Curious about the history of 3D gaming? Here’s a fantastic interview on 3D gaming history by Jason Reed at Wizard World’s Anaheim Comic Con 2011! This interview highlights the following 3-D video game milestones as well as Nintendo’s early roots in motion gaming:
1983 Vectrex 3D Imager
1987 Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), Square Enix’s 3D Anaglyph Glasses for the games 3-D World Runner & Rad Racer
We’d like to thank Jason for the overwhelming surprise of putting this all together. The quality of this video and interview speaks for itself. Well done and many thanks!
You want to know the power of a NES Power Glove? Add it (or a NES Zapper) to a bunch of Comic-Con fans, stormtroopers, Batman, Link, or other people in costumes, and you’ll be amazed at the results.
This past weekend thousands of Comic Con fans converged on Wizard World’s Anaheim Comic Con, and it was an absolute blast! ?We had a table there to promote retro gaming, showcasing the history of 3D gaming, game cleaning techniques, and, naturally, this site. I can’t say enough what a great time we had! ?But then again, that’s pretty evident from the photos.
R2-D2
Besides all the fun I had at our booth, I have to say my favorite part was the R2-D2 Builders Club! In case it isn’t obvious from the title, this is a group of guys and gals who literally build their own driods! Each “R” unit is custom built…and loved. It was beyond awesome to watch guys driving their R2s around the showroom floor. ?From the guys I talked to, the units with batteries generally weigh between 120-160 lbs. Depending on setup and use, they get several hours or more of operation time per charge. Sure enough, the units at the show moved like R2-D2, made his sounds, had spinning heads, and articulating front arms thingys. Freak’n awesome!
Costumes
As with any Comic Con, the costumes were the best part. Naturally, there were a good number of Star Wars characters: stormtroopers, bounty hunters, jedi, etc! Other favorites were Batman (posing with my Power Glove…yup, he loves gadgets), Super Man, Wonderwoman, Chun-Lee, Ryu, Deadmou5, Mario, Ghostbusters (pretty popular this year), Indiana Jones, Gumby (check out the Gumby w zapper photo!), Gambit, Wolverine, Captain American, Iron Man, Deadmau5, and I’m probably forgetting a bunch of others!
Let’s be honest, what situation isn’t improved by adding a NES Zapper or Power Glove?!
History of 3D Gaming Video Game Museum Display
It was pretty great to watch people interact with the systems (NES & Vectrex) we had set up for free play. Given our 3D gaming display, we wanted to give people the opportunity to have a 1987 3D gaming experience. Thus, we gave out anaglyph 3D glasses (red & blue) and had people try Rad Racer in 3D mode. Just as when we were kids, people at the booth were underwhelmed with the game’s 3D mode. Maybe about 1/20 people actually thought it even looked 3D. Probably 3/4 reported getting a headache immediately. We more or less knew that would be the reaction going, and it made for a great conversation piece, and it demonstrated how far we’ve come in gaming technology since 1987.
Whenever people mentioned that they had one of the 3D items as a kid, I’d also try to ask them what they thought of it back in the day. After all, it’s pretty easy to judge our past tech, by comparing it to our current tech. Things have come a long way now that we have a 3D capable PlayStation 3 and Nintenodo 3DS handheld on the market, but I was curious to find out what people though of it back in the day. I’ll try to post some of those pieces of feedback when I get a chance.
Retro Gaming Smiles
It was pretty exciting to watch people’s reactions to the retro gaming items that we had on the table. Most were genuinely excited to try on the Power Glove. Many of them had seen it in the movie “The Wizard” but had never touched one in real life. Heck, even kids who were born a decade after the Power Glove loved trying it on! Trying to explain to these kids that this was Nintendo’s first attempt at a “Wii” type motion control was pretty fun.
Gamers United
One final highlight from the 2011 Comic Con was the booth right next to us: Gamers United. This fantastic group is dedicated to showcasing the positive aspects of games. For example, one thing they do is to place gaming items in hospitals as diversionary and rehab tools. They’re based right here in Southern California, and I look forward to working with them in the future!
Wrap Up
By the end of the weekend, I was beyond exhausted. We met a ton of fantastic people, had a great time chatting with them about retro gaming, and I’m looking forward to Wizard World’s next Comic Con!
Feel free to take a stroll through the rest of our photos below.
Contest Details: Contest open to United States residents only. No purchase necessary. Participant must “Like” VideoGameMuseum.com through Facebook.com by midnight PST on May 3rd, 2011. Drawing will take place on the Wednesday, May 4th, 2011. Winner will be drawn at random and contacted through Facebook. Winner must claim NES within 7 days of drawing by responding to VideoGameMuseum.com staff through Facebook messaging, must supply a United States shipping address, and must agree to have individual’s name published on VideoGameMuseum’s webpage, Facebook page, and Twitter. For questions, contact: mark@videogamemuseum.com.
Want proof of a company dedicated to retro gaming? Hyperkin is announcing a new SNES handheld! Yes, that’s about 20 years after the release of the original Super Nintendo!
As soon as I heard about this project, I lined up an interview with Sergio (aka “The Applemonkey“) from Hyperkin. As I spoke with him for a phone interview, Sergio had a fully-functional prototype in hand, but he wanted to make it clear that changes could be made by the time Hyperkin releases its final product.
Mark: What’s the story on the name?
We’ll it’s called “SupaBoy.” It has a little bit of a big feel to it. We were thinking it’s big, so maybe we’ll call it “big boy.” But then everything would think restaurant. Someone was like, it’s a Super Nintendo, so let’s get the Super name in there. Let’s call it “Super Boy,” and that became “SupaBoy.” Everyone liked it, so it stuck.
Mark: What motivated Hyperkin to create a SNES handheld/home console?
Hyperkin has the FC Mobile II (NES) and Gen Mobile (Sega Genesis). It was time for us to do a Super Nintendo mobile.
Mark: What can you tell me about the “SupaBoy Portable Video Game System?”
Sergio: Our previous systems have wireless controllers with them. Those are great, but if you lose a controller, it’s not like you have an extra one lying around. Most retro gamers have extra Super Nintendo controllers already. Offering actual controller ports allows people to use whatever controller they want.
Mark: That means you could use your favorite turbo controller with it.
Sergio: Exactly. Let’s say you’re playing by yourself and then you want to go to two- player mode. Just plug in the controllers, and hook it up to a TV, and you have a 2-player system.
Mark: Does it have to be hooked up to a TV for an external controller to work?
Sergio: Actually, you could prop it up and play it just as it is with them attached.?? Think car ride or bus or subway with a buddy.
Mark: What sort of AV outputs will the SupaBoy have?
Sergio: The system will have stereo speakers. The photo only shows one speaker. Plus, it’ll have an AV out jack right next to the power jack.
Mark: Will the AV output be stereo too?
Sergio: Yeah, it’ll end in your normal video and stereo RCA outputs.
Mark: You mentioned a power jack. Is this rechargeable?
Sergio: It’s rechargeable. So you don’t need to run around the house stealing batteries out of remotes and other controllers.
Mark: What’s battery life looking like?
Sergio: We’ve tested it for 5 to 5 1/2 hours of game play. And it looks good. It has a great LCD screen. It’s bright and crisp. The screen is 3.5 inches. Action and racing games stay pretty clear.
Mark: What games have you tested it with?
Sergio: Ha, first game I tested it with was Super 3D Noah’s Ark. I brought it in and the guys in the office were like, “Is that some sort of homebrew?”
Mark: That’s awesome!
Sergio: Yeah, what a goofy game. You get to shoot fruit into animals’ mouths. Anyway, I also tested it with Kirby’s Avalanche, F-Zero, Super Mario RPG, Star Fox, the Super Game Boy adapter, and a bunch of other games. So far we haven’t found any that haven’t worked.
Mark: How about PAL or Super Famicom games?
Sergio: We tested it on a couple Super Famicom games, and it worked. I’m really not sure about PAL stuff. I don’t have any PAL games. If you have any you want to send to me, I’ll test it out.
Mark: Sorry, I don’t have any either. Just a PAL Little Samson for the original NES. I’m guessing that the PAL/NTSC technology would be a no go, but I was just curious.
Mark: How about accessory compatibility?
Sergio: It’ll work with the Super Scope. You can set it up to play 5-man Bomberman or even use the Mario Paint mouse. It’ll obviously work with traditional Super Nintendo controllers.
Mark: You mentioned its feeling “big.”? How’s it feel during testing?
Sergio: I have big hands, and I’d say it’s comfortable in hands of people with big hands. Plus, we had some girls try it out, and it seemed comfortable in female hands.
Sergio:Oh yeah, and it’ll have a cartridge lock feature. That way if you’re moving around while playing, it’ll help prevent tripping out the game.
Mark: That’s great! Let’s be honest. Lots of us move our hands when making Mario jump.
Sergio: Exactly. I love watching people do that! So the game cartridge lock will help prevent your game play from getting messed up if you do that.
Mark: How heavy is the SupaBoy?
Sergio: It’s currently about 11.5 ounces and feels lighter than a Game Gear.
Mark: What’s it come with?
Sergio: It comes with the system and a charger. I’ve had my FC Mobile II forever, and it’s pretty beat up now. I’m hoping we can release with some sort of a bag/case to slip it into.
Mark: So how long has it been in development?
Sergio: We’ve been working on it for over a year to a year and a half. We’ve gone through a lot of prototype drawings. Some looked more square, and we finally decided that we wanted it to look like a big controller.
Mark: Do you have a release date yet?
Sergio: Hopefully Summer 2011.
Mark: How about a retail price?
Sergio: No final price at this time. I’m guessing that’ll depend on what the final product looks like.
Mark: Given the option between buying an original SNES and a SupaBoy, why should a person buy a SupaBoy?
Sergio: Original is great…nostalgia is great. Lots of people are going to want to have an original SNES no matter what. As for the SupaBoy you have both portability and a home console in one. That makes it great for traveling, playing at home, or in field game cart testing.
Mark: It’s not a bad idea to have one with you if you’re thinking of buying an expensive game while out thrifting.
Sergio: Exactly. You’ll know on the spot if the game works or if it’s even the right game.
Mark: I’m curious, what’s with the Hyperkin dedication to retro gaming?
Back in the day before I worked for Hyperkin, I originally got to know about Hyperkin because of their dance pads. Then I started to notice their AC adapters, controllers, and systems. Hyperkin is growing both retro and current gen gaming items. Most mainline stores only carry current generation stuff. I shop at those, but I also love mom & pop (independent) game shops. Those sort of shops are committed to retro games, and since the demand is there they figure they’ll sell retro to have an edge over the big stores. Retro gaming is huge, so Hyperkin is able to sell both our retro and current gen stuff both here in the US and worldwide.
Mark: I’m sort of curious, what sells more at Hyperkin: retro or current gen accessories?
Sergio: It all depends on the stores that we’re dealing with. Both move in large amounts at different times. Even during hard economic times people are still playing games. Game’s have a lot of replay value.
Mark: Where will it be sold?
Sergio: Check out your favorite gaming store. If they don’t have it, ask them to order it or look online.
Mark: Sounds like a great console! I have to hand it to Hyperkin for their clear dedication to retro gaming. Working to create the SupaBoy is pretty awesome.
Acrylic front, two sliding doors on back, Atari graphics on two sides, eight divided compartments inside that measure 5 5/8″ by 8 1/4″.
Made of fiberboard and particle board….it shows normal age and wear, though still in very good usable shape.? There are a few dings at the edges, scratches on the acrylic front, wear at the corners and the sliding doors are a little hard to slide at times.
The total measurements are 19 1/4″ high, 24 1/4″ wide and 9 1/2″ deep.
While out thrifting last weekend, I came across nothing less than a treasure chest full of Magnavox Odyssey 2 stuff. It ended up being a system and 31 games. That makes up a pretty large percentage of the games produces for the Odyssey 2! Naturally, it was something that I couldn’t resist, and I’ve photographed it for your viewing pleasure.
In case you’re unfamiliar with the Odyssey 2 (or Magnavox Odyssey), the system was released here in the United States in 1978. Magnavox was breaking ground in the video game world in the 70s. In May 1972, they released the original Magnavox Odyssey as the first home video game console. That’s several years before the infamous Pong home console was released into American homes. Magnavox followed the original Odyssey with the production of the Odyssey 200 in 1975.
Not only did Magnavox made the leap of adding cartridges to their Odyssey, but they created several games that blended video game and board game: Quest for the Rings!, Conquest of the World, and The Great Wall Street Fortune Hunt. The sheer presentation and quality of these games is simply unmatched in current video game production. Add to that the fact that Odyssey has groundbreaking audio and speech capabilities, and these were attractive games for their time.
As great as the Odyssey may have been, Magnavox was competing on a flooded playing field. The Atari 2600 and Intellivision were two of the biggest competitors, and both boasted better graphics. While the Odyssey enjoyed some popularity and sold over a million systems, their lack of strong 3rd party developers and being a less graphically impressive system meant a challenging existence for the Odyssey.
Space is a limit right now, and I can’t say that this is something that I’m planning on collecting. So you’ll probably see the lot appear up on eBay this weekend. If you’ve ever thought about collecting Odyssey 2 stuff, here’s a fantastic start (See below for a list of games).
Of note is the fact that the system has silver controllers rather than the usual black ones. Anyone know about this color variant? (Update: Silver controllers are an indication that the system was part of an early production run before they controllers were switched to a black colored model.)
Would you pay $30,000 for a computer? How about $2,500 for a Nintendo promotional item? Collectors love eBay, and this past few weeks’ sales demonstrate that well. Here are some of my favorite active and ended rare video game items on eBay.
Interesting Items on eBay
Rare Huffy Space Invader Muscle Bike Bidding is $40.00 USD with less than a day remaining. Ummm, how isn’t this the most awesome thing ever?
Nintendo NES Mike Tyson Punchout Standee 1988 Bidding is $51.00 USD with less than a day remaining.? That’s not a bad price since one of these sold in 2009 for $445.00.
Super Mario Bros Sleeping Bag Bidding is only $8.00 with one day remaining.
World of Nintendo Superbrite M36R Promo Sign Bidding is currently $143.39 with one day remaining.
…This is a superbrite series made by Thomas A. Schutz Co. … The sign has World of Nintendo on both sides, except one side lights up and the other side does not. So I figure this was probably made for a store window to light up the outside and be able to also read it from the inside. … The signs measurements are 36 1/2″ long, 16″ tall, and 6″ deep.
Nintendo DS Neon Sign Starting bid is $50.00 USD.
Super Chair Nintendo Controller Accessory Bidding is currently $100.00 with 4 days remaining.
RACERMATE Challenge II Starting bid of $9.99 USD.
NES Super Stars 5 Game Store Display With a buy it now of $499.99, I’m doubting this will sell. However, it’s an undeniably awesome way to display your 5 favorite NES games in their boxes.
Ended Items on eBay
Project Natal Animals (Kinectimals) Kinect ***RARE*** Sold Nov. 4, 2010 for $212.50 USD.
Racermate Challenge II Sold Nov. 3, 2010 for $211.38 USD.? This lot also included a top loader NES as well as the controller adapter for the Racermate cart.
Nintendo Mario 1988 Media Kit Rare Original MINT Sold Nov. 2, 2010 for $115.39 USD.
1988 Super Mario Bros. Zelda Pillow Case sold Nov. 1, 2010 for only $3.99.
Nintendo M82 Kiosk Sold Oct. 20, 2010 for $2,500.00 USD.
Xerox Alto Vintage Computer System Sold Oct. 17, 2010 for $30,1000.00 USD.? Yeah, that’s typed correctly.? This computer sold for thirty thousand dollars!
You are looking at a system-complete, never commercially sold Xerox Alto. This is grandfather of all modern computing. First produced in 1973, the Alto was WAY ahead of it’s time, including:
1) Full ethernet networking
2) A 3 button Mouse (first in a non-DARPA computer)
3) a Full-page portrait CRT
4) Graphical user interface
5) The first WYSIWYG word processor
6) The first integrated email application
7) The first graphical network based computer game (Alto Trek!)
8) The first WYSIWYG integrated circuit design software
9) The first implementation of the Smalltalk development environment
10) Bitmapped graphics, menu’s, icons, the “folder” metaphor for storage, etc….
