TBF, Mags, you have been doing a lot of the heavylifting for the quest, so this will be in good hands.
To be clear to everyone, this is just me burning out on imagination of the quest, since my muse has been hitting me over the head a lot with so many different ideas that I just can't find myself too interested in this.
I'll still hang out here, though, since this still does have a sepcial place in my heart.
I'd like to thank you all for making this a wonderful experience while it lasted.
I'd also like to thank @Magoose, @Fluffy_serpent, and @Martin Noctis for doing so much to help prepare and write this quest. I couldn't have done it without you all.
I think curently i'm at 9 or 10 treasure planet omake ?,wich is why i'm asking so much for idea (hope it's not cringe).
I'm curious if ther is a maximum.
There were actually plans for a sequel OTL that can be accessed online. It even already had Willem Dafoe cast as the main villain, but with the disappointing returns, it never manifested.
I think curently i'm at 9 or 10 treasure planet omake ?,wich is why i'm asking so much for idea (hope it's not cringe).
I'm curious if ther is a maximum.
Technically, there isn't a limit, but you can generally use your common sense for it. Like, you shouldn't be flooding the thread with low effort Omakes, but if proper effort and substance has been put into it, then you can generally keep going. Beyond that, Magoose has gotten overwhelmed by the amount of Omakes or Pitches he's received in the past, so if you post too many at once, you'll likely either overwhelm him, leading to him needing to step away from the quest for a bit, or you aren't gonna get as many rewards because he'll have trouble thinking of so many unique rewards. Generally speaking, if you have a lot you want to put out, it's better to try and stagger them over a period of time so that you aren't overwhelming the thread or Magoose.
It's John Lasseter. If you need to check stuff like that, overmind has been doing a fantastic job at keeping track of info like this. You can find it here.
Alright, I'm done. I've remade our list of assets, updated it as much as I could, and hopefully made it easier to look through it as well, without the need to bunch it all together. Please let me know if something's missing. Lucasfilms Unlimited Privately owned company between George...
Technically, there isn't a limit, but you can generally use your common sense for it. Like, you shouldn't be flooding the thread with low effort Omakes, but if proper effort and substance has been put into it, then you can generally keep going. Beyond that, Magoose has gotten overwhelmed by the amount of Omakes or Pitches he's received in the past, so if you post too many at once, you'll likely either overwhelm him, leading to him needing to step away from the quest for a bit, or you aren't gonna get as many rewards because he'll have trouble thinking of so many unique rewards. Generally speaking, if you have a lot you want to put out, it's better to try and stagger them over a period of time so that you aren't overwhelming the thread or Magoose.
It's John Lasseter. If you need to check stuff like that, overmind has been doing a fantastic job at keeping track of info like this. You can find it here.
PS magoose,if it's too much just tell me to slow down or stop and i will,sorry if i caused you distress in any way
Also if finding rewards is an issue with an omake i do maybe i can tell you what i was aiming at with it ?
Darth Puppet
Rain beat down on David Prowse's head, seemingly in time with his throbbing headache, as he tried to work out how he got here. His memory felt like a jigsaw puzzle with half the pieces missing while each throb of his head threatened to steal more. One moment he was storming out of his rented hotel room, preparing for an interview, then he was at a pub. Except the pub and the bartender kept changing, and then somehow he was here, in a gutter, being rained on.
A surge of cool stormwater soothed his aching head and returned a few more jigsaw pieces. He had just gotten off the phone with Lucasfilm, attempting to tell him, David Prowse, Darth Vader, what he could and could not say during the interview on local TV tomorrow.
Enraged, he had stormed out and had a drink or two—or was it three? He had a few drinks to calm down. It was at the third or was it the fourth pub, that he had seen one of those damnable Star Wars ads, and the bartender had refused to change the channel. Even after David had told him who he was and who he played. The bartender hadn't believed him and had gone to throw him out. David had left before he could, swiping and downing a newly arrived drink on the way out. Guinness was not what he would have chosen, but the bartender didn't let him order, did he?
David's head throbbed again, stealing some pieces back, leaving him with an impression of wandering, looking for a more sympathetic pub and slipping. It couldn't have been David's fault. The road had obviously been poorly maintained, so a misplaced foot by someone who had only been kicked out of four, or was that six, bars could stumble and end up in the gutter, hitting their head on the way down.
A rumble of thunder made David look up at the grey sky illuminated by the light from the town below. The wet gutter felt surprisingly comfortable, easing his throbbing headache while his tumble reminded him that he had not been to a gym in weeks. When was the last time he exercised? It was back in the States, challenging Bruce to keep up with his workout, spotting each other, and Bruce hinting he might need to bring David on for something in the next Conan movie. That was fun. Why was he angry with Bruce again? That's right, because Bruce was friends with George.
George. The mastermind behind it all. The man who, after all, David had contributed to the franchise had chosen to cast another actor for the reveal of Darth Vader's face. Taking the last of Darth Vader from David and laughing about it.
James Earl Jones's voice resonated from every movie screen and every Darth Vader toy. David was just the body hidden behind the mask and suit, forgotten and fading into obscurity. It was a cruel thing to do to an actor, and lying in the gutter, while George was safe and warm in LA, David felt the weight of that betrayal anew.
David had been more okay with it when Star Wars was a low-budget indie film destined to fail in obscurity. When he saw the Darth Vader costume, he realized that his face would not be a part of it and comforted himself that at least his voice would be recognizable. It had hurt when James Earl Jones was dubbed over him in the movies, but that hurt had faded. It wasn't James's fault; it was George and his post-production editing. So David had swallowed his pride and soldiered on. The regular checks from the residuals helped.
Then Empire Strikes Back, that business with the secret—the big reveal, the "Luke, I am your father" moment—Bruce sided with George. So the lines were dubbed in during post-production, and David found out at the same time as everyone else.
David probably wouldn't have revealed it, even in the face of that massive offered payout like David Alistair had gotten from that fake script. How much more would the media have paid for real juicy secrets? But David was better than that, even if George wasn't… wasn't he?
Then return of the Jedi and those final scenes when Luke finally sees his father's face. That was what David wanted. His face and his acting even under a layer of makeup. Every movegoer would have associated his face, his real voice, with his hard work as Vader. Silver screen acknowledgment, just like all the other Star Wars actors.
When he had gotten the news that George had, at the final moment, decided to cast yet another actor to take the one spark and hope he had of being recognized, David hated George in that moment—hated him so much that the only thing he could do was get on a plane and go to the other side of the planet before he did something he might eventually regret to George.
David let his arm fall back, gently splashing into the pooling water from the continuing rain. Lucasfilm, Star Wars, and Darth Vader were the key points of his career. Other than being an easily forgettable generic superhero giving lessons to children on how to cross the road safely. Star Wars was supposed to be his big break. He had been there every day on set, providing the voice and physical presence of the iconic villain. Yet in the one scene where Vader's helmet came off, they replaced him with another actor. His face and acknowledgement forever missing, just the guy in the suit and now the guy in the gutter. Best get out and stop blocking the street before somebody sees.
An attempted to stand, and his legs seemed not to want to work. This was disgraceful; he was better than this. He was here in this nowhere town because a TV show hosted by Murry Muckraker had heard his ranting about Lucasfilm and wanted his side of the story. Or, more likely, the juicy gossip. But it would allow David to tell the world how he felt, to cast the blame where it truly deserved. But that meant getting out of the gutter and not letting the world see an angry drunk. He needed to be the nobly wounded actor, the hero cruelly injured, not an angry fool passed out on the pavement.
He wasn't supposed to be here, out drinking, but back in his hotel room. But some stranger from Lucasfilm called to remind him not to hand over spoilers before the movie was released. Not one of his friends but one of those bloodless sorts from marketing. As if they really cared about him and not just the bottom line. He had slammed the phone down and gone drinking, which led him back here to the gutter. David bet George planned it and was laughing at him. Well, David would show him. he would get out of the gutter and do the interview and Wreck Star Wars, then would George be laughing?
He slipped and ended up splashing back into the gutter. Bruce wouldn't be laughing, or Carrie or Mark; all of them would have been concerned and trying to help. What he would give for one of them being here now, for having one of his real friends, not strangers and hangers-on, people who understood.
"Oh dear," came an unwanted voice. A witness to his humiliation. "You look like you need a hand."
"I'm fine," he slurred, trying again to stand, hot blood leaking down the back of his shirt before his legs betrayed him too and sent him crashing back into the gutter. He must have banged his head on the way down because everything faded to black.
>>>>
When he came to, he found himself lying in a hospital bed somewhere, dressed in clean pyjamas. A quick touch to the back of his head revealed he had been bandaged. Without the alcohol in him, he felt sore and lost. And lonely. Carrie would have come in with good cheer. Mark would have had something to laugh about. Bruce would have scowled at him and challenged him to a lifting competition. All who would move on to new roles and forget him, just a useless B-list actor from England in a franchise that created A-list stars.
The woman who had helped him appeared again, naggingly familiar but unable to place her. "Good to see you're okay, David. Frank Oz was worried about you and how you disappeared."
"Really? A useless Darth Vader actor like me?" he scoffed.
"Not just him," she replied softly. "After I let them Know I found you, I have been fielding calls from Bruce, Mike, Kenny, and Peter. It seems like half of Lucasfilm called, and the only reason the other half didn't is that the first was using the phone."
"Why would they care?" David wondered, surprised that his voice sounded so surprised. "You just need to stick another man in the suit and get Vader. They don't need me."
"They sure sounded worried for their friend. As to replacing Vader. I could hand you Kermit, but you couldn't do him."
"Yeah, I wouldn't get the voice right," he snorted. "Not that it matters; I can't do Darth Vader's voice either. That's James's job."
"But the way the puppet moves? Can anyone else do that for Kermit? Can anyone else do that for Vader?" she pressed.
A flicker of pride returned. The woman was right. "No. I'm the only one who can make Vader feel right for more than a few seconds. I am the man in the suit. The only man in the suit." David found his tone turning bitter. "But George can't see that."
"Hollywood bigwigs aren't always right. My husband's busy with his affair over in America while I am raising our kids and running our company here in merry old England." Her somewhat biting answer came.
She was waiting for something, some realization that David was not getting, and he wasn't recognizing her earlier. Well, she had scooped him out of the gutter and gotten him to the hospital, so what was a little more humiliation? "Sorry, the headache is still bad. I recognise your voice, but I can't recall who you are?"
She laughed. "Sorry, Jane Henson. I doubt you have ever seen me before, but you have definitely seen my work and puppets. Yoda is one of them." David felt his mind go blank.
"So if I told you I feel like nobody sees me, just the Darth Vader suit…"
"I would understand perfectly. Nobody recognizes me either. Worse, they assume that everything I did was Jim's work, or Frank's, or any one of another hundred puppeteers, if they think at all," she smiled wryly. "It's not an uncommon feeling around the Henson workshop here, especially since half the puppeteers went to America."
"So how do you deal with it?"
"Community. Having others who understand. People who see you for you and not just your acting."
"What Mark was always saying about Marylou and why he married her. Maybe I should join. I'm not sure what you would need a guy who can give road crossing advice or fill a Darth Vader suit for, though."
To David's surprise, Jane suddenly had a very thoughtful look on her face, staring into him and past him as if she were mentally reviewing his past performances. "Jane?"
"David, We don't just do small puppets. We do big full-body ones too. Big Bird is our most famous but not our biggest. Or hardest"
David found his thoughts flashing across to the giant canary-yellow puppet from Sesame Street and its iconic nature and considered playing the childlike creature. The thought didn't hurt. He'd taken the Green Cross role because he believed in the cause, not because he thought it would make him famous. The fame of the role had been secondary.
Watching Frank Oz work with Yoda always looked impressive. "But isn't it a completely different skill set? He found himself asking.
"Maybe for the smaller puppets, but the full-body costumes… Arguably, you're the best in the world at the moment. The physicality you've demonstrated as Vader? I'm not sure anyone else could do that. In puppetry, it's about bringing a character to life, whether it's a puppet or a looming figure in black. And boy did you do that for Vader."
Her words resonated with something deep, stirring something that he had wondered if Hollywood had eaten—his passion for performance. But also a memory of reading a newspaper and seeing the number of road deaths drop and thinking that he had been a part of that. "I might send a resume then and see if you have a role I could fill. It's got to be better than drinking and mourning the end of Star Wars."
A knock and the door opened, and a nurse stepped in, Clearly intent on checking on him. "How are we feeling, luv?"
"Better," David replied, somewhat surprised at the answer. Better than he had been feeling for weeks. Without the rage, with the prospect of a new path or at least the ear of people who might understand.
"Do give me a call, " Jane said. I hope to see you down at the workshop soon, Vader."
David smiled for the first time in a long while, the storm within him beginning to calm. "Okay, I'll think about it. Can you tell Lucasfilm and all the well-wishers that I am okay and will call them once I am discharged?" Jane nodded as she exited the hospital room and the Nurse pulled out a thermometer.
As the door shut, the nurse with stars in her eyes breathlessly asked."Your Vader?"
"Well, I am the guy in the suit on set?"
"Can I have an Autograph?" she almost Squealed
>>>
His resolve lasted through checkout and until he was seated in front of the telephone. He found himself staring at it for longer than he wanted before screwing up his courage, lifting the receiver, and dialling a number. He gathered his strength and made the call to marketing at Lucasfilm. "David Prowse here. I have an interview tonight. What were the limits for what I can say?"
"Say nuffink Mr Proud. Paparazzi bad. So is Critics."
David found his voice tuning warm as he heard Bruce's five year old daughter on the other end of the phone. "Hello Mary, are you helping Mike with the finances again?"
"Yes. Mr Feet is busy, so I Can't play Wizards with Wally today. Do you havta Paparazzi?"
"I got angry and said things I shouldn't. I need to fix it."
There was rustle on the other side of the phone as if the person was nodding. "What daddy does he gets other people to come and distract so he doesn't punch them too much. Or brings props to distract. Can you get someone to come and help?"
David's thoughts turned to Jane. I might. "What can you tell me about props?"
"Lots"
As Mary started speaking excitedly, David found his mind wandering. He didn't want to hurt Lucasfilm in general or the people he still liked and trusted who worked there. He wanted to make Geoge understand how much he hurt him. What would Tweak but not actually hurt? Would Jane be up for Helping him?
>>>
Hi, and welcome to the Late-Night scandal. I'm your host, Murray Muckraker, and with us, we have our guest, David Prowse. Darth Vader himself and his feud with Lucasfilm.
The audience applauded wildly, and a door opened off stage, focusing on a dark, shadowy figure at the end of a hallway. Mist poured out, concealing the legs. The iconic breathing sound emanated from the figure that approached.
"Impressive iniit", came the west Country voice from behind everyone, making them jump.
David had walked in wearing a regular suit on the other side of the stage while everyone was distracted..
"The Darth Vader outfit, the ILM Wizards gone and done it Proper like." he continued, enjoying the Host who had more or less taken advantage of him to hold this interview being off-balance.
"um yes." Came from the host Murray. As the smoke rapidly cleared it was obvious the armour was on a stand and the breathing was from a sound system.
"Hot, heavy, and a pain to get into and out of, and worse, it muffled my voice so badly they had to get James in to redo my lines. Good Man, James. Otherwise, it would have been Darth Farmer the Muffled, Star Wars would have been a comedy, and it all would have been Georges's fault."
The audience laughs, but the host is still off balance, expecting Davind to be easily riled up. David watches him dive on the last titbit. As he gestures him to a seat, he asks, "It is rumoured you have a feud with Lucasfilm. Is that true? What can you tell us about your terrible treatment by them?
" Dreadful treatment, utterly dreadful Murray. And in revenge, I have a briefcase full of secrets to share. And you and your audience get to see them first here."
The audience cheers, and Murry visibly relaxes now that this guest seems to be following the script. David grins and opens his briefcase full of papers, pulling out a large chunk bound together.
"Is this what I think it is?" Murray asked, excitement clearly in his voice. "A film script for Return of the Jedi?"
"Yep, last move, David Allister sold a fake script of our get-in-character role-playing session for enough to redo his bathroom. Here is Returns' fake script, complete with cast notes from the tabletop session we used to familiarize ourselves with our characters. The movie without spoiling the movie."
The audience cheersat the host's look of disappointment. David grinned and put the sheaf of papers back in his briefcase.
"No? Dave Allstars script got bundled as a book and its selling quite well?" David offered again.
"So, David, what will we see when we watch Star Wars?" came Murry desperately trying to regain control of the interview
"Well, I'll tell you what you won't see and hear: my face and my voice. They did an excellent job with the Darth Vader mask." David said, gesturing towards the costume on display.
He returned the paper to his briefcase. "This is for the nerds out there: the casting is much more comfortable than empire strikes back and much quicker to get into and out of. Anthony Daniels and Peter Mayhew C3 PO and Chewbacca where both happy with their Return of the jedi costume redesigns too."
"As for the voice, don't worry. My good friend James Earl Jones returns, so the iconic voice remains. Hope you like the performance."
More cheering form the audience.
"Any truth to the rumour that you won't work for Lucasfilm again?" Murrie tried again.
"Some, but it's been blown out of context. Lucas'es film, not Lucasfilm see. And only if George doesn't show he understands why I was upset. I disagreed with some of George's artistic choices and won't work with him for at least a while until tempers cool. As soon as you see the film, I will bet that an attentive audience member can pick out the parts I disagreed with and counselled him against. But for the rest of Lucasfilm and the other actors, I would be very happy to return. Acting can be stressful, and in the heat of the moment, you say and do things you hope your friends will forgive you for."
The host seemed unsure of what to say, and David charged on with a grin on his face. This was surprisingly fun. Why did Bruce hate the media again?
"It's a great movie, but the problem is we all get too passionate about things. A little time and distance might help me gain perspective. That's why I'm considering working with the Henson Company. Yes, they do small puppets, but they also do full-body puppets. Depending on the project, I might get a Muppet role."
"And you said you have a big reveal for us tonight?" Murray tried once more.
"Yes, and as a bit of revenge against George Lucas too. He has insisted that the background of Yoda remain secret. Well, I can announce that I know the truth and am directly going against George's wishes with this reveal. But I need a little bit of help—from a friend. Miss Piggy."
"What?" Murray lost it
The audience laughed as the pink pig appeared from behind a couch.
"Oh yes, David, tell the world about that ungrateful…"
"Certainly, Miss Piggy. You see…"
Miss Piggy cut in "Yoda is indeed the love child of moi and my beloved Kermie. He ran overseas, you see, with that aweful Jim Henson fellow, and next thing you know, he is making it big in showbiz with no thought as to his poor parents."
"Isn't Yoda much older than you and…" Murray started
David grinned as he Pulled out and unfolded a series of large pictures of Kermit, Miss Piggy, and Yoda, conveniently allowing the puppeteer to move closer to the host without the audience seeing.
"A lady never reveals her age, just her rage."
"What?" "Her rage! Hi-ya!" Karate chopping in the direction of the presenter. making him flinch back
"See Yoda has my Kermies strong Jaw and my ability to get the last sweet. Not that he ever succeeded while Moi was around. Anyway David you can take it form here.
"Er, thank you, Miss Piggy."
"I will be in my trailer," came the voice of Miss Piggy as she disappeared behind the couch.
"Well, that was certainly an exciting reveal, David."
"Yes, and if you wait a minute, I will have one more." A door opened "Jane Henson." Applause rolled from the audience and hit David's ears as he stood and turned the seat slightly to make it easier for her to sit before sitting himself.
"Thank you. Thank you, everyone. Now Frank Oz couldn't be here, the man actually puppeteering Yoda, but Henson Creature Works helped develop the puppet, and we are going to show you a little of how that works so you get an idea of just how much work the invisible part of the moves takes up."
As Jane started her talk, drawing in the audience and sidelining Murry on his own show, David relaxed back into his seat.
Sure, his face never appeared on screen. But neither did Peter Mayhew's or Kenny Baker's or Warwick Davis's. But he still had the respect of the rest of the cast, and well, this was the first step in getting the acknowledgment. This was a harmless poke toward Jim Henson and George Lucas.
Burning bridges with Lucasfilm certainly wouldn't get him in front of cameras again and would make other studios warier. Darth Vader wouldn't be his peak; he would find other roles, roles that showed his face or meant something to him, and George might see and wonder what he missed out on by not casting David. Or he wouldn't, and it wouldn't matter either. David was not going to let George's choices define him.
An
It's a bit late, given that Star Wars is out, but hopefully, this puts David in play again, at least as an option.
@Magoose I still remember that hinted film. Have an excuse to not discard your hard work.
Also, David rather famously stated he was offered the role of Coanan before Arnold was, so he might be interested in a cameo in the upcoming film.
"I'm home!" You announce to your household, carrying a large and heavy box in with you. The focus of today's work was a meeting with Sega and Lucasarts to finalize the details for the launch of the Sega Genesis. Overall it was pretty exciting to see another one of your ideas take fruit, and fortunately something nice came out of working today as the Sega people gifted you the very first console and cartridges.
As usual, the Goslings and pets swarmed and greeted you happily, with Joseph very excited by what he found.
"Daddy got a box!" Joseph yelled eagerly. He absolutely loved to play with the boxes using his imagination, pretending he was flying a plane, racing a car, leading a castle, going on an adventure. Just hand Joe a box and he would have a great time.
"Sega?" Sarah pronounced slowly upon reading the box. You smiled in pride at such. Since they were two and a half, the twins were making some progress at reading with Sarah already at a first grade level.
"It's one of the companies that Lucasfilms owns. They make video games." You inform.
"Like Atari and Uncle Gavin?" Mary asked.
You nodded, "Yep, in fact, Uncle Gavin put in a lot of work to make the Sega video games really good."
"Really? Or is it just another lying thing like Superman game?" Mary asked with heavy skepticism and crossed arms.
You cringed at the memory of that abomination of a video game that killed the industry. You got the game for Mary as part of her birthday gift along with the Tricycle, and you can only thank the Lord that she chose to play it the day after instead of on her birthday as it was so horrible and traumitizing, that Mary was wailed a stream of tears and she swore off video games altogether. Heck, she tried to throw the Atari into the Trash and refused to so much as play Pac-Man or Galaga.
"Silly Mary, is Daddy game. Daddy only makes best stuff like Star Wars and Mommy romance movie." Sarah argued haughtily.
"And Uncle Gavin super smart too." Joseph concurred.
Mary still appeared heavily doubtful, but looked you squarely into the eyes, as if you would pay if you were lying, and slowly nodded. "Alright, I try."
"Do, not try." Sarah teased with a giggle.
"Hush Sarah, you're not Wally." Mary said.
"Girls, be nice" You warned, though at the same time you couldn't help but smile in remembrance of your own sibling dynamics. "Anyways, I got a console called the Sega Genesis here and it has eight games to play. You'll be the first ones in the world to play with them."
Mary whistled in impressment, though really this was a common occurrence for them as they were the first ones to watch Return of the Jedi with the Lucas family. Wait, when did Mary learn how to whistle?
"We Daddy helpers?" Joseph asked in excitement.
You nodded, "Let's go to the living room and you can help me set it up."
You marched to the living room with the Goslings and pets following in line like....well a gaggle of geese. There you also saw your beloved wife and why Carrie didn't greet you, with her rocking a yawning George while she looked equally tired and fatigued.
You set down the Genesis and gave Carrie a hug and a kiss, with her looking greatly relieved at your touch. "Sorry I didn't say hi, Grumpy O'Brian woke up from his nap early and it's been a bit rough today." Carrie said with a tired voice.
Looking at how content and relaxed George was, you'd say Carrie did a great job. "Come on George, don't be a trouble maker for your Mama."
"Bah." George simply responded and curled up to rest on Carrie.
"Mom's grabbing some stuff from her place for Dinner. What you got there, something for her collection?" Carrie asked.
"It's that gaming console I told you about, the Genesis."
"Really Bruce? Bringing the gospel to gaming?" Carrie joked.
You laughed at the statement. "Nah, someone else came up with it, the start of a new age of gaming, it fits pretty well."
You noticed a nostalgic glint in Carrie's eye, most likely one of the many memories of you two gaming together when dating, and how that helped to push you two closer.
"How I about, I set this up, and right after I'll cook you a lovely dinner and be on George duty for the rest of the night while you play with the kids?" You suggested.
Carrie smiled and the two of you exchanged another kiss. "I love you."
"I know."
"Mawba." George mumbled.
So you set out to set the console up with Mary helping you by reading the instructions. Joseph had a blast just playing around in the box with the bubble wrap and styrofoam peanuts, while Sarah patiently waited and played with the kittens.
After about ten minutes and careful manuvers of the Kermit Box wires, you set up the Genesis, with the Box turning white and then Blue letters appearing on screen.
Then came the tough part, deciding what to pick to play first, and each Gosling had their own strong opinion.
"Basketball, BASKETBALL!" Joseph yelled excitedly to Carrie's shush and George stirring. Your eldest son was shaking with excitement at the prospect of playing as his favorite players.
"Penguin game!" Sarah argued. She likely fell in love because of the box art, and it was admittedly pretty cute.
Still, you didn't know if either of the twins would be good at playing the game, or if they had the proper coordination for games in general now that you think about it.
"Final Fantasy?" Mary asked with cautious interest. Of course it'd make sense that Mighty Mary of D&D would fall in love with a roleplaying game. It was a good thing you didn't set up the Genesis in her room or she'd probably pull lots of all nighters playing it.
"How about Ballblazer?" You suggested, to the disappointment of the kids present. "It's the first game that Lucasarts made so it kind of makes sense to play it first, and this one's a two player game while the others are one player, so it doesn't have to be just one of you."
Joseph then looked at both his sisters and counted on his left hand, "But Daddy, we are three." Joseph said.
"Yeah, which one is three player?" Mary asked.
"Well....there are no three player games." You said, with all the Goslings gasping. "That's why we'll take turns sharing so everyone can play." You suggested diplomatically.
The kids grumbled but complied, plopping down in front of the Kermit box. You took the Ballblazer cartridge in the console, and let the magic begin.
The Sega Genesis was one of the most advanced personal computers in a world with only government and research computers having better power. It was hard to describe the tech aspects of the console as it went heavily over your head and was the likes that only Gavin and Mary could understand. But in layman's terms, it had greater power than pretty much any arcade cabinet besides Dragon's Lair, with each game running smoothly with fast and dynamic action. The graphics were some of the most advanced comptuer work outside of Pixar's movies, created with bright crisp colors. The soundtracks were on par with some of Skywalker's Sounds best work. Most importantly, it had some of the best video games that were made to date with most titles pushing the boundaries of what was thought to be possible.
The Sega Genesis debuted on June 10th with trailers for the console accompanying Return of the Jedi screenings. On its first day alone, more than 100,000 units of the Genesis were sold in Japan and America and the Genesis became the new point of interest at toy stores with its demos. After one month of sales, over a million units were sold with 554,000 in North America and 467,000 in Japan. Genesis users reported high satisfaction of the machine with lots of fun across its eight titles and many were starting to make return trips to the store to either expand their game library or buy the complete set. Considering Sega was shooting for 500,000 units sold by the end of the year, it was a total success.
Yet right in the middle of the celebration, an Italian plumber stomped on Genesis' party and with a gold star, left Sega in the dust.
Despite being technically inferior with 8 bit, Nintendo vastly outperformed Sega with over six million units sold. To be fair, this was built on the back of a decade of Nintendo being a powerhouse in the Arcades and being the last man standing after Atari shit the bed and nearly killed the industry. Japan may love you, but Japanese kids grew up with Nintendo arcades and thus the NES, or Famicon as it was called in Japan sold for over 5 million units. Yet somehow, they also outperformed in the US and sold over a million units there.
While being a greatly inferior product, it couldn't be denied that Nintendo had some damn fine games. In addition to some arcade ports like Duck Hunt and Pac-Man, Nintendo made some strong instant icons with Super Mario Bros, Legend of Zelda, Metroid and DuckTales. Metroid was especially popular given the release of Star Wars (with the reveal of Samus being a legendary moment), but Mario in spite of its simplistic mechanics really captured the awe of children across the Pacific. It was incredibly fun, and admittedly more comforting for newcomers than Lucasarts games as while Lucasarts were of higher quality, Nintendo had easier accessibility for new games.
Speaking of accessibility, damn that price decrease. Releasing on June 27th, Nintendo really took advantage of Sega and Lucasarts restoring faith in video games, and then published a decent performing console equal to the arcades at nearly half the price of a Genesis with $149.99. Honestly, you would think that parents would look at the sheer difference in quality, graphics above all else, and see the Sega as being better art, but wallets speak louder and ideals and with the Great Recession having just ended, parents would rather give their kids a decent console with two free games versus a fantastic console with one free game, with Sega also driving home that you can get the NES and four games for the price of one Genesis and accompanying free game. It was a bold gamble for Nintendo as the price was just barely above the break even line, but it was more than worth it. You'll probably need to match for Christmas.
As if that wasn't enough, Disney seemed to be in full alliance with Nintendo. There were three Disney games with DuckTales, Sorcerer's Apprentice and Duck Dogers, the former being an especially big draw with how wild DuckTales was becoming. As if that wasn't enough, Disney essentially performed free publicity twice by having a video game focused episode of EPCOT Magazine, and then having Disney Studio Showcase do an episode featuring on Nintendo. Unfortunately you got zero warning since this was completely outside of Cat's sphere, and Nintendo did insanely well in holding the cards to their chest, launching an an insane marketing campaign that even Mike had to admit outperformed Sega. As if that wasn't enough, your legion of O'Brian and Lucasfilms fans who would happily march to war at the checkout, had already spent their free money on Star Wars mania, nevermind all the Lakers and Fighting Geese fans. Suffering from success, huh?
This did not at all mean the end for Genesis, as you still had the objectively superior console and already Sega, Lucasarts and Apple were brainstorming on a next-gen concept. Summer was here and the kids of America and Japan would become familiar with the Genesis either through direct ownership or playing at a friend's house and demand more for Christmas. Still, Nintendo holds the lead now, and begun the console wars have.
Admittedly, if there's one thing you should correct, it's to have a flagship franchise to base the Genesis around. Sure Lucasarts is now free to make Star Wars games and everyone is eager to release some, but you feel it would be best to have a franchise that is original and not tied to outside IP, even if a Star Wars game would sell like hotcakes.
"What would it take to beat an Italian plumber?" You ask to yourself.
"What Daddy?" Sarah asked, as you had been talking to yourself as you passed her room.
You shook your head, "Oh nothing Sarah, just Daddy being silly." You walked in and observed Sarah reading all on her own with Lamington perched on a stool and looking over. "What you got there Sarah?"
"Animal picture book." Sarah informed, then showed you some pages, "Look Daddy, this a hedgehog. It cute?"
"It sure is."
Now....just what could defeat Mario? Thankfully when you created LucasArts, you created a company that combined the best talent in programming and game design on both sides of the Pacific. The end result was eight awesome games that shall serve as a foundation for the Sega Genesis and beyond.
Immunity Director: Yutaka Sugano
Game Developer: LucasArts Entertainment
Published By: Sega Corporation
Release: June 1983
Genre: Action, Hack and Slash, Science Fiction
Quality: D100 + 100 => 190
Audience: D100 + 100 => 160
Critics: D100 + 100 => 141 Initial Release Sales (Units): 785,519
Starting off strong with what you firmly believe to be the second best game, Immunity is Sega's first platformer and while not as popular as Mario, is the third best selling game of the Genesis and a game that really shows the power of the nascent beat em up and hack and slash sub-genres for gaming, along with potentially being a great franchise in the making. Throughout the game, players play as a white blood cell named Shiro in their mission to kill all germs and viruses to protect their host body. It's a pretty neat setting and it taking place in the human body allows for very creating background environments as human organs and tissue formed in the shape of urban Japan while the player faces all kind of "Germ monsters" which are based off of real life diseases with their shapes transformed into grotesque and hideous monsters set out to kill. While it's not story-driven like Final Fantasy, having the player customize the human they are inside and then show the effects of game overs through major illness or even death provides some really great organic storytelling and strong motivation to succeed, something that drove Mary to never fail and eliminate all germs in sight.
The combat is very fluid with action that in many ways is inspired by Jeet Kune Do in the fighting animations and combat sprites, and all the neat little items like a "Shot Gun" and a pill bomb are cool ways of showing how medicine aids in fighting diseases. Best of all is how the combat is enhanced by the 16 bit format where instead of just blocky sprites smacking each other, you have 3D-ish models duking it out in high detail. While its fanbase isn't the most fervent of the Sega lineup, it is a very popular game and many have come to associate Immunity as an icon of video games. Some critics disapprove of the heavy violence and subject manner, but considering that the player is fighting against diseases that kill people, it doesn't cause any controversy and indeed parents are okay with their kids playing a "violent" game because of the catharsis of battling through medicine of sorts. Hmmm...maybe you could make an educational show off of this?
Penguin Adventure Directors: Ryouhei Shogaki, Hiroyuki Fukui, Hideo Kojima
Game Developer: LucasArts Entertainment
Published By: Sega Corporation
Release: June 1983
Genre: Adventure, Comedy
Quality: D100 + 100 => 152
Audience: D100 + 100 => 192
Critics: D100 + 100 => 122 Initial Release Sales (Units): 320,423
"Mario as a penguin and he never stops running", this is what has commonly been described of Penguin Adventure. It's a very silly description, especially when there are no platforms in the game, but it's also very fitting considering the main conflict is a penguin trying to save a princess. To elaborate further, a penguin named Penta retrieves a golden apple from the North Pole and then journies across the world to reach to the South Pole to give it to the ill Princess Penguette. It's a cute little concept, and one may be mislead into seeing it as a simple childish game when it's really a high test of reflexes as Penta in his haste, speeds through the game on a straight path and must dodge debris, giant holes, and do battle with various animals determined to hunt him down, all while he can never stay in place except for certain bonus or hidden stages where Penta collects fish (the health system) or obtains an item to help him on his adventure.
And when you say it's a fast game, it's a FAST game. Poor Sarah was really looking forward to playing, but she kept on dying instantly because her reflexes couldn't handle the game except on easy mode, thus forcing her to rely on Mary and Carrie, though at least she enjoyed watching. Critics complain heavily that the game is too fast paced and it's tough to plan actions or react, but you think it's just a skill issue for them. While yes it's hard, once one has become accustomed to Penguin Adventure's mechanics, it's very rewarding gameplay with really fast paced action moments similar to Pac Man where every turn means life or death and one has to use the limited information on what's ahead to strategize with Penta and use all in his arsenal to defeat the foes he can't run past. Plus the boss battles are neat little duels where Penta has to use the environment cleverly and dodge in rapid pace to outwit and defeat his foes.
Penguin Adventure also performed really strange. For now it's the second lowest performing Sega game upon release, but it's also among the most popular? This is mainly due to the game's cover character, Penta. A chubby blue penguin racing for his life is a very adorable image and those who did buy Penguin Adventure were super invested in helping Penta to save his beloved Penguette. While Penguin Adventures is not the first choice due to the excellence of others, everyone whose played is demanding that Penta's story be explored. The first indications of such popularity were when a Penta the Penguin plushy was released by Sunset over the summer and sold over $50 million worth of plushes. In fact, Carrie got one for Sarah and she absolutely fell in love with the little Penguin, taking him on adventures with Kermit and drawing lots of Penta stuff, which in a way has turned into comics. Hmm....maybe there's potential here.
Eidolon Director: Charlie Kellner
Game Developer: LucasArts Entertainment
Published By: Sega Corporation
Release: June 1983
Genre: Fantasy, First Person, Action
Quality: D100 + 100 => 172
Audience: D100 + 100 => 192
Critics: D100 + 100 => 142 Initial Release Sales (Units): 381,927
Probably one of the most revolutionary Sega games, and that's saying something, Eidolon is a first person fantasy dungeon game where players take on the role of an archeologist transported by a mysterious sword called Eidolon to an underground maze where they must do battle with monsters to return home. Eidolon is a game that has no equals, being one of the few first person games, but instead of setting it in a linear design, the game takes place in a vibrant style world where players can traverse across every space of available ground in a claustrophic and gothic dungeon and do battle with all kinds of fantasy creatures. A lot of people have for understandable reasons mistaken Eidolon for a Dungeons and Dragons video game, but it's really just a generic fantasy setting, but truly bringing the genre to life in a way that not even Forgotten Realms, Conan or D&D have as players can control the journey and do direct battle with the monsters.
Eidolon has absolutely awesome mechanics with each swing of Eidolon feeling that it has weight and power to it. The shield mechanics help the game to move around its limited mobility as players can fight like Darth vader, standing their ground and getting close and personal to slay their opponents. The monsters have really neat designs and the first person perspective and cool animations make for some really intense gameplay. Though Eidolon's sales are modest for now, you feel like the game will go down in history as a major innovator of video games by showing the power and potential of first person point of view.
Like Penguin Adventure, it's a game divided in reactions as while critics do praise the combat and first person mechanics, criticize the design of the game in a dungeon as being too constrained with the background art and setting getting old after a while with too much gray and not a lot of lively aesthetics like other fantasy games. However, audiences absolutely love the concept and the gameplay, saying it's one of the best designed games and many clamoring for first person games. At the very least, you're heavily thankful to Eidolon for playing a role in helping to heal Mary's video game trauma as a game where you play as a knight slaying monsters was right up Mary's niche, bringing all the roleplay sessions to life on the Kermit Box.
Showtime basketball Director: Ibaragi Khoda
Game Developer: LucasArts Entertainment
Published By: Sega Corporation
Release: June 1983
Genre: Sports
Quality:D100 + 100 => 187
Audience: D100 + 100 => 173
Critics: D100 + 100 => 183 Initial Release Sales (Units): 398,259
From the moment Carrie had secured the rights from the NBA, you knew you'd have a hit. People having a chance to play as their favorite NBA players in replica games of NBA action, what's not to love? It's a pretty simple basketball game, but instead of 8 bit midgets just running down the court and shooting the ball, there's life-like 16 bit models facing off against one another with each player having similar strengths to their real life counterpart, and great defense and blocking mechanics to make the game competitive instead of just having it be a race for the ball. It's a really fun transition of the NBA, and you have a great time playing against Carrie's Lakers as the Nicks, though just like in real life Carrie usually dominates there. This is also Joseph's favorite game for rather obvious reasons, and while he would much rather prefer to play real sports, he's doing his best to learn with Mary and Carrie's help.
Showtime Basketball is definitely the third best game on the Genesis and probably the best Sports game that has ever been made. Which makes it a bit frustrating that in spite of high audience and critical acclaim, that it's middle of the road for sales. Most likely since Nintendo has no counter, there are two reasons. One, Basketball season just ended and everyone is focused on MLB and the USFL playoffs. Two, Magic is on the cover and since it's called "Showtime Basketball", lots of people assume it's a Lakers game and even though everyone loves Carrie, lots of people can't stand the Lakers for their dominance. Once again, suffering from success. At least some good news on this front is that Carrie is going to focus on a ad campaign for the start of the next basketball season with herself and lots of NBA stars featuring. So hopefully that and a new season will drive up sales. With Carrie's fortune, you can definitely see it surpassing one million units if Genesis sales also keep up.
Ballblazer Designed By: David Lavine
Game Developer: LucasArts Entertainment
Published By: Sega Corporation
Release: June 1983
Genre: Sports, Science Fiction
Quality:D100 + 100 => 157
Audience: D100 + 100 => 133
Critics: D100 + 100 => 133 Initial Release Sales (Units): 340,480
Lucasart's first ever game, Ballblazer is in many ways an interesting take on the first ever video game pong, having a soccer-like game, but here with high speed hovercraft which get to shoot lasers. It's a very fast paced and dynamic take on the concept thanks to some of the levels with unique science fiction platform stages where players not only have to face each other, but race through a course to get to the opposing goal. The science fiction element is really creative in design and the rotofoils make the game feel like a brilliant love child between Tron and Star Wars. As one of only two two-player games for the Genesis, you feel this can make for great fun with your friends, and you certainly have a lot of fun trying your best against Carrie across the stages.
It's just unfortunate that while a success, reception has been mixed as the high speeds mixed with very complicated levels can make gameplay very difficult in design that skill can't help with at times. Thus most people prefer the flat socer stages, and admittedly you can see where they are coming from. Still, when players are able to master the levels and get experience with their Rotofoil, it's a very fun time. Maybe all the kinks can be worked out in a sequel.
Pirate Ship Higemaru Designed By: Shinichi Nakamoto
Game Developer: LucasArts Entertainment
Published By: Sega Corporation
Release: June 1983
Genre: Maze
Quality:D100 + 100 => 167
Audience: D100 + 100 => 163
Critics: D100 + 100 => 173 Initial Release Sales (Units): 93,312
Ah the tale of Pirate Ship Higemaru, a game that is very competently made with positive audience and critic reception, yet somehow is the lowest performing Sega game. A very simple game as a cross between Donkey Kong and Pac-Man, Pirate Ship Higemaru sees the players take control of Momotaru, a sailor doing his best to survive endless waves of pirates by throwing barrels at them. Originally meant for the arcades but turned into a Genesis game through office politics and deadlines at Lucasarts Japan, Higemaru is a simple but fun game as players must race to avoid the speedy and smart pirates, and use the barrels around them to clear the path and eliminate all pirates standing. There's not much too it and there is no real end, but it's a fun time. Sadly, the simplicity and its arcade origins may be what hurts Higemaru as unlike every other Sega game where there is some sort of barrier being broken and precedent sent, Higemaru is just more of the same, its 16-bit mini sprites being the only truly stand out feature. A shame, but you think you can at least make the budget back if given enough time. Who knows, maybe there'll be a pirate craze sometime this decade.
Rescue on Fractalus Designed By: David Fox
Game Developer: LucasArts Entertainment
Published By: Sega Corporation
Release: June 1983
Genre: Science Fiction, War
Quality: 50+100=150
Audience: 63+100=163
Critics: 87+100=187 Initial Release Sales (Units): 850,169
The second best performing Sega game, and only thanks to the perfection of Final Fantasy, Rescue on Fractalus is a bold Sci-Fi game where players are taken into a midst of a warzone on Fractalus not to be a starfighter pilot, but to play medic and rescue shot down pilots stranded in enemy territory while being harassed by the enemy Jaggi race. Essentially it was Space Vietnam, and just like how Return of the Jedi played with the concept, oh man was it glorious.
Rescue on Fractalus truly was the most ambitious game on the Genesis for how it was juggling so many firsts as a concept. First person vehicle shooters, space combat, dogfighting, first person shooters and more; Rescue on Fractalus set out to be among the first and the definitive best in these categories and oh boy did it deliver. Fractalus is a vast and beautiful martian-like landscape with the Genesis graphics really being push to their limit and displayed at their absolute best. The game truly feels like you're traveling over an endless environment and there's lots of thrills when engaging with enemy starships and avoiding anti-air. Though forcing players to be on search and rescue and awarding them for prefering it is a genius on limitations and with Fractalus being an acidic environment, it forces players to wisely pick their fights and place a priority on what to reward, determining not only if they survive but how their performance will be viewed by their superiors. Even beyond the atmospheric dogfights, Fractalus went above and beyond with the survival aspects and the creepiness of traveling on the surface and the jumpscare of the hostile Jaggi. It really is science fiction at its best.
Fractalus debuted to high critical acclaim with critics proclaiming Fractalus as the best Sega game, if not the best video game for the moment. Everything seems to be a focus of nonstop praise with special approval on the combat, the premise and the environment of Fractalus. While fans aren't quite enthusiastic in attitude, they are with their wallets with Fractalus being the second best selling game for the moment. Admittedly, this is mainly for one reason, Star Wars fever. With the Genesis coming out weeks after Returns debut, what better first choice of a game with the system than the one every seems to call a "Star Wars game". You wish people would be drawn by the game's merits, though at the very least they do enjoy it and it's likely that Rescue on Fractalus will be a dominant game throughout the Genesis' lifetime.
A/N: Do keep in mind this isn't the final sales number for the Genesis or its games. Both of which will grow throughout the 80s and certain crazes and success in similar genres will push some game to further commercial success.
I'm not seeing some of the other games that we've produced for the first wave of Genesis games, so is it safe to assume that based on that, along with the narrative section in the beginning, that this meant to be an Omake instead of the Sidestory update? Or are those other games being displayed at some other time?
Though you'd explained your children about your travel in order to film Conan, and they had seemed to understand that it was something necessary, it nonetheless didn't take away from their concern or the many times you'd found them hurrying to say goodbye to you when you were leaving for the office, thinking this would be the day that you'd have to leave for months at a time. It really pushed you to at times re-consider your decision to film in Italy and just try to find a way to film it all in LA. Ironically, it was your little goslings' strong fronts that at the same time pushed you to continue on your path, feeling that if they could be so brave so as to face this, then you should as well.
Thus, when the time came for you to finally make the trip to Italy, you decided to do a final outing with your family, even inviting Cat and her family as well, to that pizza place that had all the attractions for children. You knew about the Chuck E Cheese franchise, yet at the same time you did not feel that comfortable being in such a place. Call it intuition, but at the end of the day, something about those animatronics just put you on edge. Still, there were other locations that had aped the concept, but had decided against those eerie looking animal robots, so going to one of them was not out of the realm of possibility.
Now, as you watched your entire family just having some pizza, as you watched your children running around, playing with the small games and rides (that ball pit looked fun, something to consider for the future perhaps), you could not help but feel at peace, despite the shouting and the sounds of the games all around you. Lately it seemed like everything was just pushing you from one place to another, with the occasional moments with your family helping to reinvigorate you once more. But these moments, when you could just spend time with Carrie and Cat, with all your little goslings running around, yeah, these moments were what made everything worth it.
But it seemed that he could not even escape work, or at least the results of his work, during this outing. Just as he was being dragged by Mary to play in the Arcade row they had, he found among them the games that his company had just sold. Mike had told you they had ranged from decent to groundbreaking, though unfortunately it seemed that the only games among the row where the ones that had managed decent to good returns. For a moment you just wanted to back away and go back, but Mary's hand pulling you forward, the smile on her face telling you how she wanted to do this activity with you... well, you could not say no to your oldest gosling at this moment.
Thus, you grabbed some quarters and prepared to enjoy the moment.
Space Paranoids Designed By: David Lavine
Game Developer: LucasArts Entertainment
Published By: Sega Corporation
Release: June 1983
Genre: Science Fiction, War, Action, Adventure
Initial Release Sega Arcade Saloon Profits: $12,234,123
Lifetime Arcade Units Sold: 122,000
The first game Mary tried was the one Mike was the most proud of, mainly because it was the one that sold the most. Not that it could be helped, Mike had been so busy with the promotion and the merchandising deals for Star Wars that when it came to the promotion for the different games for your new arcades, he was just caught flatfooted. not that you could blame him, you did not even know these things needed to be promoted! You just went to a place and sold them, right? Well, apparently not, since otherwise you're sure this specific cabinet would have probably sold at least half as much as Tetris.
Then again, perhaps not. Jesus that game is insane...
Nevertheless, back to Space Paranoids, the fact that it was a game that was shown in Tron gave it enough of a push for the sales to skyrocket and make a good profit. not to mention that children and teens everywhere were enraptured with the idea of playing the very game that was part of a story about videogames having life inside of them. It was on a level of meta that not every game could bring, thus it gave an interesting enticement for all players to enjoy.
Mary seemed to like it, the game basically being a 3d first person Shoot as you control a tank through a maze, trying to destroy the flying contraptions before they can scoop you up and you have to restart the stage once more. As you ascend through the levels you begin fighting more than the Recognizer Ships; Turrets and enemy tanks also begin making appearances, leading to the player having to strategize and put a priority on either reloading or finding a good place to hide from the enemies.
It's fun once you get into the rhythm of it. Mary seemed to enjoy it during the first two levels, though the increasing difficulty had her ask you to try it after she died twice and had to start from the beginning. You managed to do better, even managing to get an extra life when you reached 100,000 points after defeating the enemies, yet at the end of the day you could not rise beyond what the record of movie Flynn was. A shame really, since you'd heard how managing to beat said record would have you enter a different stage where you'd face against Flynn's avatar Tank itself, sort of like a "Sudden Death" battle between both of you.
You only managed to get around 560,000 points. Enough to get your names into the high scorers, but not enough to beat the top. Huh, though it seems may of the other players had gotten close, there was even one that had nearly managed to reach the top record, falling shy at just 900,000. Well, whoever G. Constanza is, you wish him the best of luck as Mary drags you to the next game, another LucasArts arcade from the looks of it.
Nidhogg Designed By: Jamie Lee Evans
Game Developer: LucasArts Entertainment
Published By: Sega Corporation
Release: June 1983
Genre: Fighting, Side-Scroller, Platform, Sports
Initial Release Sega Arcade Saloon Profits: $1,234,123
Lifetime Arcade Units Sold: 12,341
When it came to the next game you recalled more than the previous one, mainly because of the innovative thought that went into its creation. Jamie Lee Evans was one of the rarities in the company, as many of its game designers or software engineers tended to be men. Jamie however buckled that trend, showing a passion for both games and their inner coding that made her become one of the leads when it came to pushing forth their own ideas. You had expected some pushback, but everyone seemed to like her well enough, calling her the "Team Mom" what with her tendency to mediate and try to stave off conflict between team members. All in all, she was one of the leading members of Lucasfilms that you felt had a future for more games created under her aegis.
And her current game proved it, as it soon became Mary's favorite game of them all.
Nidhogg was not like any other game that had been done nor shown at the time, and you could see why. It shows itself like a simple fighting game, or a sporting one where you control a single figure stick with what seems to be a sword at its hands. You can decide how to hold the sword to attack as well; high, medium or low, while at the same time having to parry the different attacks from the other stick figure. That alone would have made it groundbreaking, and yet it was only a small facet of the entire game.
For you could fight with more than just the sword; the arms, the feet, jumping and dive kicking are also different attacks that Mary delighted in finding during the many different fights against her opponent. And it did not end there; crawling, wall jumping, climbing ledges, even throwing one's sword against the opponent, it seemed all was allowed when it came to this game, all except how to win at first as Mary kept on defeating her foe over and over and yet it kept on re-spawning. She was getting frustrated until she noticed the signs at the top corner urging her to move whenever she won, which is when you both discovered the true genius of this game.
You did not have to fight at all.
Or perhaps it would be better to say, fighting was not the end goal, but just another way to achieve the ultimate goal; to move forwards to the end stage where you found different locations where the enemy would respawn and you'd have to fight him all over again. Mary found the entire experience exhilarating as she moved the joystick and pressed the buttons as fast as she could, trying to bring the fast-paced and frantic combat to a close as she moved closer and closer to the final objective...only to lose once and then have to be the defender as the stick figure opponent became the one now trying to reach the other side, and could dodge her better than she could try to engage him in fighting!
It soon became a see-saw between both sides, with Mary sometimes managing to nearly reach the end, before the other managed a reversal and pulled the fight even further into her corner. Mary soon learned that the best strategy would be to avoid fighting and picking her battles, and managed to nearly reach the ending before a lucky shot pushed her back to the middle once more.
Mary was nearly ready to have a fit before you had her take a breather while you tried it for yourself.
...And that's when you learned that despite your many times playing with your children, this game was another beast altogether.
Seriously, you'd seen Mary play this before, you'd played with your children on the new console at home, and even so this game had you be on full alert at every moment as you tried to reach the ending while avoiding dying at the hands of the other stick figure. With Mary at your side shouting encouragement and advice though, you felt near invincible as little by little you reached the ending, soon finally giving a final death to the enemy and reaching the edge of the stage as you jumped and...
...were eating by a flying "dragon", while the screen showed you the 'Winner? declaration of victory.
...Yeah, that was weird. Mary seemed to love it though. Cheering at the image and wanting to try again till she managed to do it on her own. You let her give it a shot while thinking back on how it was possible that such an inventive and fun game was among the lowest sold in arcade units. It made a profit alright, but it seemed that it just did not seem to catch on with the current fanbase that should have been there, probably due to the complexity or perhaps it was because it was not full-on fighting game that other players were accustomed to. Then again, it could also be because of the ending. Though Mary and other fans of the game loved it, you could see why other more traditionally minded video game fans would find it frustrating to have to go through so much effort and pain only for them to be killed and eating by a dragon as the reward.
And from what little video game magazines you were able to find later on...they were really tearing it down! Comments about the game being schizophrenic, not knowing what it wanted to be, and even being sadistic what with little to no reward for all the effort put into winning. Not a single one of them understanding that it is the entire journey, not the destination, what makes the game so addicting and fun to play.
Fast-paced combats, the option not to fight, platforming and movements ranging not only horizontally but vertically as well, the need to concentrate and be ready to counter the unpredictability of the enemy, and even then having the opponent surprise you...this game is amazing. You even played a couple of rounds with Mary on 2 player mode (yeah, it has a 2-player mode) where you are not ashamed to admit your little girl managed to trounce you.
You were going to try for a 2 out of 3 before she was called to play with the rest of the kids. You let her go, looking at the rest of the cabinets as you walked back, before stopping as another of your games caught your attention, and one that you knew a bit more than others as well...
Dragon's Lair Designed By: Don Bluth and Rick Dyer
Game Developer: LucasArts Entertainment
Published By: Sega Corporation
Release: June 1983
Genre: Interactive Film, Action, Adventure, Puzzle
Initial Release Sega Arcade Saloon Profits: $2,415,234
Lifetime Arcade Units Sold: 24,000
The first time you ever heard of this game was, of all places, in DreamWorks when you asked about Don and whether he was taking enough breaks. You could understand the man's passions, especially when he heard how there were going to be movies that were using CGI and Deep Canvas in order to make animation, something that when samples of Treasure Planet were shown wowed every single one of the animators and made many think that the future of animation lied with Pixar.
Needless to say, Don did not agree with them at all.
Perhaps that's why he had been putting in so much more effort at the two movies he was in charge of. Secret of NIHM and An American Tail, you had to admit, were outright gorgeous in both the designs of the backgrounds and the characters, with the storyline being both emotive and thrill seeking, with a beautiful message that in no way takes away from the enjoyment of the films.
Which is why it was such a surprise when you'd heard how he had been convinced to work together with a new LucasArts hire that needed his help with the animation. Rick Dyer had previously been the head of his own company, which had gone under during the sudden Crash of 82'. The man was, if anything, utterly dedicated to his job and his passion to make fantasy games. He had big dreams of creating epic fantasy sagas, along with ambitions to expand the saga to the console, not only to arcades, but his first step would be Dragon's Lair, if Don would be willing to help him of course.
Which you'd assumed he would say no to when he already had so much on his plate. But apparently, you'd never thought of how much he really wanted to show that his medium was still relevant, and with the passionate members at his command he began drawing an entire mini-movie saga for the adventures of "Dick the Daring", where he would have to rescue the princess and fight the dragon, all for consumption as a Videogame which at the moment you were wondering whether you should give it a try or not.
...What the heck, a single run should not hurt you.
The results were beyond what you'd originally thought of. Whereas many games were using bits for graphics, Don instead had been charged to put in his skills for gorgeous animation to design it all to fit on Rick's preferred method for video games; The Laserdisc. not what you would have gone with, but it seemed to work for what this medium was trying to put in, something wholly different and new for the thousands of players who wanted some variety and innovation to finally arrive for them to enjoy.
Playing through it is like watching a movie, an interactive movie at that, where you have to make sure to move the joystick in the right direction at the right time, and thus you are rewarded with seeing Dick managing to overcome the peril and move to the next stage. It was actually very fun once you got into the rhythm of it. And the few times were you failed you managed to see some of the most fun and creative failure and death scenes designed by Bluth to be as fun as possible. And you mean that literally, each and every scene where you fail has a unique fail/death scene instead of a generic "Game Over" one that would have been shown whenever one loses the game.
In a way, you can see why so many people prefer to play this game rather than Nidhogg; the animation alone is gorgeous and would bring players from every single location if only to look at it. The dynamism and charm of the game are on full display, where you need to be alert for the next command to input in order to continue the game and see the next scene ahead. There was certainly the demand, but from what you'd heard it seemed to be one that was fizzling out a bit, what with many of the players finding it easy to just memorize the combination needed to achieve the perfect ending.
The critics were ambivalent as well, with some declaring it the future of gaming while others were calling it a simple "interactive Movie" where you could hardly do anything by yourself save press some buttons to keep it rolling. At the end of the day, you don't think this is going to be the future that LucasArts is moving towards, but you can acknowledge the elements that could be re-used in future games. Having to press buttons or arrows to move to the next scene could be something that future games could use in moderation, but not something that would involve the entire game.
In the end though, it was a fun game, even if you had to bow out when you selected the wrong vial and Dick poisoned himself. You could do without him looking at you judgingly as well, so you just left it at that. Returning once more to your table you wondered a bit about how things had gone back once Dragon's Lair had been released. Rick Dyer unfortunately had decided to part ways with LucasArts afterwards, citing creative differences with the rest of the staff and company. Mainly how he still saw the Laserdisc as the future for consoles and felt Cartridges were just too limiting. Not to mention that he wanted to work on his vision for a grandiose epic fantasy, which "Team Fantasy" at LucasArts Japan felt was already infringing on their "turf" so to say.
It was a pity, but you made sure to give him a recommendation letter as well as to let him put LucasArts as references for his future endeavors.
Then came the tough part, deciding what to pick to play first, and each Gosling had their own strong opinion.
"Basketball, BASKETBALL!" Joseph yelled excitedly to Carrie's shush and George stirring. Your eldest son was shaking with excitement at the prospect of playing as his favorite players.
"Penguin game!" Sarah argued. She likely fell in love because of the box art, and it was admittedly pretty cute.
Still, you didn't know if either of the twins would be good at playing the game, or if they had the proper coordination for games in general now that you think about it.
"Final Fantasy?" Mary asked with cautious interest. Of course it'd make sense that Mighty Mary of D&D would fall in love with a roleplaying game. It was a good thing you didn't set up the Genesis in her room or she'd probably pull lots of all nighters playing it.
"How about Ballblazer?" You suggested, to the disappointment of the kids present. "It's the first game that Lucasarts made so it kind of makes sense to play it first, and this one's a two player game while the others are one player, so it doesn't have to be just one of you."
Joseph then looked at both his sisters and counted on his left hand, "But Daddy, we are three." Joseph said.
"Yeah, which one is three player?" Mary asked.
"Well....there are no three player games." You said, with all the Goslings gasping. "That's why we'll take turns sharing so everyone can play." You suggested diplomatically.
The kids grumbled but complied, plopping down in front of the Kermit box. You took the Ballblazer cartridge in the console, and let the magic begin.
OTL it came out at a price of $149.99 with the NES in 1985, and I figured it'd be the same price here. It also makes Nintendo's success much more understandable as 149 for a console is a greater steal than 249.
Tetris Designed By: Alexey Pajitnov
Game Developer: LucasArts Entertainment
Published By: Sega Corporation
Release: June 1983
Genre: Puzzle D100 => 93+100=193
Audience: D100 + 100 => 199
Critics: D100 + 100 => 164 Initial Release Sega Saloon Profits: Profits: $100,023,001
Lifetime Arcade Sales: 1,044,766 Units
Three years and hundreds of millions of dollars were invested into Lucasarts. So far you'd say it was a pretty strong success story, if nothing else for helping to resurrect the video game industry like Jesus on Easter. There was a wide variety of expectations internally and externally of Lucasfilm's endeavor into video games, from optimism and aims for another wild Lucas success story, to a thrist for Lucasarts to become the modern Icarus from your enemies. What no one expected was for a simple puzzle game about falling blocks to dominate the arcade scene and over the course of the decade, become a cultural juggernaught approaching Star Wars levels of soft power.
WHAT?!
So apparently this Russian mathmetician, Alexey Pajitnov had been another victim of the Soviet system. For the high crime of daring to bring to issue a growing pandemic that the Soviets caused, he was sent on a suicide mission near the Romanian border. Through what was most likely divine intervention and the goodwill of Romanians, Alexey lived and found safe haven in the nation that was increasingly more reviled than the Nazis in Soviet Russia, because Romania dared to fight back and won. After a couple of years of integration with Romania, Alexey had a chance meeting with John Milnius in his post-Red Dawn return to the nation. John, in an act whose significance alone made you willing to give the man blank checks for movies, he pointed Alexey in the direction of LucasArts, where he offered his special hobby, Tetris for the company. From there everything changed.
Based off of a kid's game in Russia, Tetris saw several four squared shapes called "Pentominoes" be dropped down a 10x20 field. The object of the game was to clear an entire row of blocks by having all ten blocks be filled which delivered points, though points could also be gained by having the pentiminoes fall faster and speeding up the process. The objective was simple, clear as many rows as you can and acquire as many points until the blocks reached the top and it was impossible for any more pentiminoes to fall. It was a game with no ending, where one could hypothetically play to the end of time with billions if not trillions of points, the only conclusion being defeat.
And man was it awesome fun. Probably the best puzzle you've ever put your mind to as you race against the clock with every single choice of position both on the board and for the form of the pentominoes being absolutely critical to achieving a Tetris. It was an intense game of strategy and geometry and it was so easy to be overwhelmed, but when you lined up the blocks just right and started clearing rows, the joy of victory was absolute.
It was also more than worth it to see the absolute joy of Mary when playing it and how focused and in the zone she was. Were it not for Nidhogg and it's dragon, this would most likely be Mary's favorite arcade game and a close contender for her favorite game period with Final Fantasy. Mary not only being a math genius, but someone who genuinely loved math, having an entire video game revolve around geometry was like how Showtime Basketball was for Joseph, hitting all of Mary's passions and pushing her to excel at what she did best. The first time Mary played she had a high score of over 50,000, and she never really stopped with each quarter pushing her higher and higher. In the coming years, the Los Angeles arcade circuit would come to fear the legend of Mary O'Brian, or MOB as she liked to place her gamer tag on most arcade games. With Mary being on a particular mission to reach the top of Tetris and go to infinity and beyond.
Even for children of normal intelligence and those who hated math, they were too filled with the same burning passion to reach the top. Tetris was without question the most popular game at the Sega Saloons or any other arcade in America and Japan. It was an absolute must have, and your average arcade usually got 4-6 Tetris machines, making things interesting buy buying the different variations of Tetris in background design and aesthetic such as the ever popular Transylvania Tetris or the Space Tetris. It did nothing to effect gameplay, but the background animations were pretty neat. And then perhaps most surprising, adults joined in on the fun, even the greatest and silent generation wanting to take a crack at the game everyone was talking about. All the world over, you were likely to run into at least a couple Tetris machines in a city. And in America and Japan in places such as malls, restaurants, movie theaters and sports arenas, Tetris machines were there for the fun. Heck, Tetris has kind of become synonymous with movie theaters.
Right now Sega is doing its best to prepare the Genesis for an international tour in the rest of East Asia, Europe and Latin America. But Tetris has no limits on borders as there's almost no barriers of language and it is the most basic of design. By the end of the decade, Tetris had established itself as the king of the arcade, over a million cabinets sold, a feat that no other game could defeat.
You're unsure of what Alexey wants to do for his greater career, but you'll fight like hell for him to stay at Lucasarts. At least for now he seems to enjoy his time working there and fulfilling his dream of giving joy to people through computers. Throughout both Lucasarts branches, his name is spoken of in legend and it's said that he has a blank check for the rest of his career, though Sega execs are very eager to have him make a Genesis port of Tetris for release in a few years.
Just before you left to film for Conan, you had a meeting with the CIA. Your outreach and inquiries to Yugoslavia for potential filming had them spooked and they just wanted to check in to see if you were going to start another revolution with Conan, along with knowing about your recent dialogue with the Taoiseach. Thankfully the Communist Party of Italy was completely decimated in recent elections thanks to Romania and Communism has always been seen as worse than Mussolinni in the South, so you should be safe there.
During the conversation, Tetris was brought up, and thankfully it seems the KGB is in absolutely no mood to fuck around and find out like China, so Alexey, your company and most importantly your family are safe. Still, it has been noted by CIA sources across the Iron Curtain that Tetris' success has caused another source of despair for the Soviet Union. After the optimism and technological highs of the Krushchnev era, the Soviets have been in repeated stagnation, and the self-inflicted wounds of Romania along with American resurgence has produced a societal depression of sorts with few believing in Marxism. The fact that the most popular game in the world was made by a Soviet mathmetician who was conscripted to serve as fodder in Romania and then defected to Romania and the US, has made many Soviets curse the system they live in and faith in Marxism and the party is at an all-time low.
It's not as if Tetris is gonna become the next Dracula. It would be absolute lunacy for a game of falling blocks to cause a revolution. Though perhaps instead of a spark, it's rather another Tetrominoe in the great wall of dysfunction and discord the Soviets are building, right on the verge of a Tetris. Whatever the case, you have been warned by the CIA that next year will be very interesting.
Kyle Katarn is definitely coming. It's just that we just started making video games and Dark Forces came out in '95. I'm unsure if I want to make it right now, mostly so we can get the actors for Dark Forces II and then get live action Kyle show.
Although considering Kyle's actor is currently 20, I guess we can make it in the next few years.
Speaking of Star Wars games, should we make X-wing for the Genesis, PC or Arcade?
I see no reason for us not to. Speaking of Star Wars arcade games, y'know those arcade games with the guns, like Time Crisis? We should do one in the future once the prequels come out where players are clones during the Clone Wars.
Kyle Katarn is definitely coming. It's just that we just started making video games and Dark Forces came out in '95. I'm unsure if I want to make it right now, mostly so we can get the actors for Dark Forces II and then get live action Kyle show.
Although considering Kyle's actor is currently 20, I guess we can make it in the next few years.
Speaking of Star Wars games, should we make X-wing for the Genesis, PC or Arcade?
It came out on PC in real life so lets go with that and maybe a port to the consoles. I don't know about arcade cabinets but that might be possible to.
Do you think we can do X wing so soon? It came out in the 90s? For right now we can probably do my pitch for the 1983 star wars arcade cabinet. Which was a rail shooter based on the death star trench run.
so Tetris has caused a nation wide depression in the Soviet Union is what I am understanding? I wouldn't be surprised if the Soviets are seeing a surge in suicides among the government officials specially among the Censors, the Army and the Foreign Service
so Tetris caused a nation wide depression in the Soviet Union is what I am understanding? I wouldn't be surprised if the Soviets are seeing a surge in suicides among the government officials specially among the Censors, the Army and the Foreign Service
