Monday, July 15, 2013

The Obligatory Post

As some of you will have noticed, today is July 15, 2013, the 30th anniversary of the release of the Famicom in Japan. By some odd coincidence, Sega's first console, the SG-1000 was also released that same day, supposedly.

I considered posting some sort of special episode or something to commemorate the event, but decided against it. I already did release something about the birth of the Famicom a few years ago. It was called "Chrontendo Episode 1." If you absolutely must have more of my thoughts on July 1983, you can of course check out the first episode of the new Retronauts. And there is also US Gamer's massive Summer of 1983 series, which include a few choice quotes from me.

At the moment, my headspace is in summer 1989, not 1983. However, in commemoration of this special day, I decided to just fucking upload the first episode onto Youtube. There was no special reason why I hadn't already done this, other than I've been uploading the old episodes in reverse order.  Also, for a little trip down memory lane, here is the post announcing the first episode from back in 2007.



If you have somehow not seen the first Chrontendo episode, then... enjoy, I guess?


9 comments:

Unknown said...

It was good to watch again. The good thing with this being on YouTube is I can actually get some of my friends and coworkers who are younger to watch it to expose them to some Videogame history. With these damn young kids if its not on YouTube they seemingly can't go through the effort to download a video. Here's hoping you continue to release the rest in episode order. How far out are you on the next episode? I'm really looking forward due to this being a an episode loaded with a lot of interesting games. But really I'm looking forward to the next episode of Chronsega after they introduction of Mega Drive games left wanting for more.

cccmar said...

Can't wait for the new episode... are you going to cover all the titles up until the end of August? I think that there's about 20 games in there, but most of them are some really obscure, minor titles. All in all, I still think that 1989 was a great year for the system... Duck Tales, Double Dragon II, Castlevania III, Batman and Sweet Home... some of my favourite titles. :) Keep up the good job!

Doctor Sparkle said...

Ep 47 finishes up some US games from July and almost all of August. Ducktales is coming up in September, and Batman, DD 2, Sweet Home & CV 3 all managed to come out within a week of each other in December!

But there is also soooo much garbage released in the holiday season as well. X-Men, Back to the Future, more game show stuff....

cccmar said...

It all depends on the point of view I guess. Even though LJN strikes back, it could have been worse... there's only company which used to put up equally bland titles - THQ. Imagine what the outcome of collaboration of THQ and LJN would be... an unmitigated gaming disaster for sure. Anyhow, wish you luck with your project and with the new episodes. This really was, and still is, a great idea!

Anonymous said...

There's also uploads of more episodes of Chrontendo up on Dr Sparkle's youtube channel now.

Thanks Dr Sparkle.

Kamiboy said...

30 years ago the golden age of console games began. A golden age that lasted right up to around 2006-2007, or the previous generational change I would say.

I raise my glass to you Japan, in saluting your chief role in creating and maintaining said golden age for so long.

Of course I follow that salute up by spitting on the current state of things. Once again, thank the gods for ebay, purveyor of past classics for a king's sum.

Snöbollskrieg said...

Ah, I love this. I've followed you since the beginning, I think I found this blog when you had done episode 5 or something. This has become kind of a lifequest noe huh? I mean, six years down the line and you're far from done. Can we expect five more years of work from you? :) Keep up the good work man, The work you do is absolutely fantastic and highly appreciated worldwide.

Anonymous Spectator said...

Hi! I really appreciate what you're doing for the gaming community. How's the progress with regards to the new episode? Can't wait to see it. :) Wish you all the best, take care!

Pinkhamster said...

Just wanted to say I've been watching "Chrontendo" chronologically and have been impressed with your references to Brecht's "Alienation Effect" and Bernie Krigstein's "Master Race." I've watched my share of YouTube and Blip retro video shows and few of their makers can seem to reference much culture outside of video games. Thanks for bringing the brains.