Contra coming to Japanese PS2

From www.insertcredit.com:

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It will be part of the fifth batch for the Oretachi Geesen Zoku series from Hamster, which will include the original arcade Contra (1987), as well as Pooyan (1982) and Akumajou Dracula ('Haunted Castle' in Western countries, from 1988), the only Castlevania game released in the arcades and one of the rarest (and hardest) games in the series. As you see, this is a 'Konami special' which has May 25th as the release date, according to Famitsu Magazine. Thanks to Souta House.

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Finally the arcade Contra gets a home release. If you've never heard of the Oretachi Geesen Zoku series, it's a collection of budget ($30) arcade ports that come with a music CD, a DVD of someone mastering the game, a history booklet, and a instruction manual which also show the chip boards for the original arcade games. *-neo

Those mother fuckers better localize that. In any case, I am extremely glad I sold my Haunted Castle board now. Its value just plummeted.

Arcade Contra sucks ass and Haunted Castle is even worse. I like PooYan but this is still a pretty shitty collection. It'll be a nice nostalgia shock for a lot of people.

Haunted Castle is fucking terrible. I'd still buy this in a second for $20.

They are actually individually packaged (unless this has changed this time around).

So what's better, Arcade Contra or NES Contra? And what's the best arcade version of Contra? Wasn't there a sequel or two?

Arcade Contra was great, NES Contra was ok. The first one is the only one worth playing.

James

NES Contra. There's no question. Believe no lies.

Super C was in the arcades, also.

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Originally Posted by James

Arcade Contra was great, NES Contra was ok. The first one is the only one worth playing.

James

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LOL.

Please, no more.

Hopefully this leads to Xexex getting a port, Hamster said they'd pursue games requested by fans after it was rumored last year.

The next two games in this series are due in March BTW:

Rabio Lepus and Super Dodge Ball, some decent arcade games. *-neo

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Originally Posted by Revoltor

Arcade Contra sucks ass and Haunted Castle is even worse. I like PooYan but this is still a pretty shitty collection. It'll be a nice nostalgia shock for a lot of people.

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Arcade Contra rules and it's high time people admit it. Haunted Castle is borderline unplayable though.

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Originally Posted by Joust Williams

They are actually individually packaged (unless this has changed this time around).

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Gay. I demand a Sega Arcade Classics style collection in Engrish.

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Originally Posted by Joust Williams

They are actually individually packaged (unless this has changed this time around).

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You're right. Notice we spoke about a "batch", not a "pack".

Mr. Goemon is also a Konami rumored game for the Oretachi series, but still unconfirmed.

1) YOU didn't speak of anything

2) I think based on the first post, people can miconstrue this as a compilation (considering how popular they are these days and how unpopular selling unremade ports of 20 year old games for 30 bucks a piece is)

These are $30 each? BWAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA. Suckers.

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Originally Posted by Joust Williams

1) YOU didn't speak of anything

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This is why I love TNL.

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Originally Posted by Joust Williams

1) YOU didn't speak of anything

2) I think based on the first post, people can miconstrue this as a compilation (considering how popular they are these days and how unpopular selling unremade ports of 20 year old games for 30 bucks a piece is)

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Which is why recap clarified for you. Stop being such an ass.

Sorry.

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Originally Posted by YellerDog

These are $30 each? BWAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA. Suckers.

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For Japan that is a budget price and as I mentioned:

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come with a music CD, a DVD of someone mastering the game, a history booklet, and a instruction manual which also show the chip boards for the original arcade games.

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A bit more than slapping a crappy emulator on a disc and shipping it. Even if the quality of a individual release is questionable this series has a archival character to it and worth as much as any of the budget collections we've seen in the past few years. *-neo

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Originally Posted by neoalphazero

For Japan that is a budget price and as I mentioned:



A bit more than slapping a crappy emulator on a disc and shipping it. Even if the quality of a individual release is questionable this series has a archival character to it and worth as much as any of the budget collections we've seen in the past few years. *-neo

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None. The. Less. Unless this is a comprehensive art book that just happens to have a game with it, WTFSERIOUSLY.

Well, I can't speak for ALL the games in this series, but the one I have played had a DVD of a superplay (albeit it wasn't perfect) and various commercials, an audio CD (which was kind of sucky as there weren't any substantial songs--then again, the game was circa 1986 so...) and various binder inserts. But no, no art book.

just to clarify the price, these are listed at 2000 yen a pop ($18) but rarely retail for that.

Local store has had them all at 999 yen from pretty much the first day, which makes them a bit more tempting.

The extra stuff that comes with them (checkable on Hamsters website) makes them, as mentioned, very collectable.

I don't have any at the moment, so i can't comment on the emu/port quality or the quality of the instruction reprint, or the soundtrack etc...

I learned about this series not long ago. They released the original Kunio-kun (Renegade) as part of this series among other games. Unfortunately, they did not include Super Dodge Ball (nor the Double Dragon series) in their online poll.

Arcade Contra is kinda weird because it's vertically oriented. Kinda hard to get used to, since so many people are used to the horizontally-oriented NES port.

But since I was one of the few who was weaned on arcade Contra before ever even picking up the NES port, I welcome this news. I still think the arcade version is superior.

You sold out, Sleeve.

The only cool thing arcade Contra had were the cutscenes. Thats all the credit I'll give it.

$30 for a PS2 version of a single arcade game from the 1980's is a fucking ripoff no matter what extras are tossed in.

This series has basically bomed in Japan so far, and I'd say with good reason. Who the fuck wants to spend $30 for little more than a goddamned PS2 version of Time Pilot in 2006?

Moaning over 5 quid for a never released before PCB on this label that has alot of potential? I don't think you can get any cheaper. What a load of cheap skates. Have a word.

Yes...we will have words.

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Originally Posted by JAPJAC

Moaning over 5 quid for a never released before PCB on this label that has alot of potential? I don't think you can get any cheaper. What a load of cheap skates. Have a word.

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Just because it's never been released doesn't mean it's worth the money.

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Originally Posted by Joust Williams

1) YOU didn't speak of anything

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He wrote the post on insertcredit this thread is about.

We're talking this arcade Contra, right?-

http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?...C&game_id=7389

It had some forward scrolling bits, but it was mostly side-scrolling. It really was a killer game for the time, and I liked it much more than the NES version.

I really don't remember any cut-scenes at all. Maybe it's time for a MAME replay.

James

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Originally Posted by dog$

$30 for a PS2 version of a single arcade game from the 1980's is a fucking ripoff no matter what extras are tossed in.

This series has basically bomed in Japan so far, and I'd say with good reason. Who the fuck wants to spend $30 for little more than a goddamned PS2 version of Time Pilot in 2006?

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Your avatar makes me smile.

+1 STRENGTH!

[/vtes]

Interesting but of course I'd rather just have a Contra collection. And NES Contra is better than the arcade rev. The levels, bosses and layouts just feel more "fleshed out" and polished. Anyways, if they're going to do it this way then I want Xexex too (which Hamster listed last year and was also on Play Asia but is now long gone).

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Originally Posted by JAPJAC

What a load of cheap skates.

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Sorry pal but I bitched about this when Nintendo released their twenty year old software individually last year, and this is no different. There's nothing so special about Konami's games that they cannot be bundled together and be properly presented in a collection. Even Tecmo's pitiful collection of six games is six times more valuable than this method of releasing individual titles.

$30 in 2006 for nothing more than a game that's from 1983 and no larger than a goddamned 5MP jpeg is criminal robbery and makes the alternative all the more attractive.

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Originally Posted by dog$

Sorry pal but I bitched about this when Nintendo released their twenty year old software individually last year, and this is no different.

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It's actually worse. At least cartridges carry a higher manufacturing cost. CDs are essentially free to mass produce.

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Originally Posted by dog$

Sorry pal but I bitched about this when Nintendo released their twenty year old software individually last year, and this is no different. There's nothing so special about Konami's games that they cannot be bundled together and be properly presented in a collection. Even Tecmo's pitiful collection of six games is six times more valuable than this method of releasing individual titles.

$30 in 2006 for nothing more than a game that's from 1983 and no larger than a goddamned 5MP jpeg is criminal robbery and makes the alternative all the more attractive.

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IAWTP.

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Originally Posted by dog$

Sorry pal but I bitched about this when Nintendo released their twenty year old software individually last year, and this is no different. There's nothing so special about Konami's games that they cannot be bundled together and be properly presented in a collection. Even Tecmo's pitiful collection of six games is six times more valuable than this method of releasing individual titles.

$30 in 2006 for nothing more than a game that's from 1983 and no larger than a goddamned 5MP jpeg is criminal robbery and makes the alternative all the more attractive.

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Extreme truth. This method of porting classic games is wasteful.

If you're a collector, fine. Just don't try convincing me there's any sort of "bargain" in releasing these games individually for $20 each.

(ps: mod your XBox and run it on MAME, people. I'll reiterate this point in as many of these threads as possible)

Another thing, why should I pay $30 plus shipping from an import site for one title which can be played on MAME. Or why not just buy the real thing? The PCB can still be had for a reasonable price:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Contra-Jamma-Boa...QQcmdZViewItem

Capcom and Taito have both put out great compilations. Konami continues to be clueless when it comes to proper fanservice on their back catalog (Gradius Portable is a step in the right direction though). And the fact that this release is basically just Hamster's chincy little business venture is annoying as well.

Also, Haunted Castle is not even a game. It's a curiousity piece for Castlevania / Konami fans. It's the Street Fighter 1 of the series.

Put it in a Castlevania compilation as an extra, not as a standalone game.

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Originally Posted by Frogacuda

Which is why recap clarified for you. Stop being such an ass.

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Don't defend Recap, he's human waste.

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Originally Posted by g0zen

Don't defend Recap, he's human waste.

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Confirmed.

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Originally Posted by Wilykat

Put it in a Castlevania compilation as an extra, not as a standalone game.

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it was already put in the Castlevania collection for the first playstation wasn't it?

Thanks to Seven Force @ shmups for finding this, Hamster is asking fans to vote on a variety of games that they'd like to see released. The site is in Japanese, here is the breakdown of the titles you can vote for left and right row:

http://www.hamster.co.jp/orga/enquete/

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- A-JAX
- Akumajo Dracula
- Gacha Gachamp
- Quiz Gakumon Susume
- Quiz DoReMiFa Grandprix 2
- Contra
- Side Pocket
- Gyruss
- Stadium Hero
- Sonic Wings Series
- SRD - Super Real Darwin
- Dark Seal 2
- Time Pilot '84
- Joe and Mack Returns
- Terraforce
- Trio The Punch
- Hyper Sports Special
- Fighters' History Dynamite
- Fighting Bujutsu 2nd (a.k.a. Fighting Wu Shu)
- Magmax
- Mr. Goemon
- Road Fighter

- B-Wings
- Edward Randy
- Kyuukyoku Sentai Dadandarn (a.k.a. Monster Maulers) <- it's that obscure Konami side scrolling beat-em-up, where you battle against the Gradius bosses!!! Vote for it, it's great!
- Quiz DoReMiFa Grandprix
- Quiz DoReMiFa Grandprix 3
- Circus Charly
- Thundercross II
- Super Cobra
- Xexex <- vote for this!!!
- Darwin 4068
- Dark Seal
- Turbo Force <- in case you didn't know, this is the obscure Sonic Wings series game with the flying cars!
- Joe and Mack
- Chinatown
- Tobe! Polystars <- The rare Konami M2 hardware shooter! It's polygonal, so display settings won't matter. And afaik it's un-emulated!!!
- Bloody Wolf
- Fighters' History
- Fighting Bujutsu
- Puuyan
- Magical Drop 3
- Midnight Resitance

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Almost everything on that list sucked even when it was new.

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Originally Posted by Dragonmaster Dyne

it was already put in the Castlevania collection for the first playstation wasn't it?

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It wasn't a Castlevania Collection, unfortunately. It was just the X68000 version and a updated version of that. :(

Whatever. I'm just the messenger, alright?

edit: The vote roster can be a custom list. Seven Force is willing to personalize a copy 'n paste japanese vote list if anyone can think of any titles they'd like to see:

http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?t=7807

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Originally Posted by Dylan1CC

Whatever. I'm just the messenger, alright?

edit: The vote roster can be a custom list. Seven Force is willing to personalize a copy 'n paste japanese vote list if anyone can think of any titles they'd like to see:

http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?t=7807

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Thanks a million. I just got back from voting. So, here's what I told them.

My votes:

A-JAX
Dark Seal 2
Time Pilot '84
Joe & Mac Returns
Hyper Sports Special
Road Fighter
Edward Randy
Dadandarn
Circus Charlie
Thundercross II
Super Cobra
Xexex <- vote for this!!! Very Happy :D
Darwin 4068
Dark Seal
Joe & Mac
Bloody Wolf
Midnight Resistance

Write-ins:
Armed Police Batrider, The Great Ragtime Show, Tatsujin-oh

Other comment:
Please include a non-filtered, non-interlaced graphic mode. Include TATE on games that support it in the game center. Fully customizable key layout, please.

I second Gameoverdude's list but your last comment needs a "15-kHz" or "true low-res" phrase in order make sense. Otherwise, they'll understand you want VGA support. "Tate" mode is present on Sonic Wings and others, so I don't think there's need to ask for it.

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Originally Posted by gameoverDude

Thanks a million.

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Very welcome.

True low res.

http://www.geekjoan.com/videogames/microvision.jpg

I give up. Carry on stealing with your emulation. Some people can afford 5 pounds and actually have pleasure in actually paying for things especially as ones money goes to a company that has the talent and creative means to create something that some are a fan of. Don`t understand some poeple, really.

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Originally Posted by JAPJAC

I give up. Carry on stealing with your emulation. Some people can afford 5 pounds and actually have pleasure in actually paying for things especially as ones money goes to a company that has the talent and creative means to create something that some are a fan of. Don`t understand some poeple, really.

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The talent and creative means did go into the game... 20 years ago. The only talent and creative means that goes into crap like this is marketing's ability to squeeze money from idiots such as yourself. I dont think anyone here has a problem paying for games, or even paying for old games, they do have a problem with paying for obvious rip-offs like this.

I bought Ice Climbers 3 times. :(

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I give up. Carry on stealing with your emulation. Some people can afford 5 pounds and actually have pleasure in actually paying for things especially as ones money goes to a company that has the talent and creative means to create something that some are a fan of. Don`t understand some poeple, really.

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until they start emulating well, then Mame/Final burn etc will _always_ be prefered because the emu quality is just so much better. *shrug* i like the extras but for some of these games ,it's actually cheaper to buy the boards (even at 1980 yen! well, if you are prepared to go via Yahoo auctions) but obviously not always the case (looks at Edward Randy etc)

stealing? perhaps so - but let the person who has never EVER copied a game to a C90, ever bought a bootleg, ever downloaded a game, who has never ever stole anything in their entire lives (mp3s, cans of pop, not paid a bus ticket etc) cast the first stone (as the bible probably would have said...)

Stealing or not, doesn't make it any less kick ass! :/ If the companies really want to get some money out of us, then they can drop the downloadables onto the X360 in XBL - i see some more games are coming soon, albeit root beer tapper etc, the future is bright - and with internet multiplayer.

Also as these are licensed from the original creators, not all your cash is going to the original creators. Hell, even if you buy a second hand board (or game) the same thing is true - you still aren't supporting the deverlopers. X360 XBL? that could be the answer perhaps. Publishers to put the roms up, people pay to download - although as it's a MS created initiative, i'm not sure how that sits with retro crew ;)

Ah, 4 player gauntlet over the web (yes, i know you can do that with out an X360, but it's just so much more easier and the voice chat is included) , Robotron, Joust etc etc... life is sweet.

I would argue, stealing makes it kick MORE ass.

How else you gonna play AvP, ferinstance?

Some good points there dcharlie. However, for some people like myself regardless of the morality side of things `unlicensed emulation` (as maybe it should be termed) really isn`t an option due to limited knowledge and technical skill on the subject. I really don`t have a problem spending 5 quid on a release that I love and simply popping it into a PS2. Much easier for me, that clearly must make sense.

Seven years ago there were 5 Namco collection releases, 5 Capcom collection releases, at least two Atari/Midway sets as well as collections for Atari 2600 titles and Intellivision titles; out of all of those collections not a single one was for an individual title. Surely you can see how when most companies had no problem offering collections of their game catalogues for the previous seven years, a company that tries to resell their old titles individually today would face this kind of backlash?

ps: I don't have an XBox or any modified systems, so please don't point that sweeping brush towards me thank you.

Let's do the MathS:

Y999 X 1 = Y999 (X1 Game).
Y999 X 5 = Y4,995 (X5 Games).

I really don't understand how it matters and how bent some people really are.

Beggers can't be choosers. Thank you Hamster.

If these came to the states, at $10 each....I would buy them. But it still boggles my mind to high heaven how Konami has yet to put out an arcade compilation on any modern system. If they had put together a Contra collection, which included all of them(excluding PSone/PS2 games), they would have sold somewhere around 400 time the copies of Neo Contra, and Shattered Soldier combined.

I have an unreasonable amount of emulated games on my Xbox that I've never even played. I just like to have them around so I don't end up wasting money on stupid shit like these overpriced rereleases.

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Originally Posted by JAPJAC

Let's do the MathS:

Y999 X 1 = Y999 (X1 Game).
Y999 X 5 = Y4,995 (X5 Games).

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Sure, and when the single product being offered is twice that price, the item simply isn't very appealing to people when there's other collections adjacent to it on the shelf. It's the company's job, so I thought, to offer a product that would be appealing to potential customers. Isn't offering a single title at such a rate a hard sell?

And numbers? Come on. At Konami's rate, I'd have to pay $500 to have access to the same number of titles as I can get with Taito Memories 2.

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I really don't understand how it matters and how bent some people really are.

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People want to feel like they've not wasted their money.

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Beggers can't be choosers.

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Good thing I'm not begging, then.

If the companies can't figure out how to make things I want to buy, they eventually will or die trying. Either way I only earn so much per week from my job. The money's in my hands, so I think that means I can determine where it goes.

Buying videogames is a privilege, not a right.

Rather than Contra alone for $30, I think a pack with Contra, Super Contra, and SuperFami Contra Spirits (C III) would be better. $30 + shipping is pricey for the original Contra alone given how short the game is.

In the PCE era, I would've liked to see a Duo CD remix of Super Contra with all the levels of the NES game, yet redrawn to look more like the arcade- similar to the treatment Double Dragon 2 got on PCE.

Now OTOH, I would pay the $30 for Xexex alone.

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Originally Posted by dog$

Seven years ago there were 5 Namco collection releases, 5 Capcom collection releases, at least two Atari/Midway sets as well as collections for Atari 2600 titles and Intellivision titles; out of all of those collections not a single one was for an individual title. Surely you can see how when most companies had no problem offering collections of their game catalogues for the previous seven years, a company that tries to resell their old titles individually today would face this kind of backlash?

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You might just want to stop now. Intellivision and 2600 titles are beginner training for hobbyists, Namco and Capcom have pimped thier collections in every manner possible often without adding anything new. How many versions of Musuem are there across all consoles? Capcom just released the Generations collection on J-PS2 albeit on one DVD but without anything else, plus they released individual versions of Mega Man for J-PSone. Taito Memories isn't a great example ethier, none of the arcade TATE games have the mode and I read the G-Darius and Raystorm ports are just the PSone versions stripped of extras not the arcade counterparts. Not to mention there were dozens of one game retro collections in the twilight of PSone (Crazy Climber, Moon Cresta etc).

Conclusion- If you have no interest in the game fine, but there's really no basis for this idiotic arguing. *-neo

I was disappointed with the arcade version of Contra. The NES/Famicom version just seems tighter, the graphics aren't as static, and I love the increased H.R. Giger stuff. In fact, I think the darker, less colorful graphics actually enhanced the look and feel of the first Contra.

I might be able to justify a purchase if it were reworked like Castlevania Chronicles or if they were consolidated as the Sega re-workings were.

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Originally Posted by neoalphazero

but there's really no basis for this idiotic arguing. *-neo

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Yes, there is. We're right, they're wrong.

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Originally Posted by diffusionx

True low res.

http://www.geekjoan.com/videogames/microvision.jpg

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Gotta love the microvision. 16x16 for life!

It was actually pretty cool considering it predated the Gameboy by almost a decade.

At the very least they could come up with some better cover art for these games. It would be a lot nicer, and cooler if they had like the Arcade Cabinet artwork or something as the covers rather than ALL of them having this as the cover, with a different screen shot. (Crazy Climber pictured)

http://www.ncsxshop.com/images/produ...oretachi_2.jpg

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Originally Posted by Clash!

At the very least they could come up with some better cover art for these games. It would be a lot nicer, and cooler if they had like the Arcade Cabinet artwork or something as the covers rather than ALL of them having this as the cover, with a different screen shot. (Crazy Climber pictured)

http://www.ncsxshop.com/images/produ...oretachi_2.jpg

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Well, you have to keep mind that there weren't many Arcade games sold in dedicated cabinets after the JAMMA standard was established in Japan. Most of them were sold as kits containing the PBC, instruction cards, installation manual and a pop card.

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Originally Posted by JAPJAC

Let's do the MathS:

Y999 X 1 = Y999 (X1 Game).
Y999 X 5 = Y4,995 (X5 Games).

I really don't understand how it matters and how bent some people really are.

Beggers can't be choosers. Thank you Hamster.

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I dunno how it is in Japan, but here all the collections I see have way more than five games and generally retail for well under $50. But hey, if you want to waste your money on overpriced games from 20 years ago, don't let me stop you.

Only on TNL could this topic continue for this long.

Uh-oh...

I never would have expected this.

Maybe I'll 1CC it for my second time ever.




Since Konami is being so generous, maybe we'll see Kyukyoku Sentai Dadandarn...someday.