Ideas and Thoughts: Classic Gaming
26-Jul-97
One genre the N64 is definitely short one is classic games. So I have a couple of ideas(but what did you expect), and here they are.
Namco Classics. This is based upon the 6-set (not all of which are out yet) collection of Namco classics for the PlayStation. I figure that with the N64 people wouldn't want the same set-up, cuz buying 6 carts is definitely costlier than the 6 CDs, for one thing. Anyways, I figured that a single cart could either be an appendix to the set (similar to how the 6th of the planned 5 is called "Encore"), or it could be like "The Best of...", so you'd have the true classics. I prefer the latter idea.
Atari 2600 Action Pack. Activision released 2 of these for Windows. Each was a set of 16 of their Atari 2600 games (as you may have guessed from the name). I have the first set, and it includes games such as PitFall!, Fishing Derby, and Cosmic Commuter. I don't know what the second set entails. Anyways, Activision could handle this 2 ways. Either they could release them both separately (I think it's more agreeable for 16 than 4 or so with the Namco ones), or they could release it as one big bunch, though not necessarily all of the 32 games would make the final cut. The best thing about this set would be the size. If they didn't just recreate the games for the N64, and went with emulated versions, it'd still be small. Using File Manager, I've figured that if both sets were put together, it'd come to a grand total of less than 7 MB (56 megabits). And this includes 350k of "boss" files, which wouldn't be needed on a console version. It also includes 617k of WAVs which wouldn't necessarily be in a home version, but would still be pretty cool. These are the "mom" files, which makes it randomly (you choose how often) say a quote such as "Are you playing another silly game?" or "That noise is driving me crazy!". But I know emulated games can be smaller still (though maybe they don't end up as nice as the Activision ones), because if you search you can find the games from 2k-32k, depending on the size of the cart. But I guess Activision has their reasons for making them like they are (such as the addition of options, etc.), so I'll go on, now... The options for this program also let you choose things like the frame rate, so you could either have it faster or smoother. If I can do a reasonable speed on my 33 Mhz computer, I'm sure the N64 would be able to handle it being set on a high frame rate and still go at the normal speed if you so wished! And for each of these games is a bit about the history of it, where it tells who made it, and any interesting back story there may be.
Similar to the above idea, I know there was some sort of Commodore 64 collection, Which would be perfect for the N64. Commodore 64 64 !
Midway Arcade's Greatest Hits. I know that the "Atari Collection 1", includes Asteroids, Battlezone, Centipede, Missile Command, Super Breakout, and Tempest. Don't know much about any others in this series, but it's just a suggestion, eh?