Episode 1 Released!

Chrontendo Episode 1 is now available for download! Please allow me to drop the arch, "royal we" tone of the previous post in order to make a few personal observations.

I can't really say what possessed me to take up such a lengthy and taxing project as Chrontendo. But once I had decided to play every Famicom/NES game, I felt I should somehow document my progress. For the sake of, you know, future generations. I had been inspired by some of the other video game internet shows out there, such as Consolevania and Retrocore, but really had no idea how to make a video such as those. I was aware that some sort of magic pixies lived inside my PC, and that they could use their special powers to transform images and sound into a video format that could be shared on the internet. After being quickly initiated in the dark arts of video and audio formats and compression, frame rates, aspect ratios, Flash animation and video editing software, I felt I was ready to try to throw something together.

The resulting video is a little rough around the edges. The voiceover work could certainly be better. I had no previous experience in recording my own voice, and I'm not much of a pubic speaker, so this aspect of the project was probably the most frustrating. Still, the results are listenable and the quality of the voiceovers should improve in later episodes.

Here is a short sample of Chrontendo Episode 1. I've included the introduction and the footage for Donkey Kong. The entire video may be downloaded, in much better quality, on archive.org. The list of games covered in this episode may be found in my previous post.



Download full version of Chrontendo Episode 1.

What Is Chrontendo?

You might be asking yourself, "What is Chrontendo?" By some strange coincidence, we have the answer you are seeking.

Chrontendo is an attempt to chronogame the Nintendo Entertainment System. That is, we will be playing every game released for the NES in chronological order. More accurately, we will be playing every game produced for both the NES and its Japanese equivalent, the Famicom. Furthermore, we will be documenting this project with regularly updated video weblogs. Production on the first three episodes is underway, and the first installment should be availalbe shortly.

This naturally raises a question. "Since our time on Earth is so limited, and life is such a precious commodity, why in God's name would anyone spend the enormous amount of time, effort and bandwidth on such a pointless, fruitless endeavor?" That question really cannot be answered here, but we are able to provide some details about the project.

The period of time covered will be from 1983 to 1994. An exact figure has not been reached, but we estimate around 1300 games will be covered. Each episode will cover around 15 games. It is our sincere hope that these episodes will be released on a very regular basis, and that this project will be realized in our lifetimes.

Chrontendo Episode One will contain the following games:

Donkey Kong
Donkey Kong Jr.
Popeye
Gomoku Narabe
Mahjong
Mario Bros
Popeye no Eigo Asobi
Baseball
Donkey Kong Jr. Math
Tennis
Pinball
Wild Gunman
Duck Hunt
Golf
Hogan's Alley

This episode will run approximately 45 minutes.

Chrontendo Launched Today

Welcome to Chrontendo. Actual content to follow shortly.