjoyed it a lot. The main character is a bit janky (animationwise) but some of the level backgrounds are incredible.

Perennial favourite Mega-lo-Mania (MD) next. This might be my most played Mega Drive game. Always a pleasure. Slightly disappointed nobody else put people in suspended animation so the final battle was an instant win, but then, that's normally the case anyway.

Next, Wonder Boy in Monster Land (MS). Totally forgot to get the bell, but managed to remember my way through the castle at the end anyway. Phew, eh?

And finally, SNK vs Capcom: The Match of the Millennium (NGPC). Played as Ken because that's The Right Thing To Do, and found it a lot easier than I had in the past. Dunno why - it was still on the default difficulty. I really hope that much delayed Switch game Pocket Fighter (or whatever it was called) finally comes out and is up to this standard.

*sadtrombone*

Dispatch day today! Apparently.

And in the last hour, another delay.

The 1000 Games list was supposed to be published originally "By May 1st", then "On May 1st", and now?

Check Back
Friday, May 4, 2018
5:00 PM  6:00 PM
Google Calendar  ICS
Check back on Friday for the games list and much more

It's an utter shambles.

I'm on the side that "It ain't gon happen", and for full disclosure, I'm not a backer either. That said, it's RCL's constant nonsense, lack of concrete info, backtracking, lies and "it's being delayed because of trolls!" that's the problem rather than the Vega itself.

If the device actually exists, show it.
If you've ordered parts, prove it.
If you've a list of games, list them.

None of these things would be necessary if they'd kept everyone up to date. If I were a backer, I'd be happy with delays if they showed progress. If they could explain them. But after two years, they need a lot more to show for half a million quid than "it's still coming honest oh please believe me".

Despite all this, I do think some of the anti-RCL brigade may have crossed a line. Be angry, complain, even take the piss. But don't cross the line they want you to in order to provide another excuse for not delivering.

I honestly think that despite my poor electronics skills, *I* could build a Vega+ in under two years.

On the NES.

I've been playing a lot of stuff on RetroPie recently. Gynoug, Kid Kool, Metal Slug 1st and 2nd Mission, Thunder Force II, Mr Driller (WSC), Toilet Kids, Keystone Kapers... loads of stuff.

So this weekend I played all sorts of things, but the big surprise was Mappy-Land.

I'm a big fan of Mappy, but had no idea this even existed so it was nice to find it was really rather good too.

Bully by Rockstar Games is very controversial, loads of Violence, bullying and sex in a school. 

I wouldn't say any of those things were controversial!

I also don't recall any sex, at least, not between the students. Some peeping Tom-ery yes, but sex? Maybe I missed that.

Having finished all the SNES Megaman games earlier in the year, I made a start on Megaman Zero this afternoon. Seems quite a different setup to the others so far!

All these games are complete walkovers compared to the likes of Freddy Hardest and Army Moves.

I played a bit of 4D Sports Boxing last night.

Oh my. It's no Fight Night.

One of my favourite platformers. The Amiga original had those eye bleeding copper effects, the SNES version never felt right, and the DS and PS1 reimagining added that terrible elf bomb mechanic.

MD version FTW!