SteamBirds

Today I am writing a review for the game SteamBirds. I've only played it on flash, but I see they have it for Android, iPhone, etc.

The game is a in turn-based, strategic aerial combat. It's very easy to learn and there's a handful of different levels. I've beaten all the levels, but it has some replay value if you want to go back and do all the missions perfect.

The graphics are very nice. There's no cutscenes or dialog. You jump right into the game with short, easy to follow tutorial. Controlling your plane is as simple as moving the arrows and clicking the button in the top right corner. After that you will see how that turn works out. Your plane and the enemy plane will move for a short time at which you can make another turn.

Besides normal guns, some planes have special abilities. Some can use a boost of speed, some can do a 180 degree turn, some have a shield, and some can shoot poisonous gas out the back. You can only use these every 2 turns, so it might take some strategy when to use them.

Just like in a real plane, you wouldn't be able to just fly right in and shoot the enemy. You have to carefully fly around to dodge the enemy bullets and fire back.

As the levels progress so does the difficulty. You might have only 2 planes, but need to figure out how to take down 5 planes coming at you. There's also some boss type planes, which take longer to kill.

I played this game on Armor Games website, but you can find it all over. There's also another game SteamBirds Survival which adds a bunch of new planes, powerups, etc, but with the similar game play of this.

X-Arcade Dual Joystick

I've been talking for a long time now about getting a joystick for my computer so I can play all those classic arcade games I love, but never seem to have any money to get something decent. I picked up a $20 joystick from GameStop and was very frustrated with it. I'm crouching down and to the right in Black Tiger and the joystick turns left on me and I die. That frustrated me enough to finally make a good investment.

I searched the web and found some cheap stuff made overseas. They look like arcade joysticks, but doing some research the reviews are split.. some good, some bad. Having already been disappointed with the GameStop joystick I decided this time I'd just get the good stuff. X-Arcade's Dual Joystick.

Reading reviews online, they're mostly positive. They're built like a "tank" supposedly and have a lifetime warranty. Not only can this be used on my computer, but they have adapters (optional) for a bunch of popular game consoles.

The joystick comes bundled with some arcade games, which is not necessary in my opinion. I'd rather pay $5 or $10 less for the joystick. Most people who buy this probably already have MAME installed, with thousands of games, so the ones they give you are not needed.

The packaging that came with the unit, shown above (not my picture) is very nice. I wasn't expecting something like that, but I guess that's so they can sell the unit in stores also.

Setup is very easy. I'm using MAME Plus with MAME32. Just plug the joystick into a USB port in the rear and there's a built in setting for the X-Arcade. Done. Start having fun.

The unit I purchased has 2 joysticks and 20 buttons. They also make a model with a trackball for games like Marble Madness, Capcom Bowling, Golden Tee Golf, etc. Two of the buttons are on the side for pinball games. If you get the model with a trackball it's a little wider. My only real gripe with the model I purchased is I wish there was a little more room between players. Maybe they could have just used the case from the trackball model, just not have the trackball.

Everything feels responsive and solid. I play fighting games like Mortal Kombat or Dark Stalkers much better now, although I haven't played in forever so I've forgot most of the moves.The unit is pretty heavy, but it does slide around on me while playing, so I might add some suction feet to the bottom.

The joystick comes with a lifetime warranty, but from what I heard you'll probably never need it. One person told me that in 3 or 4 years he's only ever had a button go bad once. They sent him a replacement. From what I've seen so far, their support is great. I emailed them some pre-sale questions and they were quick to reply. I had a small problem with my shipment (most likely due to FedEx) and the company took care of the situation right away, no questions asked.

Digital Press - Store

I've been programming some video games and needed a real Atari 2600 to test them on. After a failed attempt at getting one that worked from a local store, I took the drive to the Digital Press store owned by Joe. Now, I've known about the store ever since it was in the building phase and when it finally opened, but being an hour away I had never went. It was totally worth the trip!

 

The store is very easy to get to, but if you're not paying attention you might drive right past it like I did. The road splits and there's a sign saying Piaget to the right, but I didn't know I was already on Piaget and followed the sign. Stupid me!

Eventually arriving at the store, I found ample parking around back. The sidewalk was shoveled well, but I think water might have been leaking off the roof (?), so I had to walk around a patch of ice. I made my way to the front and it was beautiful.. like a light shining down from Heaven, a Vectrex system glowing in the front window!

Stepping inside, revealed the store is much nicer than the pictures on his website. The reason I say this is that the website can't possibly show you close up pictures of everything he has for sale.. and he has a lot. Here's a few of the things I found:

Lots of boxed games for various systems. A good amount, but an even bigger amount of unboxed games. Lots of systems, some of them in their original boxes, some of them in generic store boxes. Not every game was a common game either, there were a few rarieties here and there. I didn't have the brain capacity to remember everything, because I was on overload from the amount of cool stuff I wanted to come back and buy when I had money, but I do remember a boxed Coconuts from Telesys, which is a Rarity 4 Atari 2600 game. I saw some TI 99/4A cartridges, some cassettes for a system I can't remember, some Mattel Aquarius stuff, etc.

The systems in generic store boxes were were cleaned, tested, and guaranteed for 30 days. I think some of the systems are a little higher than I can get elsewhere, but at least I know the system will work and Joe will stand by his product. I also know if something goes wrong he's likely to have a replacement for me in stock. For example, the Atari 2600 I picked up was a Sears Telegame model light sixer. It came with paddles, joystick, RF to Coax adapter, and 3 games. It was only $10 more than I found elsewhere, but works perfect the first time. I like that the systems come in ready to go boxes. No fumbling behind a counter for parts, no digging through a pile of mistreated stuff. The stuff here is well taken care of.

There's a few arcade games setup in the front of the store, including MAME for play. In the back sit a few computers you can purchase time on.

One of the coolest things was the mini-museum. He's got some really minty stuff in there along with information on it. A Bandai Playdia, Gamate, a GameKing, and some other stuff I can't remember.