[HN Gopher] Virtua Hamster (Sega 32X/Saturn)
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       Virtua Hamster (Sega 32X/Saturn)
        
       Author : deadcast
       Score  : 62 points
       Date   : 2021-06-10 16:38 UTC (6 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.gamesthatwerent.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.gamesthatwerent.com)
        
       | ludamad wrote:
       | Even as a hobby game dev, I look at these and gain appreciation
       | for just how much went into this kind of work. Particularly of
       | note to me is the memory calculations for models right in the
       | design doc - I'm sure for solid reasons
        
         | ArtWomb wrote:
         | From the original producers of the first Virtua Fighter. An IP
         | that still resonates today. It's incredible to see the old
         | school titles re-released on modern platforms, using the latest
         | engines and netcode for online competitive play with almost
         | zero lag. It must truly feel like a future spoiled with riches
         | to the OGs ;)
        
           | JohnBooty wrote:
           | Apologies for being pedantic, especially if you already know
           | all of this like the back of your hand! But, here goes:
           | From the original producers of the first Virtua Fighter
           | 
           | Same parent company (Sega, of course) but the teams were
           | worlds apart.
           | 
           | Virtua Fighter was created by Yu Suzuki (Space Harrier, Out
           | Run, After Burner, etc) and his team (AM2) at Sega of Japan.
           | The other Virtua titles were all done by Sega's teams in
           | Japan as well. No real connection between the games but they
           | all began as arcade titles and shared a certain design
           | aesthetic and often staff.
           | 
           | Sega of Japan and Sega of America had a famously contentious
           | relationship. It was sometimes fruitful in spite of that; it
           | was Sega of America who created the "edgy" identity for the
           | Genesis in America along with the anti-Nintendo attack ads
           | that allowed it to (for a time) attain stature on par with
           | Nintendo in America.
           | 
           | As far as game development chops were concerned, SOJ tended
           | to have a very low opinion of SOA's creative output.
           | 
           | Speculation: I didn't read the design docs for Virtua Hamster
           | but it seemingly has no connection whatsoever to any other
           | Virtua game Sega did. I think it was sort of a ploy by the
           | American development team to garner attention and the game
           | greenlighted or whatever.
        
             | ArtWomb wrote:
             | >>> Apologies for being pedantic!
             | 
             | Nonsense! I should have been more specific. Also: today
             | marks Yu Suzuki's 62nd birthday! Absolute Legend
        
               | JohnBooty wrote:
               | Ah, sorry. Hopefully the extra pedantic info was news to
               | another reader or three.                   Also: today
               | marks Yu Suzuki's 62nd birthday! Absolute Legend
               | 
               | Whooooa, nice! Finally working on my own little homebrew
               | Genesis game after all these years; it's a little Space
               | Harrier clone as a tribute to Sega and Yu. (=
        
       | ergot_vacation wrote:
       | That game box art is amazing. Lot of the concept art too. I was
       | ready to laugh, but this seems like might have genuinely been a
       | fun little game. Too bad Sega had no idea what they were doing
       | around that time.
       | 
       | Seems pretty straightforward too. Could probably be mocked up
       | with modern graphics in Unreal or Unity pretty easily. Though it
       | might be worth keeping some of the 90s aesthetic.
        
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       (page generated 2021-06-10 23:02 UTC)