Retro Game of the Week - 26/03/2019

RETRO GAME OF THE WEEK - 26/03/2019
SCOOBY DOO MYSTERY MAYHEM!
This week's retro game of the week goes to a personal childhood favourite of mine, Scooby Doo Mystery Mayhem.

This game was released in the years of 2003/2004 for the Gameboy Advanced, PS2, GameCube, and Xbox. The aim of this game was to control Shaggy and Scooby through different levels, as they try to return ghosts, zombies, and other monsters to the Tome of Doom. Along the way they would put on various disguises to hide themselves, until they find the page they need.

Been a little kid and playing this game, some of the controls were extremely hard. For example, if you were trying to capture a ghost or other monster, you would have to press the buttons on the controller in a particular order. This was frustrating when I was younger, as I struggled immensely to complete this. My favourite part, however, was the ghost disguises Shaggy and Scooby wore in the first level, as for some reason, I found this the most entertaining.

That sums up this short, but sweet segment for my blog. Stay tuned for more exciting posts coming your way!

So until next time,
Peace Out - Geekette

Game Soundtrack of the Week - 21/03/2019

GAME SOUNDTRACK OF THE WEEK - 21/03/2019

This week's game soundtrack is the one and only Crash Bandicoot on the PS1.

https://youtu.be/PDs3yi_TRuY

This soundtrack is one of my personal favourites as it is so catchy and it contains some of the best sound effects. Give this soundtrack a listen if you get a chance.

So until next time,
Peace Out - Geekette

Hogwarts Mystery -Year 1 Chapter 2

HOGWARTS MYSTERY - YEAR 1 CHAPTER 2
Here's Chapter 2 of Year 1's walkthrough. Enjoy!:

https://youtu.be/AMgMRexRBRA

Peace Out - Geekette

Hogwarts Mystery: Year 1 Chapter 1 - Gameplay

HOGWARTS MYSTERY: YEAR 1 CHAPTER 1 - GAMEPLAY
I know I've already done a blogpost on Hogwarts Mystery with the first three chapters completed as a walkthrough, but this is the first of them that's on YouTube, so check it out and while you're there like and subscribe!:
https://youtu.be/hwzm_ZoWKAU

Peace Out - Geekette

Geekette's Top 5... Nintendo DS Games

GEEKETTE'S TOP 5... NINTENDO DS GAMES
Hey again and I'm trying something new this week, which is a top 5 list. This list will vary depending on what it is based on and this week, it is a top 5 of my personal favourite Nintendo DS games, so let's jump into it.

5) Mario Party DS

What better way to start of a top 5 then including a Mario game. Growing up, I had a DS and this is one of the games I remember playing, as I was a Mario fan. We also had Mario Party on the Wii, so this was a perfect fit. There were different modes that you could play, including a story mode. This story mode, I remember being incredibly hard and struggling a lot.

4) Enchanted Folk and the School of Wizardry

This is another game that I loved playing as a kid. I did have things like Animal Crossing, but being a huge Harry Potter fan, this game was right up my alley. Enchanted Folk was like Animal Crossing, but set in a world where you went to a School of Wizardry (not Hogwarts Sadly) and learnt magical spells to use in the world. This was one of my favourite games ever made.

3) Professor Layton and the Curious Village

For everyone who plays Detective Pikachu on the 3DS, this could be one of the games that inspired it. Professor Layton was one of the very first DS games I got, so is always one of my favourites. You go around this village trying to solve the mystery behind it. You are tasked with solving a lot of puzzles, most of which I still struggle with today.

2) Mario Kart DS

Similar lists I have seen have put Mario Kart at the top spot, and you may be thinking along the lines of Geekette how could you?! But Mario Kart has won second place this time. This was another one of my first games on my DS that I owned, so it does hold a place in my heart and brings back some good memories (being sat in our class at the end of term with our DSs racing each other). Mario Kart is your generic race game with everyone's favourite characters going on various circuits set in the Mario world. My personal favourite was Bowser in his orange cart.

1) Lego Harry Potter Years 1-4

My top spot is awarded to... Lego Harry Potter Years 1-4 (10 points to Hufflepuff)! Being a huge Harry Potter fan and Lego fan, this game was my dream come true. I love the Lego games, but this one gives me a happiness feeling when I play it and I feel like I'm 10 again. Lego Harry Potter is based on the first four years of Harry attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but in Lego form. This game is filled with lots of small and cute cutscenes to make anyone smile.

There we have it, my personal top 5 Nintendo DS games. What are your guys favourite games? Any similar or some that I may have missed? Let me know!

So until next time,
Peace Out - Geekette

Game Development Update - 27/02/2019

GAME DEVELOPMENT UPDATE - 27/02/2019
It's that time again where I become more active with my blog. I have been quiet recently due to work and a project that I have been working on. It is now time to reveal what this project is... A HARRY POTTER RPG!

I have been a huge Harry Potter fan since I was 2, and I grew up reading the books, watching the films, and playing the games. That is when this idea came to me. Why not have a huge Harry Potter RPG based on all 7 books. That is when I set myself a challenge to build said game. So in my spare time, I have installed Unreal Engine 4 and given myself the challenge to build the game. About 2-3 months in, this is what I have:

It may be a bit hard to make out what the pictures are, but I'll explain them. The top picture is of Privet Drive at night where the game will start with a cutscene of Harry's arrival. I'm still attempting to establish the shots for the cutscene, but it is a working progress.

The second image is that of the zoo Harry visits for Dudley's birthday. This is still a working progress with many more enclosures and buildings to be appearing. This will be the first level that the player will be able to wander around in.

I have built all of the buildings myself, along with the road for Privet Drive and the enclosures for the zoo, with the exception of using some of the starter content Unreal provide.

That does it for today's blog post, hope you liked it with something a bit different, and leave your thoughts on the game and what you would like to see.

So until next time,
Peace Out - Geekette

History of First Generation Consoles

HISTORY OF FIRST GENERATION CONSOLES

I’m back for the new year with a whole load of new plans for posts. To kick start stuff off, we will be talking about first generation consoles. These consoles first came into play in 1972. 

The idea for a home console first came into play when a television engineer, called Ralph Baer was developing the ‘Brown Box’. This was basically his idea of creating an interactive television when he was creating a TV set. Baer created a two-player game, that was simple called Chase. This is a game where two dots chased each other around a screen. After the company director of R&D saw this, he gave the project a green light. In 1967, Bill Harrison was brought into the project and a light gun was constructed (from a toy rifle) that was aimed at a target moved by another player.

Bill Rusch joined the project, and the three soon created a Ping Pong game. Baer wanted to promote the console and sell it, so he went to various U.S. Television Manufacturers about selling the project. All but one turned the project down, and Magnavox eventually signed the deal in 1969. Magnavox altered a lot of different things to the Brown Box and eventually released the console in 1972 as the Magnavox Odyssey. 

The Odyssey is a digital console, and like all consoles up to the sixth generation, it uses analog circuitry for the output to match the TVs of the era. It also uses analog controllers. This is the main reason why many people thought the Odyssey console is a analog console. This is false, as it uses digital consoles.

This is also the first involvement of Nintendo in Video Games, as they had just begun their market research for home consoles, as they were still in the toy market. They did have an alliance with Magnavox to develop and produce guns that would work with consoles, (gun controllers) for the Odyssey mainly.

The Odyssey was not as successful as they hoped, however, companies with similar products such as Atari, had to pay a licensing fee for some time. This is where they had a strong point in them.

In 1975, Epoch released Japan’s first console called the TV Tennis Electrotennis, which is their version of Pong. With the widespread popularity of Pong, it sparked many clones. Japan’s most successful console was the Nintendo Color-TV, which sold 3 million units and was the most successful first generation console.

That sums up today’s history of. Join us next time for the history of second generation consoles.

So until next time,

Peace Out - Geekette