A Long, Strange Trip Comes to an End
Monday, February 12th, 2007
Just a few hours ago, I completed an epic journey that I began over ten years before.
I finally finished the game EarthBound for the Super Nintendo.
I know, I know. Usually, completing a game is no big deal, and most people probably finish EarthBound in the span of a week. But in this particular case, the accomplishment meant something much more to me. I began playing the game in 1996 when I first acquired my copy of EarthBound used from a local Blockbuster store (a video rental chain in the US). I have slowly played through the same saved game a little bit at a time, usually about once every year. There might have been a period or two over the last decade where I didn’t play it for a few years straight, which would partially explain why it has taken so long. Picking up the game again every year was always a challenge because I’d have to spend hours just reacquainting myself with what was going on in the game’s storyline at the point of my last save, and I’d also have to figure out what to do next. Sometimes, I’d get too overwhelmed and just give up figuring it out…and promptly put off the task until the next time I picked up the cart.
Well, just this month, I felt my yearly EarthBound cravings coming on again (they usually hit sometime during the first two months of the year), so I pulled out the ‘ole SNES and fired it up. This time would be different, though: I dedicated myself to finally seeing the game through — all the way to the bitter end! 2007, I figure, is a good enough year to finish a game that came out in 1995. I’m usually a traditionalist about these things, but my original SNES wasn’t feeling quite right on my fancy new TV, so I figured I’d put a little modern technology on my side to aid me in my quest.
I’ve recently been playing a number of SNES games on an old iMac that I have more or less turned into a dedicated SNES emulator machine. I thought it would be nice, for a change of pace, to play EarthBound on there. Using my Super WildCard DX2, I transferred my EarthBound cart’s SRAM data to a file (which contains all the game’s save information) and 
loaded it up on my emulator. I played through the rest of the same game I started in 1996 on the emulator with an authentic SNES pad (via a Super SmartJoy USB adapter, which I’ve been meaning to review for a year or so now). I’m not going to lie to you; save states are the Emulator God’s gift to gaming, and without them, I probably would have completed a few bosses as usual and put off finishing the game until next year. The save states made playing through the game an absolute joy over the past few days, removing all sorts of time-wasting save-related hassles and just generally smoothing out the experience. Screw the purists — it was incredible fun, not a logistical pain in the neck, like playing a game should be.
Now that the journey is over, I have mixed feelings about the whole thing. In one way, I’m ecstatically happy to have finally accomplished something by playing my way through such a masterful game, and in another way, I’m heartbroken that it’s over, as EarthBound is probably one of my favorites of all time. But if it’s one of my favorite games ever, why did it take me ten years to complete?
Maybe I’m just weird like that. Or maybe I didn’t want it to end.
Welcome back! This week’s pixel challenge involves flying bullets. The theme is, appropriately, “Shooter Games.” That means all three of these pixel blocks came from video games considered to fit in the “shooter” genre. That should help you pin them down. The first block is to the right, the other two are below. As always, post your guesses in the comments section of this entry, and don’t be bashful. Good luck!
This week’s pixel challenge is our first to have a theme. This week’s theme is “Sega Systems,” which means that all three of these pixel blocks came from video game systems produced by Sega. That should help you pin them down. The first block is to the right, the other two are below. As always, post your guesses in the comments section of this entry, and don’t be bashful. Good luck!
Welcome to our first Name Those Pixels Challenge of 2007. I think I’ll be making this column bi-weekly from now on so as not to overload your ultra-sensitive pixel receptors. Also, if you like this column and want it to continue, please show your support in the comments.
Can’t get enough pixels, can ya? Merry Christmas, my pixel-loving friends! This week I have a great challenge with a lot of diversity for you to chew on. Here’s a hint: The pixel blocks are from three different game machines — one of which is actually a computer. And yes, that is indeed pixelated cleavage. As always, post your guesses in the comments section of this entry, and don’t be bashful. Good luck!
Hey there, folks. Welcome back to Name Those Pixels! Unfortunately, mgroves has gone AWOL on me this week, so it’s RedWolf here filling in.
Welcome back to Name Those Pixels. As with every Friday, it’s time for the next challenge. This time, I’ve selected three different samples from three different systems for you to guess. These ones will be a littler easier, but also a little different. See how many you can name. The first one is on the right, and the other two are down below. As always, post your guesses in the comments section of this entry, and don’t be bashful. Good luck!
Time’s up for 
Hello, Matt Groves here from 
I have always wanted to build something that I like to call a “Universal Game System” (UGS). You could also call it the “ultimate game system,” since it would play all games for every game system ever released. Well, theoretically it could — with a powerful enough processor and the right emulators. That’s why I call it “universal.” But for now I’ll set my sights lower and stop at the N64 generation. The UGS itself would have a simple interface to launch every game, would have ports for every type of controller for each system (or at least a select few that could be used on most games), it would hook up to a TV, and it would require nothing more than a game controller to select the games and operate the interface. You, the user, would provide the ROMs and controllers, and the UGS would do the rest. I suppose this would be kinda like a making a “
It is my goal to one day build one of these, but the requisite software is not quite together yet. I’m not aware of all the latest and greatest in the emulator scene, but maybe something that would help me build a UGS is in the works. I know about 
But the software is only half the battle. I also need a small, compact, quiet, and cool PC case that can hold the right cards for the I/O required, while also being able to hold a powerful enough processor to do the job (processor-generated heat is the main factor in dictating noise level and case size). Inside said box would be a versatile computer video card with an excellent composite or S-Video analog TV-out that looks good on regular old TVs. I’ve tried a few cards so far, but the video is always lackluster, and you have to reference a VGA monitor on the side to actually read what you’re doing (to select the games to play, etc.). As far as interfaces go, I plan on building a large controller interface box that has ten or more types of classic system controller ports that would all hook up to a USB connection, similar to 
