Nintendo 64 In High Resolution.

   Recently I've discovered the wonderful world of high resolution texture packs for N64 emulation programs. Basically what they do is replace the old crusty texture files with new shiny ones. While I love the crusty old textures, it's nice to see some of my old favorites with a new look. And after talking about some of these games I really want to go back and play through them again and this is a great way to inspire me to do that. While only a handful of games have a decent texture pack, the ones that do look great. Here are some photos to give you an idea of what they look like.

Both Zelda games have been re-textured, but these are all OOT. 

  Here is Mario Kart. The characters themselves haven't been re-textured because of the sicking amount of images for each one.

 

  Mario 64. 

   A different more classic looking Mario.
    

  Paper Mario.

 Banjo-Kazooie.

And probably my favorite looking one Perfect Dark. This one looks fantastic.

   With games that look this fancy, I have to play with my pinky extended. If this is something you would be interested in here is a link to an excellent forum post with a definitive list of each game with each pack. Please don't ask me for installation instructions, that's what Google is for.
 

NES-tolgia

  After covering some of my favorite Nintendo 64 games, I thought I would mix it up and do some NES games. Just like the other posts, this is not a best of list, only some of my favorites that I played as a kid, and in no particular order.

   Ice Hockey.  This is the first sports game I ever played, and it was great. It's surprisingly fun and incredibly frustrating. You pick your country, and then choose your team from, fat guys, medium guys, and skinny guys. skinny guys are faster than the others, but fat guys mow down anyone in their path. You can even fight in this game.

   Excitebike. I covered the 64 version already, but this is the superior game, in my opinion. You race on tracks solo, or with other riders, trying to get the fastest time. You have to avoid objects and oil spills, hit ramps and turbo boosters. There is also a track editor where you can design your own tracks.

   Contra. Everyone knows Contra. It's a side scrolling shooter game which changes to a third person view during some parts of the game. The best part about the game was that it had co-op. It's the first co-op game I ever played and still one of the best. The game is so big, even the cheat code is famous.

   The Legend of Zelda. There isn't much I can say about this game that hasn't been said already. It's our introduction into one of the largest game franchises of all time Zelda. You play as Link trying to rescue the princess Zelda, if you haven't played this game and you're a fan of Zelda I recommend giving it a try.


    

   Metroid. Another shooter game. Metroid is just awesome, you run around in this large environment collecting upgrades for your weapons and your power suit. So that you can defeat the Mother Brain. This game is huge for a NES game, I've spent so much time trying to figure out where I was or where I was supposed to be going.
 

 
   Ok thats five NES games, I'm going to try to cover more in the future. Leave me a comment of some of your favorite NES games, and I'll try to put them on the list, or try it out if I haven't played it before.

Nintendo 3DS Augmented Reality

   I got this from Gekobot's blog, but it's so cool I thought it deserved a repost. It's a demonstration of "Augmented reality" on the 3DS.

 "Augmented reality (AR) is related to a more general concept called mediated reality, in which a view of reality is modified (possibly even diminished rather than augmented) by a computer. As a result, the technology functions by enhancing one’s current perception of reality. By contrast, virtual reality replaces the real-world with a simulated one."- from Wikipedia.


  This got me really excited, I haven't owned a hand-held since the Gameboy Pocket, but this has made me consider upgrading my crusty old GB. Especially with a Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake being one of the launch titles.

  If you liked that then please check out Gekobot's blog, he has a lot of cool posts like this one.
http://gekobot.blogspot.com/

Zelda the Movie

   I've been thinking about video game movies lately. The first video game movie I remember seeing was Super Mario Bros. and what a glorious piece of shit that was. For the last several years Hollywood has been on a remake kick, with comic books, old T.V. shows, old movies, and of course video games, I guess they just ran out of originality and have to ruin our old favorites.

   When I first heard about the Hitman movie I was pretty excited, until I saw this pussy looking dork they decided would portray Agent 47. But that's an entirely different rant. The same thing with Max Payne, these guys were supposed to be hardened killing machines, not pampered looking, mediocre at best actors. But I digress.

   On to Zelda. Since the Mario movie, Nintendo hasn't been dishing out the rights to Hollywood for their major franchises. And I am very grateful for that. There have been some fan made Zelda movie trailers, which are good for what they are. But not every video game needs to be made into a movie. Zelda isn't about epic battles and thick storylines. It's about engaging gameplay, some puzzle solving, and a fairly generic "rescue the princess" storyline. Some (all) video games just need to stay games. Please don't take a shit all over one of the most loved video game franchises of all time.

   That being said, there is no conformation of, or real plans of a Zelda movie, just a few rumors. This is more of a rant about video game movies in general.

Nintendo 64 Nostalgia

   Earlier this week I posted a blog about NFL Blitz, so I figured I would post some of my other favorite N64 games, mainly for the nostalgia. This list is not necessarily a "best games" list, just some of my favorites that I remember, and in no particular order.

 Let me get some of the obvious ones out of the way first.

   The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. Out of the two N64 Zelda games, I can't really pick a favorite, but I'm going to put Majora's Mask on this list because it doesn't get the praise that it deserves, while Ocarina gets plenty of praise. The 3 day system really made the world feel alive, and made you feel like you had an actual impact on it. I really enjoyed the mask system, being able to play some of the classic Zelda races. And the Fierce Deity Mask was just bad ass.

   Mario 64. Theres nothing I can really say about this game that hasn't been said already. It was Mario's jump into a 3 dimensional world. It showed us how good a 3D platformer could be. Yoshi even makes an appearance when you collect all the stars.

   GoldenEye 007. Another game that everyone knows and loves. GoldenEye was the grandaddy of 3D multiplayer FPS games. Going back and playing it now, this is one of the few games that just hasn't really aged well, mainly due to the controls. But back in the day GoldenEye was king.

   Banjo-Kazooie. Another 3D platformer. A bird and a bear team up to save Banjo's little sister Tooty from the evil witch Gruntilda. This game is just awesome. It's funny, the characters are great, the music is great. You can shoot eggs, fly and smash things, and visit the local witch doctor who will transform you into something useful. But what really stands out in this game for me, is the environment. Each level is very well done, and feels very involved. My favorite was Click Clock Wood, I loved that place.

   

 Jet Force Gemini. Yes another Rare game. Jet Force Gemini is a sci fi, third person shooter. You travel around from planet to planet collecting things to save your friends, or something like that I don't really remember the plot. The plot isn't really important, what is important is the game play. With lots of awesome guns, 3 playable characters (one being a flying dog with lazers on his back), and a co-op mode, this game truly is a gem...imi. Although it does suffer the same dated controls as GoldenEye.


   Okay thats 5 games, I'm going to end it here even though I'm not even a quarter of the way though my list I made. If you guys want to see some more, leave a comment and let me know.

  For part 2 click here.
  For part 3 click here.
  For part 4 click here.