SEGAbits Forums
Gaming => General Gaming Discussion => Topic started by: Barry the Nomad on February 07, 2011, 03:21:04 pm
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(http://http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_nMavzgwn-X8/TS07kzgvXQI/AAAAAAAAAB8/tNA_GWbDiYU/s1600/pier-solar-megadrive-1294323603-004.jpg)
Okay, so it ain't a SEGA game, but it is the latest indie game to hit the Genesis/Mega Drive. Find out all about it here: http://www.segabits.com/?p=6788 (http://www.segabits.com/?p=6788)
I know I pre-ordered it, as did Sybnios and nuckles87. Thoughts? Expectations?
Pre-orders are set to ship February 15th, game is sold out!
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The game looks like something i'd like to play, but I don't know.. is it me or does the color look a bit off in that game. It's like they didn't make good use of the color palettes. Many games on the genesis don't even show a sign of the limitations.
It's just a minor thing though. Anyway, I don't think i'd wanna spend money on this. I know the games are rare and the fact that new genesis games are scarse makes them more pricey, it's just that it's hard for me to lay down that money.
Edit: Wait, is this a sega/mega cd game?
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The game is on a 64 meg Mega Drive/Genny cart, but you can use a CD in the SEGA CD to play CD quality music. The original release of the game included this CD, and the rerelease does not, however they have the CD to download on their forums.
It's a very cool concept that Genesis games never really took advantage of. I would have killed for Sonic 2 to be rereleased with a SEGA CD enhanced soundtrack.
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@CrazyTails: The Genesis is capable of 256 colors, but only a very small fraction of those at the same time. Most games would average around 25-35 colors at any one time though, with some of the better looking games on the console like Vectorman, Ecco the Dolphin: The Tides of Time and Eternal Champions going past 60, sometimes up to 70.
SEGA CD is much more capable of holding more colors at the same time. WaterMelon knew this, so it is weird they never just moved to SEGA CD development instead, like all other indie developers.
@Barry: The amount of resources needed in the cart to work with the SEGA CD at the same time is phenomenally high. It would have been extremely pricey to do that, plus they would have had to make new cartridges for the hardware to "Know" what to do. Would have been a waste of time and money.
The idea existed at the time, but it was considered much smarter overall to just remake the game to play on SEGA CD, like the Ecco games were. They could have just made a version of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 on there and it would have sold great. I think I heard rumors about it being considered back in the day, but I would not know where to look for that.
The SEGA Collection games on SEGA CD that came bundled with the SEGA CD had slightly better versions of stuff like Streets of Rage and Golden Axe, but just to improve *some* sounds.
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I completely forgot about this piece of Sonic CD info (found on Sonic Retro):
Early in the game's development, the gaming press and even Sega's former head of marketing Al Nilsen stated the game was going to be a port of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and often referred to it as Sonic the Hedgehog 2 CD. It was then decided to release this as a totally new game, and all ideas of ports were scrapped.
@Sanderz Yer Anderz
Yeah, I figured it would cost a hella lot of cash to do. I would have definitely preferred a CD version of the Genesis games with CD quality music. Which brings me to Sonic Jam: They should have had that! Would have been an awesome extra!
With the rererereleased Genesis games hitting XBLA and PSN, it would rule to have that done. I'm not bothered about HD remixes, but a soundtrack remix would be cool. It's possible with custom soundtracks, but would be great to have the music change automatically.
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My copy is being prepped to ship! Should be seeing it in 20 days.
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The game is starting to show up in people's mailboxes! I'm thinking mine will come this week.
There were a few surprises, which I'll spoil here:
-Manual is full color, not black and white as advertised
-Stickers and poster are included
-Hard plastic clamshell box is awesome.
(http://http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n10/esilvan/DSCN0136.jpg)
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epic. I didn't know there were dev teams making MD games!
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Yeah, yo! Check out their site, I believe the reprint edition is still up for order.
http://piersolar.com (http://piersolar.com)
Looking forward to playing it! It is sure to blow a few official SEGA developed RPGs out of the water.
unpacking!
[youtube:2u24mo30]xnOiwKkTE7c[/youtube:2u24mo30]
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That box looks so slick. Actually the whole thing does. The whole care they've putten into it has sorta got me interested
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+ Pier Solar awaits me at the post office!
- I have to get blood drawn tomorrow
+ I get the morning off
+ I can drive to the post office before work
- I'll probably pass out on the way to the post office due to blood loss
The positives outweigh the negatives!
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Cannot wait to read your impressions in a review of some sort.
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Yeah dude, it's gonna be weird to play an indie game that ISN'T on the Dreamcast.
To prepare for the release, I burned a (hopefully) working copy of the enhanced soundtrack and printed out the two different CD case and DVD case designs made by fans on the game's forums:
(http://http://img684.imageshack.us/img684/1985/photoon20110322at08134.jpg)
Hopefully, if I have time this morning, I'll get some photos and have a gallery up on the main page by this afternoon. I want to do a video unboxing too, and try and show it off on the Nomad, the standard Genny and the cheap FIrecore Genesis that I won in a SEGA Nerds karma points contest.
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UPDATE: Video unboxing on the main page!
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It almost looks rehearsed (I mean that in a good way).
Did you practice, write an outline maybe?
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Naw, what I do is I film, talking loosely, usually messing up and speaking nonsense. Then I import all the videos into iMovie and I mute all the videos and then re-record myself while sitting in front of the computer. Sort of like doing a commentary track. Since I already know whats coming up on screen, I can better articulate what I'm trying to say.
The original audio had me accidentally saying "Dreamcast Junkyard" and I didn't know the dev time off the top of my head. It's less "spur-of-the-moment", but there's far less mistakes and the audio quality is better.
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So it is rehearsed, I think that is probably the right way to do it.
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Something very very cool that I discovered about Pier Solar:
[spoiler:2l8xv4d0]Within the game, you come across Mega Drive carts for Alien Soldier and Phantasy Star 4. They don't appear to do anything in the game, however if you exit to the main menu, you'll discover that they unlock non-RPG mini-games with 2 player support. I heard one is a shooter, one is a puzzle game and another is like Bomberman. Cool stuff![/spoiler:2l8xv4d0]
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Is this game expected to ever run out? I'm very very curious about it, but it's a quite steep price for a MegaDrive game these days..
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$45 is a great deal, when you consider all the unpaid volunteer hours, the fact that they made their own case and cart (it's not repurposed SEGA branding) and all the bonus items.
Though if you aren't into RPGs, I'd get if you'd pass on it.
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Man, I don't know when/if I'll get around to those games but these guys had serious love for SEGAMD/GENY, with the Dreamcast it is ports or games that developers plan on porting.
Dreamcast is often used for coders to show off their abilities, and get themselves acknowledged by the game industry but this is pure love for the system, no strings attached.
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$45 is a great deal, when you consider all the unpaid volunteer hours, the fact that they made their own case and cart (it's not repurposed SEGA branding) and all the bonus items.
Though if you aren't into RPGs, I'd get if you'd pass on it.
But that's the whole thing.. I admire their love for the Mega, truly. But I could totally miss out on all that personally. If I could, I would probably only buy the cartridge, print out the cover and use the old Super Wrestlemania black box.
I'm not so keen on details you see, so I feel like I'm paying premium for things I won't appreciate all that much.
Would love to get a soundtrack though. Love those things.
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And also, with so many DC releases...why no story driven game? It doesn't have to be an RPG, but some action adventure thing?
And is 3D still possible?
Sometimes I wonder if anyone is someday picking up some dev tools and dig deep into the system.
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$45 is a great deal, when you consider all the unpaid volunteer hours, the fact that they made their own case and cart (it's not repurposed SEGA branding) and all the bonus items.
Though if you aren't into RPGs, I'd get if you'd pass on it.
But that's the whole thing.. I admire their love for the Mega, truly. But I could totally miss out on all that personally. If I could, I would probably only buy the cartridge, print out the cover and use the old Super Wrestlemania black box.
I'm not so keen on details you see, so I feel like I'm paying premium for things I won't appreciate all that much.
Would love to get a soundtrack though. Love those things.
In that case, I'd advise seeking out reviews: http://sega-16.com/review_page.php?id=2 ... Architects (http://sega-16.com/review_page.php?id=205&title=Pier%20Solar%20&%20the%20Great%20Architects)
and buy the game based on how good it sounds. Personally, I'd say it's one of the best turn based RPGs I've seen on the Genesis. Only falling behind Phantasy Star titles (again, in terms of turn based RPGs, can't really compare it to Shining Force). Also, the SEGA CD soundtrack really makes you feel like you're taking advantage of all the hardware (assuming you have a SEGA CD). Besides Sonic CD, I hardly used my SEGA CD, so it feels great to have a good game taking advantage of it.
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@ CrackDude: Well Said. While it is always nice to have a deluxe edition, a standard/regular edition should always be kept in mind.
Although a little off-topic news: It is unlikely that RSG/GSP will ever release multiple editions of a game. We will get a single edition, with soundtrack and the extra stuff like stickers in the Regular Edition.
As it is uneconomical to release a low price edition for the developers, maybe it is the same for Pier Solar. They might not be charging you a premium for the extra bell's and whistles, they may choose to sell the cart alone for that much.
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The reprint edition is the standard edition, so don't expect them to release a cartridge-only.
The original release, now sold out, was in a deluxe cardboard box that had a full color booklet attached to the outer cover (separate from the full color manual found inside) as well as an officially pressed CD with full color printing on the disc (lots of full color). They also made three designs, so you could have a copy that matched the region you lived in (or preferred): JP MD, Euro MD, USA Genny. In fact, they discovered that they were losing money with the orignal edition (priced at $35/40, forgot which), so they had to bump up the price of the reprint so that they weren't at a loss. I'm not sure how much of a profit they're making per copy, but it surly isn't a lot.
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There you go CD (CrackDude).
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There you go CD (CrackDude).
Brilliant!
@Barry
poor dudes.. such passion!