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Arcade Flyer Art Saturday: Buck Rogers Planet of Zoom
Posted by Flynn De Marco at 11:00 AM on September 16, 2007
Sega produced Buck Rogers: Planet of Zoom for arcades in 1982. This was a perfect example of using a well known character to try and sell an otherwise boring game. The only thing branded "Buck Rogers" was the cabinet itself while the game had next to nothing to do with the hero's story besides the fact that it was set in outer space. It was controlled with an eight-way joystick and two buttons with the cabinet coming in a stand up version as well as an enclosed sit down style.
The gameplay was pretty generic and rather dull with the player piloting a space ship from a "behind the ship" perspective, avoiding obstacles and shooting down enemy ships. The ship's speed could be controlled by using the two buttons and the steering of the ship and shooting done via the joystick. Levels had you speeding through tunnels and cityscapes to reach your goal, and according to the inside of the flyer, the game even had some sort of cobbled together "plot".
A bit of sad news today. Colin McRae, the British rally car driver who lent his name to a series of racing games by Codemasters, died yesterday in a helicopter crash near his home in Lanark, Scotland yesterday afternoon. McRae was Britain's first World Rally Champion in 1995 and has been confirmed by his manager to have been piloting the Squirrel helicopter that was carrying him and three other passengers. It is believed that one of the passengers was McRae's five year old son, Johnny, who is also feared dead - although this has not been confirmed as of yet. The identity of the other passengers is still unknown due to extensive fire damage.
Kotakuite Aronn sent in this picture of his brand spankin' new Mega Man tattoo that his sister got him for his birthday. I have to say I am really impressed with the precision with which this was rendered. It is pixel perfect and looks quite sharp. You don't see a lot of really well done 8-bit tattoos and this one definitely makes the grade. Congratulations Aronn, you have a keeper! Not that you'd have much choice...
Bethesda Software's Fallout 3 community forums is currently hosting a list of 25 questions culled from its members, and answered by executive producer Todd Howard. Questions are broken up into groups according to subject matter and cover a range of topics including combat, NPCs, AI. mature content, quests and dialog. It's a nice, hefty Q&A and sure to make great weekend reading for all of you out there anxious to get more info on Fallout 3. And don't worry, Howard is still pretty cagey on some subjects so you can still remain blissfully spoiler free (with the possible exception of the semi-BioShock spoiler which is clearly marked towards the end of the bonus questions).
Halo 3 is undoubtedly one of the most highly anticipated games of this year for many people. It is also true that the Halo 3 hype machine has been working overtime, injecting a bit of Halo into everything from beverages to cars. While this kind of marketing works on a lot of levels, I can't help but think that in some ways it might be a detriment to the title. Not only does it make it difficult for the game to live up to everyone's expectations, it also leaves other people (some of whom might be fans) wishing they just didn't have to hear about it anymore. 
If you're not satisfied with just having Ms. Pac-Man on your iPod, you can now have Mr. Pac-Man on the outside of your iPod. Club Namco is offering this classy leather case for your iPod featuring the the little yellow disc that started a craze. It features a plastic screen guard, a leather strap, a obuns belt clip and Pac-Man himself protecting your controller (don't worry, he can be unsnapped for easy access). Unfortunately, the listing for the item doesn't say which type of iPod this fits, but it is available for $US 29.99 plus shipping. Let those olde school gaming flags fly high!
Website Guitar Hero Soundtracks has put together a nice little compendium of sound files and videos that encompass the announced set list for Guitar Hero 3. This is a great tool for those of you who, like me, don't always recognise the title of a song or are (also like me) woefully ignorant of a lot of the newer rock songs. With a game like GH, the chosen song list can make or break sales and it's always good to know what you're getting before you buy. Personally, it wouldn't make a bit of difference to me what else is on the list, the inclusion of Heart's Barracuda is enough to get my precious gaming dollars.
