VideoGame_Discussion

Admiral wrote:

I think he just found a build and published it, if I remember. He didn't actually develop it.

DCGX wrote:

Ah, possibly right - I didn't dig too deep into it. Thanks

I just got an email from Funstock saying my limited edition Evercade EXP order was one of those affected by a recent theft. I didn't even know there was a theft. It says Blaze is restarting production on the limited editions to cover the orders, and they will ship in early 2023. In the meantime, Funstock is including a screen protector, discount code on future orders and Blaze is putting the names of those affected into the Evercade EXP credits in a January update.

I was getting excited for the EXP, so this is a bummer. Some jerks will always be jerks. Hopefully we can spot those scalpers and stop them from selling their stolen goods. Funstock has requested that, if so, to let them know.

That ducks. I hadn't heard about it either.

I guess you can keep an eye on ebay and assume any LE's are stolen and report them unless they include a picture of the receipt or packing slip?

I don't think Blaze is big enough to be able to push ebay to action, though i could be wrong.

Blaze might not be, but Funstock might be. Definitely a good bet since it sounded like, in the email, nothing was shipping until early next year.

I looked on ebay and didn't find any. So maybe the thieves aren't that dumb to start selling yet

I asked for a refund. Before finding out about this :p

Got my shipping confirmation from VGPlus today for my standard edition.

Exp arrived today. I've put it on the charger and will try it out later

Ordered with Songbird on Friday in the hopes they'd ship early and I'd get it before Christmas. It feels like they're already on vacation, very big bummer.

Ok, played it for about an hour. Here are my first impressions

Screen is much nicer than the original, though still not as crisp as it could be, especially in games with small bullets flying around the screen.

System itself is quite a bit heavier than the original.

Built in Capcom games are cool, though some games like Legendary Wings (arcade) and Vulgus (arcade) are overly difficult with no autofire and no way to adjust dip switches. 1942 (arcade) is one of the games where bullets are difficult to see.

Built in wifi updates is great, was able to get the latest firmware easily.

Tate mode just uncomfortable as I imagined it would be when they announced it. Partly just due to weight distribution, and partly just due to size. Vertically oriented games look great that way though. Maybe they will release a flip grip style accessory (or maybe just have a proper rotatable screen on the next iteration of the handheld).

Desperately needs custom button mapping per game (Ghouls & Ghosts commits the unpardonable sin of reverse jump and attack layout compared to thr standard set by Super Mario Bros), as was as auto fire settings for some of those shooters (especially in tate mode - welcome to hand cramp land).

I don't like how if you have the tate button toggled on, even horizontal games are displayed vertically when you boot them up. Not sure why that is even an option.

Overall, I probably wouldn't have gotten it if they weren't discontinuing support for the original. I maybe should have waited until there were some more games the original couldn't run properly. The upgrades are nice, but not necessary in my opinion.

The Capcom games weren't a draw for me personally since I already own them on other systems

Sailorneorune will probably get some good use out of it though. She really likes playing on the go.

I knew tate was gonna be too awkward to be realistically feasible without some type of side grip.

My first impressions are great! No reason to buy the original, the screen is great, the UI is nice, the shoulder buttons should let them do more PlayStation ports in the future which is good, the speakers are SO FUDGING BAD but that’s my only complaint. New screen is so sharp and so much more vibrant than the old one. It’s like going from Switch to OLED, not going back.

DarkFact wrote:

Dibs!

send offer

Just got my Evercade exp today. Been playing a lot of Alwa. Great platformer lots of fun.

A few observations - battery life is pretty crummy not near the four hours it advertised. No manual sleep feature. The light bleed below the screen is pretty annoying.

Other that I’m digging it. Anybody have games up for trade?

Glad to hear you're digging it. Blaze sent out an email a couple of days ago saying manufacturing of the limited editions has started, and they should ship early March.

loztdogs wrote:

Did you have it run out or just look low on the battery indicator? Out of the box there were some issues with the battery indicator almost immediately going down to 3 bars, and then two bars not too long after that, but it wasn't accurate. The new firmware update has fixed this somewhat, but they are still working to make the battery indicator better.

I haven't played for 4 hours straight to see what the actual battery life is though

@benstylus out of the box I did a firmware update and charged it to 100%. Then played a few games throughout the day. It seemed like after a couple of hours (not consecutive) it was showing low battery. The battery indicator is definitely is definitely wonky. I ran the battery down up until the light was flashing red last night before bed. We’ll see how today goes with a full battery.

After playing the exp off and on throughout the extended weekend I’m guessing it’s roughly 2.5 hours on a full charge. Kind of bummer but maybe Blaze can optimize the battery life in a future update.

I wasn’t thrilled, especially since review outlets were quoting 3.5-4 and I’m like, how…?

DarkFact wrote:

Same. I turned the brightness all the way down to like 20% and it didn’t seem to help much.

I've had my Vs. for a few months now and I love this thing. A friend of mine sold me his premium pack and Data East Collection for $100.
He knew I had really been wanting one so he gave me a good deal. Up until a few weeks ago I didn't even have my PS4 hooked up since getting it.
It's a good option for me since I can't afford spending like 70 on a new game, so having something I can get multiple games for gives me tons to play. I use stuff like Amazon Shopper's Panel and Fetch to get free Amazon credit and I usually save it up for a month and get a new cart free every month. Except this month, only had like 15 in credit so I paid about 15 for Toaplan Arcade. Can't wait for it to come in, Tiger Heli is one of my favorite NES games and I've never played the arcade version, not to mention the other games.

Here's a list of what I have so far: Technos Arcade 1, Data East Arcade 1, Data East Collection 1, Jaleco Collection 1, Piko Interactive Collection 1, Renovation Collection 1, Interplay Collection 2, and Atari Lynx Collection 2

The VS is definitely the premier Evercade product for me. It's been a blast to try out the "game of the month" releases, and I'm excited for them to finally hit cartridge soon.

C64 Collection 2 and Toaplan Arcade 2 just announced...

Plus twelve more carts by the end of the year!

https://evercade.co.uk/a-look-ahead-at-evercade-20...

I got my Indies Collection 2 a couple of days ago, and was just thinking how Evercade has been quiet about future carts. Good lordy not anymore! That's a lot of carts! I think my Evercade shelf is big enough. Still waiting on my EXP of course.

It's nice to have a system I can collect every game for and it doesn't break the bank.

benstylus wrote:

Same. Because they have to be picked up from other outlets, though, I have a hard time keeping track of which ones I have. I may have missed the Indie Heroes Collection 2, I think.

Renaissance2K wrote:


Indie heroes 2 just released this week so you haven't missed it.

Blaze is pretty good about notifying on discord and social media whenever new carts are up for preorder. I usually get them from VGPlus.

The biggest obstacle I see for them is how sporadic their Amazon availability is.

@benstylus What's your name in the discord? I'm hanging out in there a lot. They have an awesome community going there.

I'm benstylus just about everywhere

benstylus wrote:

Agreed. Though I got Indie Collection 2 from Best Buy. They seem to be carrying more and more newer Evercade stuff.

DCGX wrote:

Same. I had a $5 certificate that I thought I'd never use until I saw they were selling Everdrive carts. Two problems solved at once!

I received this email from Evercade and Funstock about the status of the EXP Limited Edition this morning:

Hello everyone, and thank you for your patience. We have some new updates for you regarding your replacement Evercade EXP Limited Editions. In our last update, we informed everyone that production of the replacement Evercade EXP Limited Edition had started and that some updates were being made to the production process to eliminate the possibility of tight cartridges from the first batches of cartridges in 2020. We can confirm that we’ve received and tested samples of the newly amended shell and can confirm that these units will have no issue with tight cartridges. Since the initial theft, we’ve been working with law enforcement on continuing their investigation and reporting where stolen items have been listed. With your help, we’ve been able to provide the authorities with several cases where stolen goods have attempted to be re-sold along with a lot of evidence that they are part of the stolen batch. We thank you for this and believe that the authorities have enough information to use with any evidence or investigation. Our factory has confirmed that production will be completed by March 3rd. We can now get to work making sure our logistics align to that date and can confirm that Funstock will be able to dispatch all orders between March 24th-March 31st. Once we are closer to the window, and freight is on its way, we’ll be able to define a more specific date where Funstock will be able to release orders to you. All of the names for the Evercade EXP Heroes have now been collected and are ready to go into the firmware, so when you get the replacement Evercade EXP Limited Edition, the credits will be viewable on your device. Once again, we thank you for your patience. We hope that we can bring you a specific date in our next (and hopefully final) update on the replacement units and you get to enjoy the Evercade EXP very soon. Yours sincerely, Blaze Entertainment

Toaplan Arcade 2 and TheC64 2 are available for preorder today. Just got my order in at VGPlus.

If anyone hasn't ordered from them before, PM me if you want a referral link that will give you a $5 coupon and me a $5 coupon. Not sure if it works on pre-orders though.

Note: apparently the coupon is only good for a $50 (canadian) or more order. So it wouldn't work for the $49.99 two game preorder package without something else too

Received another email from Funstock this morning that says Blaze has the replacement EXP Limited Editions in their dispatch warehouse, and shipping will commence shortly.

New cart announced too

https://youtu.be/r3q35Jn6Ws0

benstylus wrote:

Pretty solid list. Good to see all 'Alien Breed' games.

Funstock wasn't kidding when they said they'd start dispatching their replacement EXP orders soon. I just got my shipping confirmation! YAY!

I'm pretty hype for the Team 17 cart. I had an old gaming magazine that had some Amiga previews, and I remember being blown away by the graphics. I'll definitely be preordering it. It's kinda funny though, the game I'm looking forward to the most is the bowling game. It just looks really good.

DCGX wrote:
I've played Alien Breed on Steam a lot, it was good to see a few on the list.

DCGX wrote:
I haven't even unwrapped Namco 2 or Lynx 1 & 2 because I can't or don't want to play them on the VS, so next week is going to bring a whole lot of new stuff.

I've also been stockpiling a wanted list ever since Funstock promised the 20% off coupon. At a minimum, I'll grab Toaplan 2, C64 1 & 2, and Team 17 1. I may add Jaleco 1 and/or Codemasters 1 to get free shipping. That will complete everything I am really even mildly interested in.

I like trying all the games. The only carts for me that have been disappointing are Worms (because although Worms is good, it doesn't really have the strength to be its own release), and Atari Arcade 1 (because like half the games really need trackball instead of a d pad to play well)

Worms is fine for a standalone release. They just didn't pick the right games (or enough of them) to make that happen.

Renaissance2K wrote:

I think their options were limited by the power of the system as well as the controls. Worms Armageddon is already a little bit gimped by the lack of the second set of shoulder buttons onnthe original handheld. What other Worms games could they have included?

Worms 2 maybe, but Worms Armageddon is basically the same game but with more stuff.

Yeah, I think you're right. The games I was thinking of came out too late for Evercade's target hardware.

The only options are the original Worms, Worms 2, and the variants/expansions thereof.

Renaissance2K wrote:
And the Worms Blast puzzle game from GBA which they included (and isn't amazing)

Lynx is so stinky. I was like wow I can experience owning a Lynx! In retrospect I wish I hadn't

The Lynx was amazing. It had hardware scaling and rotation before any home console. Of course, that has reduced meaning in 2023, and some of my favorite games are not available on Evercade.

If the Lynx selection in the collections was indicative of the library in general, I don't really care how revolutionary the tech was at the time... Jaguar was the first 64 bit system!

DarkFact wrote:

I recognize your sarcasm, but the Jaguar wasn't 64-bit, while the Lynx really was innovative and wasn't even designed by Atari. Of course, neither of those things directly leads to good or bad games.

That is a pretty good collection!

I was definitely looking forward to the announcement, Piko 1 and 2 are 2 of my favorite carts.
A little disappointed that it doesn't include First Samurai. It's a little known SNES game I randomly tried on an emulator, and I liked it a lot.
Piko owns it as well as it's sequel Last Samurai, which I didn't know existed until I checked their games on Steam.
Still a good list of games.
It would have been nice to get another 20 game collection, but I wouldn't be surprised if we're going to get a volume 4.

EXP LE has finally arrived!

edit: Holy crap! The 20% off code has no expiration date.

I should hope so. I had actually put in to cancel my preorder before I heard that they were getting robbed because I saw it coming before they said it. Whenever they're being quiet before launch, they're not telling people there's yet another delay. Then they took a week and a half to sit on my request before I reminded them it's been a week and a half, then they gave me that offer and I was like "Nah, I'll buy it locally, thanks" "Are you sure about that? You won't get priority if we resell them" "Don't care"

I can't say I expected to wait nine (!?!) months, but it was really only keeping me from Splatterhouse 3 and the Lynx games we've previously discussed. I plan to take full advantage of this voucher though. I want 4-6 carts now, but, as demonstrated, I can be quite patient. 20% off the entire 2023 lineup, and I'll call it even with them.

I finally got my EXP today! This thing is solid! The button mapping seems a bit off, and the sound is delayed on the menus, but I'm at work and haven't updated it yet. I'm definitely pleased with this system and care, right down to the mini posters.

I didn't really notice any menu issues, so an update might fix that up.

Updating helped, but there's still a delay in the sound effects. Not button presses, just the menu sound effects when scrolling.

I'm not one to ever use screen protectors on my devices, but since we got the "official" screen protectors included because of the delay, I thought I would. That didn't last long. The protectors is slightly smaller all the way around from the glass/plastic of the screen space, so it's tough to get it centered. Even then, the raised look isn't attractive to me, so I took the protector off. Anyone else using the screen protector?

Didn't even know it was an option. I wouldn't though.

Just popping in here to say that the new Game of the Month - Donut Dodo - has its talons in me.

Renaissance2K wrote:
Finally got around to trying out and holy crap is it fun. It's delightfully weird, fast paced, and addicting. I had to cut myself off because I played for an hour without realizing.
It's definitely my favorite game of the month so far.
I haven't done any of the Indie Heroes sets yet, but this definitely motivates me to start buying them.

DCGX wrote:


I installed one, but, as you said, it's not centered well. It also is a glare magnet, though I installed it right away, so I can't compare it to the screen itself in that regard. My Steam deck has the glare resistant screen, so that's not a fair fight, but I don't notice as much glare on the Switch either, and it has a protector.

I need to start treating the games of the month as Steam demos. If the game is worthy, I'd rather play it there, and I suspect the developer gets more money for it too.

Yoshi wrote:

For each individual sale absolutely. But I'm sure the number of copies Blaze produces means they get a decent paycheck either way.

Bitmap Bros and Intellivision 1 are $12.99 at Best Buy currently. Amazon also has the former.

BloodPuppetX wrote:
I just saw Bitmap Brothers on Amazon and was going to post. I had $5 credit so it's only costing me $8 and some change.

I want to make sure anyone who might be interested sees this: https://gametz.com/Classifieds/evercade-exp-cib-95...

Piko 3 and Team17 Collections arrived today!

Mine too! The Piko 3 specially has me interested to see how full 3D games handle on the Evercade with '40 Winks.' This is the one, correct me if I'm wrong.

They had Actua Soccer and Hardcore 4x4 on the Gremlin Collection.

Would love to see a Bubsy Collection LOL

benstylus wrote:

oh right!


Eh I'm ok lol

Announced at the Evercade Showcase Vol. 1:

- Piko Arcade 1 (July 28)
- The Sydney Hunter Collection (July 28)
- Delphine Collection 1 (August 11)
- Sunsoft Collection 1 (August 11)
- Duke Nukem Collection 1 (Duke 1+2 Remastered and 3D) (November)
- Duke Nukem Collection 2 (Time to Kill, Land of the Babes, Advance) (November)

And a new limited edition Evercade VS, the Atomic Edition that will launch alongside and include both Duke Nukem Collections, in Duke's gray and yellow. Only 2000 units of the Atomic Edition will be available and preorders are open now.

edit: Like the previous special edition of the original Evercade, this is a Funstock exclusive.

In my opinion, really solid stuff considering each cart is still only $20. There will be a second showcase in July too, to announce the rest of the 2023 carts. The Indie Collection 3 is already slated for February 2024.

Oh, I'm pumped for the first Duke collection. I had a lot of fun with Duke Nukem 2 back in the day.

Duke 1 and 2 are the only reason I bought Duke 3D Atomic Edition back in the day.

Old apogee games were so awesome.

So far of the out-of-print carts, the only one that has spiked so far is the technos (console) collection 1.

Which is bizarre given most of those games are available on modern consoles too

Miyoo Mini+ is $80, I'm good :p

I bought this crap 90 different ways, I'm entitled

Whatever you gotta tell yourself.

I don't have to, I have no guilt. In fact, I've bought like three copies of Technos Vol 1. I got the Kunio-Kun collection on Switch and bought singles on PS4. They got paid, we're straight, I got a letter from the president of Technos who said "lol thanks bro, you can do whatever you want now", and you're just fudgein jealous. Certainly not going to enrich some fudgeo on eBay who thinks the $20 cart should go for $anything more than 20.

Tad wrote:

I was being super serious. Glad to see you're still repping the density of Neptune, bro, clearly I really got a letter from the President of Technos for him to get jealous of fudge's sake lol

Someone get this leech some subtime.

DCGX wrote:

This was arguably the best news for me, since I'm still stubbornly holding onto the EXP LE coupon. I'll be able to optimize it completely after seeing what July has to offer.

DarkFact wrote:

I was expecting a rant but I was not expecting this.

This is the best thing in a post I have read all year LOL

benstylus wrote:

No reason to rant, it ain't that deep

Yoshi wrote:

Yeah I completely forgot about the coupon when preordering the Atomic Edition! That really annoyed me since I get my Evercade games from Video Games Plus now and never buy from Funstock anymore. I emailed them asking if they would apply the coupon, even though it's paid for, but haven't gotten a response yet.

I do like Funstock but VGP are my Canadian homies

Someone pointed out the Duke Nukem art they solicited was AI generated. Evercade originally came out and insisted it wasn't, people were quick to point out it was very obviously AI generated and the guy they paid had basically nothing but AI generated images in their portfolio and they deleted their defense

However, the actual contents are very cool!

image

Apparently they not only took down their defense but they apologized to fans and are commissioning new art.

From https://www.eurogamer.net/duke-nukem-evercade-publ...

"Over the last 24 hours, we have been humbled by the support and excitement over our newest cartridge announcements and our partnership with Gearbox to bring the Duke Nukem franchise to Evercade," Byatt said in a formal statement.

"As part of this, an artist was commissioned to produce a lead image for the new Duke Nukem 1+2 Remastered game developed by Blaze Entertainment. It is abundantly clear from the response on social media that the work on this commission has fallen below the expectation and standards demanded by fans due to the artists’ use of AI in the process.

"We are immediately removing the art where possible to do so and will be announcing a replacement commission in due course that better meets the high standard expected," the statement continues. "We would like to apologise to you, all of the fans, who have felt passionately about this enough and please be assured are working to remedy this. We also would like to thank everyone who’s worked on the project to date for their input."

Blaze's transparency with this sort of stuff - and the speed at which they respond - is a breath of fresh air in this day and age. I'm still really impressed with how they handled the Evercade EXP theft, too.

A lot of major publishers would have handled that very differently.

According to Blaze, the Team 17 Collection 1 charted on the UK physical releases charts. I don't know if that says more about how much an Evercade cart sold, or more about how few sales in the UK are physical.

Could also be how beloved the Amiga is over there.

Or that there just weren't a lot of other releases that week

Blaze/Evercade's big announcement was this morning, and it's a Game Boy "Pocket" style and themed handheld that can play all Evercade carts. There's a Capcom themed unit in blue and yellow, and a Taito themed unit in green and black. Both come with a dozen built-in games for their respective manufactures and retail for $59.

Not bad for a smaller version of the Evercade with games, but I think this might the first Evercade product I pass on. If they go on sale for, like, half the price, then maybe. But I'm good with my VS. and EXP for now. This might be what less hardcore Evercade fans/those interested in the Evercade might go for though. Like the Switch Lite.

Interestingly it's not branded as evercade which is probably a smart move.

It does give hope for future taito/Capcom compilations on the evercade itself though

benstylus wrote:

Yeah I thought that was interesting too. Maybe it's a good move, we'll see.


I'd definitely be up for this.

I got the Taito one, the Capcom one's bad other than the colors imo.

The Taito one is cool but I have almost all those games on the Egret Mini.

Sadly I don’t have one of those :(

I also like the Taito branding on the handheld more than the Capcom branding. The EXP is loaded with all those and more I think anyways

Yeah if you have an EXP there is zero reason to get the Capcom one unless you just like the form factor better.

Sunsoft and Delphine collection preorders went up at vg plus today.

With the exchange rate, ends up being just under $40 with free shipping for the bundle

Did I dream a July event being announced during the last one to reveal the rest of the year's releases?

Yoshi wrote:

"We'll see you in July for the Evercade Showcase Volume 2, but until then, goodbye."

Yep it's at the end of the video

Just announced on their discord

Hey everyone!

We're back with another Evercade Showcase. Volume 2 will be an Indie games special and will look at the remaining carts to be announced for 2023!

Monday, July 31st - 6PM Europe, 5PM UK, 12PM EDT, 9AM PDT.
Join us on our YouTube channel to watch the show!

Just squeaking in.

Has anyone ordered games from Amazon? The pictures show PEGI packaging, as opposed to ESRB. Is that accurate?

If it is "ships from and sold by Amazon.com" it should be non PEGI. 3rd party, who knows?

Though if you need all your carts to match you probably should stick to the PEGI ones since there are 3 (i think) Europe-only carts.

Are there ESRB ones? All mine are either PEGI (because Blaze is in the UK) or no rating at all. I've gotten mine from Funstock, Best Buy, Amazon and Video Games Plus.

benstylus wrote:

Thank you. I didn't realize those three existed, but I have all PEGI carts to match the two LE bundles.

BTW, the Showcase today was the exact opposite of what I want from Evercade.

I could take or leave most of the indie stuff, but I'm glad it's there because some of it is genuinely cool.

While I am definitely more interested in them making carts with actual retro games than new games made for retro systems, there is room for both.

Yoshi wrote:

Glad I'm not the only person who felt this way. I'm happy that indie developers are finding a voice on the platform, but if I'm going to effectively pay $10 (or $20?!) for a single indie title, I may as well buy it on Steam and not have it locked down to an esoteric device.

They said at the beginning of the video that it would be indie focused. I guess next time that happens you guys know to tune out. I'm kinda glad they made the indie showcase its own thing.

I don't know how many times when I'm watching a Nintendo Direct some new farming sim rpg pops up and I'm just sitting there thinking ANOTHER ONE? That's why I like to watch them after they end so I can fast forward through all the crap I don't care about and get to the good stuff like Fashion Dreamer.

benstylus wrote:

I agree with all of this.


Renaissance2K wrote:

You nailed it. I wound up doing the same thing today I do during Nintendo indie Directs. I open Steam and add anything that looks interesting to my wishlist.

Evercade's value to me is the opportunity to support developers or publishers for games not currently available anywhere else. I actually started a spreadsheet recently that maps all of the Evercade releases to what is available on Steam, GOG, or Switch. The good news is that there is a lot not covered. The bad news is they seem to be trending away from that.

I want the December releases. I kinda like having weird games on the handheld

Yoshi wrote:

The way I see it, having those "exclusive" titles on Evercade isn't necessarily feasible. If someone is willing to license their game to be published on an esoteric console with a limited userbase, surely they would also be up for having it available on steam or other places with 1000x the userbase.

Still though, looking at their roadmap images that I pulled from the discord, their first year (2020) was almost exclusively retro console games. Only 2 of the 14 carts were newer indie games.

2021 didn't have as many carts released. Just 12 since they didn't have to frontload the system's launch. But they also started expanding into arcade games (likely due in part to people complaining about getting inferior console ports on things like the Namco Museum carts). Of those 12 we got 2 indies and 10 retro (6 console/4 arcade).

2022 only had 11 releases. But they diversified further into retro home computer releases beginning with c64. So we got 3 indie releases, and 8 retro releases (3 console/4 arcade/1 computer).

With 2023's roadmap pretty much complete, we can see the trend here. 14 releases announced to the year end. 5 indie releases and 9 retro releases (3 console/2 arcade/4 computer).

The addition of more indie releases has not really affected the number of retro releases. Outside of the first year (which was heavily frontloaded for the system's launch) there have been between 8 and 10 actual retro releases per year.

Now if you don't have any interest in a subset of that (maybe the retro computer games don't interest you at all, or maybe you just want more arcade games) I can see that being disappointing.

But for me, I just want more of the retro stuff that hasn't been re-released to death. Stuff I haven't experienced a hundred times before. I would much rather play something i've never seen before like the C64 Movie Monster Game as opposed to yet another port of Street Fighter 2.

Street Fighter 2 is probably much better of a game, but I've been playing it for 30 years already.

Yeah it was definitely billed as an indie showcase. I prefer the retro stuff too, but I like the indie releases. To argue the price and getting indies on Steam, it's not usually that much more for a multi-game cart, and you can always sell and/or trade them away. That can't be done on Steam. And the Evercade. The Evercade is also about physical media. Many of these indies probably won't ever get a physical release outside of Evercade.

Honestly, I wouldn't give these games a second look on Steam, but on a platform like Evercade, I definitely give them a try. Kind of like how I completely ignore games based on anime until I'm building out my collection on a more obscure handheld (I have like a dozen anime games on the Vita, and I don't watch any of those IPs shows/movies).

Home Computer Heroes 1 and Full Void are up for preorder on VGPlus.

They have the free shipping bundle for the two pack as long as you are getting the standard edition of full void.

No such bundle luck if you want the Full Void special edition. But hey it's only 7 CAD for shipping, and if you have a referral coupon that knocks 5 off so it's only a 2 dollar net shipping charge. (You could also order something else to get your total to their $80 CAD free shipping threshold)

1 CAD is about 0.75 USD right now so don't forget to mentally take off another 20 to 25% of their listed price if you are in the US.

($25 CAD = $19 USD)
($40 CAD = $30 USD)
($50 CAD = $38 USD)
($80 CAD = $60 USD)

Yeah it sucks the more expensive item doesn't have a bundle and then costs shipping. Though it's pretty easy to hit the free shipping threshold.

There are more hidden games here:
https://evercade.info/vs-secrets-and-easter-eggs/

Got my shipping notice for Piko Arcade and Sydney Hunter collections!

benstylus wrote:

Me too! I'm interested to try the Sydney Hunter games. Collectorvision has really pushed them over the past ten years. One of them was announced for Dreamcast years ago, but they never did much work on it.

Blaze just announced a delay for Duke Nukem preorders and their special video on it...

https://www.facebook.com/100047496113523/posts/895...

Best thing in the comments: Duke Nukem Forevercade

lol. Fudge's sake, that's precisely why I didn't even bother, I knew this crap was probably gonna get fudgeed up past the new year (the system, that is).

DarkFact wrote:

What am I missing? It just says the preorder date for the collections moved to September 12. The system was always slated for November, and it isn't mentioned in the Facebook post.

You're not missing anything, I made an educated guess and skipped the system, and already something related to the DN crap has been delayed.

According to Blaze in their discord... it's just the preorders opening and the video that are delayed but the games are still on track for November.

Who cares if a preorder date is delayed? What, I get to keep my money longer? This is an outrage!

Maybe thet are doing a LE version or something so they can't open the preorders before they announce it for fear of making people angry that they have to cancel and preorder the right one

benstylus wrote:

It's pretty annoying. I bought the LE of the EXP to get one of the first units, and they were like "lol they got stolen, well we're gonna fill out the European orders and you guys can wait until we get to it, but you get a coupon!". I think it's a pretty acceptable gripe that you pay premium and then find out it would have been a better move to just buy it from Best Buy so you could ...actually play on launch. But maybe I'm being picky.

And no, they charge up front immediately. Far as I know, both Funstock and Songbird do. So you do not, in fact, get to "keep your money longer", unless you're just talking about the games, which you are, but I wasn't, but I was also off topic, so who cares what I say

They are delaying the date when they will start taking preorders, not the date of release.

So yes you do get to keep your money longer in this one specific case, which is why it's so odd they are making an apology about it

DarkFact wrote:

Yeah, maybe. I mean, absolutely. You act like they planned on having that shipment stolen. That's also not what happened. The LE only available through Funstock is what was stolen. The shipments of the standard unit were not. It wasn't like they could full the LE orders with the regular units. And I'd say they made good. They produced more LE units, got them out at a reasonable time, and added in extras. I used my coupon toward the Duken Nukem Vs.

I cancelled my order and bought local normal edition and played on launch. :p

I don't blame Blaze or Funstock for criminal pieces of crap, but I will say the significant delay did take a lot of wind out of the sails. I've been holding onto to my coupon ever since and plan to finally use it once the Duke Nukem preorders finally go live to get everything else that has interested me since the EXP, assuming stuff like the Team 17 Collection is back in stock.

Preorders for Duke Dukem Collection 1 & 2 are now open everywhere. I've got mine coming with the Evercade VS. Atomic Edition.

DCGX wrote:

But of course some of the other stuff I want is still out of stock on Funstock (ironic, no?). I have to thread this needle just right to use the 20% off and get free shipping. I definitely have PEGI remorse with those LEs.

Idk if we've got any Funstock buyers, but I'm probably gonna stick to locals. That said, I've got a 20% "Heroes Discount" code from the LE that I'm not using, if anyone wants it for a big fat order I'll sell it for a fiver.

I haven't bought from funstock since I discovered vgplus.

They were great but I'm not super into LEs so the two-pack carts with free shipping from VGP are more enticing to me.

benstylus wrote:

Same between the free shipping, no tax, currency exchange and rewards from using Smile, I get nearly every cart for well less than $20 at VGP.

That was my big issue, I had to buy like three 2-packs to even get a 20 pound discount, which at that point it's free shipping anyways but ...I'd rather just buy three carts from Songbird and pay shipping honestly. Sometimes they break street dates to boot. But if you're buying a big lot, coupon's super nice

I just got the shipping notification for my VS Atomic Edition from Funstock.

Neat. Looking forward to playing Duke 1 & 2 Remastered. They were some of the best shareware games back in the day.

Me too, I've never played them. Now I have two Evercade VS's though. I've kept multiple versions of the same handhelds, as backups, mostly stored, but not a full console. I like the black Founders edition, so I don't know where I'll put the Atomic edition. I had used my Funstock coupon on this, so that makes me feel better lol

DCGX wrote:



Have you played any of Apogee's old shareware titles? Some of them are still pretty solid.

benstylus wrote:

lol Nope. They were a little before the start of my gaming time. I was a console gamer first, and I didn't have anything to play them on until my laptop in college. By then, there was too much new stuff to play.

Got my shipping confirmation for the last 4 carts of the year.

Got my Atomic Edition over the weekend!

Video Games Plus is also having a big sale on all their in-stock Evercade carts. That puts every cart at less than $15 (except for the two Namco carts, which are also on sale). The standard white Evercade EXP is also $50CAD off.

My last 4 preorder carts of the year just arrived.

I ordered the Duke cartridges from The Store Formerly Known as Castlemania, so they haven't arrived yet. Really looking forward to them, though.

I get the feeling repeat Castlemania customers have a humiliation fetish

DarkFact wrote:

I have ordered from them twice and received everything I ordered both times in a mostly timely manner (delays were for preorders, not castlemania screwups).

I just haven't desired to go back after finding VGPlus though

benstylus wrote:

Same, though I don't usually order Evercade stuff from them.

https://videogamesplus.ca/collections/sales?filter...

Evercade EXP is $113. All the games are on sale; most are $15 and the selection is great. I just wish I didn't own everything I want already. (Man. I went and looked through what I have and what they have for sale. I was so wrong. I just bought 17 games. Amazing what $15 a game will do to my decision making progress.)

You know what? I like the smoothness of the DN1/2 remasters, but I do NOT like the change in music with the second game. They kept the same soundfont, but dumpstered all the fantastic music from the original. I'm pretty sad.

https://youtu.be/1_4NO_3bRAM?si=NJFRcYXXU4TgkPo-&t...

Also the radar's fudgein busted

DarkFact wrote:

They changed the music in Duke 2? I haven't booted that one up yet.

I like the new music they added to Duke 1 (which originally had none, being a dos pc speaker only game), so if it's more of that i will probably be OK with it, but I wonder why they needed to change it?

My OG handheld didn't even recognize the Duke cartridge so I finally updated the firmware and it worked just fine.

Finished the first episode on it.

The EXP screen is MUCH better than this one for sure. But I like the feel of the old system, and the EXP gets pretty warm. I should hook the VS back up and play on a TV. The Duke games will be a fun set to have for conventions.

My EXPs have been pretty chill. And yeah, the addition of music in DN1, not a big deal, and if it is hey. Just turn it down. But changing out all the music in Duke2 sucks

Just got a shipping label notification from Rondo.

Boy, am I gonna be surprised if I get my Duo before my Duke.

The third collection of C64 games was announced for release in February.

I have an interesting issue with my VS and I'm curious is anyone else is having this issue. I have my Evercade VS plugged into an HDMI hub, which auto switches to whatever device is on. However, whether my VS is on or not, it always shows that input as active. If I unplug its HDMI, and plug it back in, without turning the VS on, it still shows the active input, however everything else acts as it should (the HDMI switches, the audio plays from the correct device, etc.). As far as I know, there's no standby mode for the VS. Anyone else have this happen?

My VS is picky about HDMI cords in general. Some it just doesn't like.

Hm. I'm glad and sad it's not just me. Maybe they can fix it through a firmware update.

There's definitely something fishy with Evercade HDMI. If you try to capture it, the audio is super garbled and out of pitch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUw2fpJmY8I

Well, LGR spilled the beans on why the DN2 soundtrack changed.

Renaissance2K wrote:

I definitely hope they're working on a firmware update.

DarkFact wrote:

Makes sense from the sound of it.

Still makes me fudgein sad

DCGX wrote:

Oddly LGR seemed to have no issues capturing, presuming he wasn't going out of a regular Evercade

You can work around it using an HDMI audio injector, or some other similar devices.

DarkFact wrote:

Maybe it depends on when someone is more directly connected. I never tried my without it connected to my hdmi switcher.

Renaissance2K wrote:

Lol I had to look up what that was. It doesn't seem worth the extra cost. At least for me for how much I use my VS (I play my EXP more).

VS always felt more laggy than EXP/vanilla so I never really kept one around for long. Nice idea, just wasn't worth the dosh imo. I was tempted by the Duke system, and I still sorta want it, but I didn't want it enough to tie money up in a preorder. I'm still sore from the EXP fiasco

C64 3 and Indie Heroes 3 up for preorder

https://videogamesplus.ca/collections/pre-orders-1...

Anyone have spare Evercade carts they are looking to offload?

Ryan wrote:


I don't, but vgplus has most of the lineup on sale for ~$15 USD (19.99 CAD) right now

https://videogamesplus.ca/collections/evercade

Let me know if you want a referral code for a $5 off coupon if you haven't ordered from them before

Two new carts coming in April.

Sunsoft Collection 2 and Piko Collection 4.

Sunsoft will have:
Aero the Acrobat 2
Blaster Master: Enemy Below
Daze Before Christmas
Galaxy Fight
Pri Pri: Primitive Princess
Ufouria
Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel

Piko will have:
Glover
Street Racer
Risky Woods
Skuljagger
Zero Tolerance Underground
Star X
Mermaids of Atlantis
Bad Street Brawler
The Fidgetts
Target Renegade

Apparently game.co.uk posted preorders before the official announcements.

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Evercade did release a trailer for the second Sunsoft collection. I made this comment there too, but $55-60 for a repro SNES or Genesis cart of 'Zero,' or $20 for an Evercade cart with 6 other games. The relative value of these Evercade carts is great! Now for VGP to put this up.

DCGX wrote:

LRG currently has preorders open for a new Aero the Acrobat 2 cartridge. "Only" $69.99 plus shipping!

benstylus wrote:

More than I remember! They're just one of the distributors though. They aren't releasing it.

The box mockup has their name in the bottom left corner (where the Nintendo seal of quality style Starburst is)

So I think they are in fact the folks releasing Aero 2.

Oh maybe you're right. I thought this was available elsewhere too.

https://youtu.be/MHN772pi3KY

Blaze just confirmed Glover IS the 64-bit version.

I bought 'Glover' for N64 for $10 out of the clearance bin of a KB Toys. I played it quite a bit, because I had few games then, but it's not great. It's a very poorly designed game. I AM excited to see 64-bit game on the Evercade though.

DCGX wrote:

It's a great idea for a game and Glover makes for a cute mascot, but I agree that my memories of the game are that it's pretty rubbish. Maybe I will like it better with digital controls instead of analog, like with Mario 64 DS.

benstylus wrote:

Indeed. And the circus-like levels were new for platformers. Maybe you're right. I'm definitely going to try it!

It's also worth noting that 'Glover' was announced a couple of years ago for most platforms, but once again we get it on a compilation for much less (physically). Nice.

Sunsoft Collection 2 and Piko Collection 4 are now available for preorder at VGP.

I know Blaze confirmed 'Glover' was the "64-bit" version, but it still doesn't look like it the N64 version. It looks like the PlayStation version. Unless "64-bit" version meant Windows 64-bit?

DCGX wrote:

Maybe their n64 emulator doesn't do anti-aliasing (or doesn't scale it up?)

benstylus wrote:

Possibly. But if it is the N64 version, and this is how their emulator works, that doesn't make me very excited for other N64 games. I still think they're being coil saying "64-bit" instead of N64.

I doubt they're allowed to use the original console name in their marketing without permission e.g., the Lynx collection.

DCGX wrote:


They say 16 and 32 bit instead of Snes/Genesis/PS1.

Then they really need to work on their 64-bit emulator, because it definitely looks "32-bit."

Blaze released a tentative roadmap for 2024. 10 new unannounced games, but also four "new hardware" options. Their quotes, not mine. I'm guessing bundles, maybe special editions? This will be interesting.

Also may be more super pockets.

Possibly new controller options with analog now that they are touching 64

benstylus wrote:

Yeah I think both are really likely. Though the Super Pockets are under a different branding, aren't they? If they do another major console and/or handheld redesign already, I think a lot of people will be upset and bail on them.

Well we got our answers for the new hardware this morning: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSJjtm3JzNQ

Sub-dubbed the "R" units, basically they're new color schemes of the VS and EXP models at lower prices. However, there are removed features, like the EXP losing the Capcom games and its mini-HDMI port and the VS only coming with one controller instead of two (but still a pack-in cart to be named later).

So, essentially, this is for new people to Evercade versus those that are already in. Not a bad idea overall, in my opinion. I don't know if everyone will like the new color scheme though.

I've never once used the hdmi-mini out on it or the original evercade. I don't think I even have a hdmi-mini cable. Maybe the Capcom license also came to an end, or maybe they are expanding into carts. Either way, I already had all the Capcom games on the EXP elsewhere so it was a little pricier than I wanted it to be. We'll see whether I pick this one up.

For the VS, the Technos Arcade Collection 1 was a pack-in with the premium pack. With that game being discontinued in June, the VS would need a re-sku anyway.

I'm more concerned about the quality of recent software than cheaper hardware, though I agree with ben that I have very little use for EXP HDMI out or Capcom games. The Tomb Raider Giga Cart is exactly the opposite of what I want from them.

Yoshi wrote:

It may not be what you want, but it is a pretty big license that will probably draw in a significant number of new buyers.

Personally I really enjoyed the variety of what we got last year, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't ready for some more Arcade carts

More hands and more games are good for the platform. It's just disappointing that they feel the need to adapt more recent, larger games when there are still so many great untapped 2D titles.

Renaissance2K wrote:

Obviously a big chunk of what they put out depends on the licenses they are able to get. Unfortunately, a lot of great games are locked in the vaults of companies who don't want to get out of bed without a guarantee of millions of dollars.

I agree that there are still hundreds of great 2D games out there, but I disagree with your premise that adapting more early 3D era titles is somehow less important. If anything I think the early 3D games have been far more overlooked in terms of modern accessibility.

For 2D, we have dozens of mini-consoles and handhelds covering all kinds of systems from the 70's to the 90's, including home consoles, computers, handhelds, and even arcade. There are services like Antstream that have hundreds of these games available. Companies like Atari, Capcom, Namco, Konami, Sega, SNK and others have released countless compilations of their games on current systems. The Arcade Archives series is still going strong.

For early 3D though?
We got PS1 downloads on PS3, which dried up to all but a trickle on PS4/5. We got the glorious failure that was the PlayStation Classic. We got a handful of N64 games on Wii and Wii U virtual console and now on Switch Online. There are almost no Saturn games converted to modern consoles or PC apart from a few Saturn Tribute releases and the Panzer Dragoon port included as an unlockable bonus in Orta (still available to buy on Xbox online store).

I would say early 3D games is a far more under-served market than 2D. Granted that could also be because even the best early 3D is a bit rough to look at compared to good 2D sprites, so maybe the actual demand for it is smaller, but is just as important an era in gaming and deserves better representation than it currently gets.

Yeah they said their Capcom license had expired. And I've never used the mini-HDMI port either. It's kind of a nice-to-have feature rather than a necessity.

I don't mind the Giga Cart. It's not much more than a regular cart, and if we get more complex/beefier games, I'm for it. It just gives them more options for games. And considering how many carts they release in a year, I'm sure they'll dip back to the 2D stuff they haven't done yet. There will be a bigger variety and people can get what they want.

Tomb Raider original trilogy is confirmed as the first Giga Cart. $24.99 with preorders opening at the end of the month, release in July: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lML1Vn7eVnI

It'll also be the pack-in for the R systems, each $99.99.

DCGX wrote:

The one time I tried to use the HDMI on the handheld Evercade, it didn't work. I think I've seen some review videos saying it was really fussy. Even the one on the EXP has some sync and audio issues.

I'll still collect GigaCarts like I collect the vanilla ones (MegaCarts? KiloCarts?). I'm going to call shenanigans though if they start throwing 32-bit games on there that aren't actually significantly larger than some of the existing games they support. I think Tomb Raider is in the clear - the original makes for a 200+ MB EBOOT on the PlayStation Network - but some other PlayStation and Saturn games are really tiny once the CD audio is compressed.

In other words, I'm worried that this is an across-the-board price increase in disguise. Everything else has gone up in price. Why not Evercade carts?

Renaissance2K wrote:

Yeah, possibly. I always thought $20 for these carts with their clamshell packaging and color booklets was too low (less because I buy from VGP in Canada). I guess time will tell.

Good bundle starting point?

I think so. They're $100 each, VS and EXP.

Renaissance2K wrote:

Here's more untapped 2D games you asked for: The Thalamus Collection 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5pHROS_7j4

I'm not familiar with any of these, nor the developer, but that's one reason I love the Evercade: the exposure. Sure, most games won't keep an average person's attention long nowadays, but it's cool to have. This comes out in July, so along with 'Tomb Raider,' those are the two July carts.

They are a very well respected C64 developer so I am definitely excited with this announcement.

Yeah, that's good news. I never thought that they'd abandon the older games completely; it just felt like a low-hanging fruit decision from some suit or marketer that said, "Hey, why not release more cartridges with 3D games? Those games were so much cooler!"

I also want to know why some of the publishers with compulsive re-release behaviors - Sega, Capcom, etc. - don't have cartridges yet. I have a feeling the answer is "money", since it's the answer to everything else. I can see Sega saying something like, "$20 per cartridge? At that price, we can give you Sonic, Sonic 2, and Sonic Spinball on cartridge 1; cartridge 2 will have Sonic 3, Sonic & Knuckles, and all combinations thereof; cartridge 3 will have Comix Zone and the Famicom version of Altered Beast..."

benstylus wrote:
Agreed. This one is also compatible with my game purchasing flow chart:

1. On Steam? If yes, buy there. If no...
2. On GOG? If yes, buy there. If no...
3. On Switch? If yes, buy there. If no...
4. On Evercade? If yes, buy there. If no...
5. I can wait. Return to 1.

Renaissance2K wrote:

Yeah, I have no doubt it's money, if they've been approached at all. Though Capcom had that long list of built-ins for the EXP, so maybe they aren't interested in a physical cart?

The 3 had some compilations on GBA. Maybe they will release some …..