“Introducing 3DO Blaster — the ultimate game platform for your PC.”

Of all the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer devices made in the 1990s, the Creative Labs 3DO Blaster was perhaps the most unique. Retailing for $399.95 in 1994, the full set contained an ISA expansion card for an IBM-PC Compatible computer, a special CD-ROM drive, a game pad, and a couple games.

With the 3DO Blaster, 3DO software didn’t run on the PC’s computing hardware itself (as would be the case with a software emulator). Instead, the Blaster’s expansion board contained a nearly complete set of 3DO console circuitry that merely used its PC host for power, video output, and as an optical media reader with the included CD-ROM drive. To get sound, you had to have a Creative Labs Sound Blaster card already in your PC.

Once installed in your PC, you could use the 3DO blaster to play 3DO games loaded from official 3DO game CDs that displayed on your computer’s monitor. 3DO Blaster supported a windowed graphics mode in Windows 3.1 and full-screen in MS-DOS.

The 3DO Blaster did not fare well in the marketplace due to its high price, impractical nature, and the fact that the 3DO platform never really took off. If you happen to own one of these, treat it kindly, as it is most assuredly a rare gaming artifact from the early 1990s.

Discussion Topic of the Week: Have you ever owned a 3DO console? What are your favorite games for the platform?

Tecmo Games for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)

Now that it’s football season, Tecmo Bowl fans out there may appreciate this 1988 group advertisement for Tecmo brand NES games. Tecmo published quite a few high quality titles for Nintendo’s 8-bit console, some of which are seen here. Three of my personal favorite Tecmo titles are Rygar, Mighty Bomb Jack, and Ninja Gaiden II.

I was always impressed with Tecmo’s box art illustrations and logo designs as a kid — they really jumped out at me when browsing NES games at a local rental store. You can see examples of Tecmo’s eye-catching cover designs near the bottom of the ad.

It’s interesting to note the presence of “Dragon Ninja (Tentative Title)” in this ad. From what I can tell, it appears to be an early version of Ninja Gaiden.

Discussion Topic of the Week: What are your favorite Tecmo NES games?

As a commercial game download service, Good Old Games (GOG) has been bringing classic PC titles back to life for a few years now. Just today, GOG announced that the IBM PC version of Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar is now available as a free download over at their site.

Ultima IV has been available on the ‘Net as an authorized free download off and on over the years, but it’s always nice to have a trustworthy place to get it.

While you’re over at GOG, check out the site’s other offerings. I personally love GOG because they distribute original, full games without DRM. That is very important.

A 10-month-old playing Super Nintendo (February 2011)

“Nintendo Super Levitation Pak (TM) not included.”

Nintendo released the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (“Super NES” or “SNES” for short) 20 years ago this week — way back in 1991.

As a devotee of the NES at the time, I wasn’t quite sure what to make of the Super NES when it came on the market. It’s funny, but I didn’t expect it at all. You’ll have to keep in mind I was only 10 years old and my video game market knowledge was limited to what Nintendo Power told me. When I first saw a preview of the Super Famicom hardware (the Japanese Super NES) in Nintendo Power, I thought “why?” Wasn’t the NES good enough?

I ended up getting a used Super NES in 1992 (in a set with Mario Paint), and I enjoyed it quite a bit. But it never felt the same as my NES (in retrospect, this was probably due to simply growing up), and I soon grew jaded by the general software offerings for the system.

Sure, I kept up with hits like Zelda: A Link to the Past, Super Mario Kart, Super Metroid, and Donkey Kong Country, but it felt like every third-party title in between paled in quality compared to Nintendo’s offerings. That trend continues to this day on Nintendo consoles.

Rose-Colored Glasses

After the advent of widespread Internet use, folks began to rediscover hidden gems of the SNES catalog, such as many classic RPGs games that many American gamers passed over (and Nintendo failed to promote) at the time of their release. As I dug through the old SNES catalog in the emulator era, I too began to appreciate the Super NES more than I had during its heyday.

Quite a few people now hold the Super NES platform as the pinnacle of 2D sprite-based gaming, which many gamers began to sorely miss after the 3D polygonal graphics revolution began. We now clearly see the SNES as a pivot point between two distinct epochs in video games. That reputation will likely continue as the story of Nintendo’s 16-bit home console echoes through history.

Further Reading

For more Super NES-related stuff on VC&G, check out my Why Super Nintendos Lose Their Color: Plastic Discoloration in Classic Machines article from 2007.

If you’ve ever wondered how many Super NES games start with the word “super,” check out Super Game 64 Advance DS: The Nintendo Game Naming Formula Revealed!, also from 2007.

That same year, I wrote about how I put Secret Cartridge Messages in certain Super NES games that I rented. I also wrote about how sad I was when I finally finished Earthbound for the Super NES.

Discussion Topic of the Week: When did you first get a Super NES? What did you think of it at the time?

I think he’s going to miss the dragon.

Discussion Topic of the Week: What’s your favorite martial arts-themed video or computer game?

Digital Jawbreaker

I don’t think I’ve ever played Tetrisphere. I’m sure I’ll try it some day. But the game itself is almost beside the point here. Egad on the broken teeth, man. That is my worst nightmare.

Nintendo crafted this ad to be perfectly in line with the prevailing advertising style of the mid-late 1990s. Look back at a game magazine from that time and you’ll see that almost every ad shows someone getting hurt, dismembered, or flagellated in some manner. And if not that, then they were too busy distributing boogers / urine / feces / something gross all over the place to feel left out. The edgy advertising trend started when Sega began purposely assaulting Nintendo’s kiddie image in the early 1990s. And it spread. By 1996, even Mario games were advertised this way. Did you Play it Loud?

I covered this phenomenon to some extent back in my Game Ads A-Go-Go column on GameSetWatch in 2006 (especially “Proof that Video Game Companies Want You to Die“). The 90s were a time of growing pains — a sort of “teenage years” for the medium — when the game industry, gamers, press, and lawmakers alike embarked on an entirely new cultural exploration of mature themes in video games. I’m sure I could write a whole article on the subject, so I’ll stop now and let you count your teeth.

Discussion Topic of the Week: What’s your all-time favorite version of Tetris?

Thirty years ago this month, Nintendo released Donkey Kong in the arcade. The title introduced Mario to the world and turned Nintendo of America’s fortunes around.

Since the Mario character first debuted in Donkey Kong, we could just as well be celebrating Mario’s 30th birthday. I’m sure someone will figure that out and write about it soon (if they haven’t already). But folks celebrate Mario endlessly, regardless of anniversary or season, so I think it’s time to focus on his simian rival and the game they first starred in together.

That’s why I put together Donkey Kong Oddities, which celebrates the game in that very Benj way — by finding weird and interesting tidbits of Donkey Kong-related ephemera and compiling them in a graphically-rich slideshow. I hope you enjoy it.

Other Entries in Benj’s Oddities Series:

• Super Mario Oddities
• Legend of Zelda Oddities
• Nintendo Entertainment System Oddities
• Game Boy Oddities
• Sonic the Hedgehog Oddities
• Windows Oddities

Don’t forget to pack your high-jump goggles and night vision boots.

As a young NES fan, I absolutely loved this ad. I remember studying it from top to bottom many times, excited by large amount of fancy equipment lavishly depicted in this ad for Ultra’s Metal Gear on the NES. I was never a huge fan of playing Metal Gear myself (I found it too hard as a kid), but I loved to watch my brother play through this depthy stealth-action title.

Fans and critics considered the first NES Metal Gear a classic in its own time, so perhaps I should dust off my cartridge and give it another shot.

Discussion Topic of the Week: What’s your favorite title in the Metal Gear series?

Twenty years ago today, Sega released Sonic the Hedgehog for the Sega Genesis. In honor of this anniversary, I dug through the lesser-known corners of blue hedgehog history and pulled together an amusing collection of Sonic Oddities for you to enjoy. You’ll find the result — which includes Sonic’s brushes with genetics, Michael Jackson, and even ketchup — compiled in a slideshow over at Technologizer. I hope you enjoy it.

Speaking of Sonic the Hedgehog, what did you think of the 1991 Sega Genesis game when you first played it?

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Previous entries in Benj’s “Oddities” series:
Super Mario Oddities
Legend of Zelda Oddities
Nintendo Entertainment System Oddities
Game Boy Oddities
Windows Oddities