Happy New Year! Hello 2015

Happy New Year from all of us here at Insert Coin 1P.

May 2015 have more games, less bugs, and see you all at PAX Australia!

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Writing Throwback: GP 500

Here is another old review I wrote over 14 years ago. Man is this short, and bad.

Review

Have you ridden a motorcycle? I have not but know people who have; both said this game is realistic. Who am I to argue? I knew a little about bikes, but I walked away with a lot more. I wanted one. So was I impressed? Yes.

GP 500 simulates the real world motorcycle Grand Prix 500 series. It features such riders as Michael Doohan, Max Biaggi and Alex Criville. So the riders are real but what about the tracks? Well, I cannot say they are realistic because I have not been on the tracks for real. However, they say they modelled the tracks approximately and from what I have seen compared to watching it on the television I think they are spot on visually speaking.

What does the game let you do? Play with a bike, from fiddling with the engine, gears, and tyres to just about everything in between. It plays well too; I love to crash, and this game lets you crash big time. Fiddling with the options let you control things like both brakes independently so you can apply just the front or rear. Doing that opens up a whole new game as you can dive into corners with more precision, and it feels like you are in control of the bike.

This game also features all the courses you know and love like Spain, Holland and Australia. The in-game sound is good too, with the crowd noises fading in and out while going past. Artificial intelligence is good too; they will not just sit behind you but will change racing lines to jump on you when enter a corner too hot and leave you behind.

The graphics in the game are crisp — I ran it on a Pentium III 450 with 128MB of RAM and a Riva TNT2 — and they are fluid. The crashes could be more realistic as the rider stays rigid, but I guess the point is not to crash. I like how you have the choice to choose which team to race for, and the different bikes also feel distinctive.

Is this game a worthy purchase? Yes. I do not know what it is about GP 500, but it is addictive. I prefer four-wheel racing, but this game made me want to play it. Overall very solid and if you love bikes, you will love this even too.

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Let's Play: Magicite: Episode 1 - The Adventures Begins

Episode 1 of the Magicite Let's Play series, in which Daniel shows off the cooperative mode of the Rogue-Like RPG Platformer Magicite. No special rules or regulations here, just jump in, kill dudes, eat food, make plop, get killed, rinse and repeat.

Special Guest: Matt

Title Music: "Night Owl" from "Directionless EP" by "Broke For Free" (CC BY 3.0)

End Music: "Simple Hop" from "Slam Funk" by "Broke For Free" (CC BY 3.0)

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Last Week Today: Week 52, 2014

Not much news last week, Christmas can do that. Ok, so there was the whole Xbox Live and PlayStation Network attacks, but overall it has been very quiet. Here are some links we found to be interesting, there is a mixture of news and articles. This is not our usual news rundown format, but we are trying new ways to present the news to keep it interesting.

These should keep you up to date — and busy — for the Holiday period.

• A Ton Of Cheaters Just Got Banned From Counter-Strike
• Bandai Namco changing name again, adds Entertainment
• Cards Against Humanity announces sequel to Hawaii, gives private island to bullshit buyers
• Delay Will Help Witcher 3 Look Better "Across All Platforms"
• DRM glitch leaves new Max Payne 3 buyers temporarily in the lurch
• Federal court dismisses Wiimote patent case against Nintendo
• FFXIV Community Holds Massive Vigil For A Dying Player
• GTA 5 Franklin Voice Actor Working on DLC
• Guy Turns Grand Theft Auto Into Tony Hawk's Pro Skater
• Hackers Explain Why They Supposedly Took Down PSN and Xbox Live
• Halo: Master Chief Collection Patch Adds Halo 4 Spartan Ops Mode
• Halo 5's Aiming Has Changed, And Not Everyone Likes It
• Halo Fan Spent 3.5 Years, $7,000 Creating Epic Lego Ship
• Hideo Kojima Trolled Everyone On Christmas, Because of Course He Did
• Man Buys PlayStation 4 From Walmart, Says He Got Two Bags Of Rocks
• PlayStation Now hits Samsung Smart TVs in first half of 2015
• Read the fine print: Ubisoft free game offer waives lawsuits
• Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl Dev Reopens, Announces New Game
• Wheel-to-wheel racing: Ars compares Xbox One steering wheels
• Xbox Exec Teases Gaming News for January Windows 10 Event
• You Can Control This Guy's Real-Life Christmas Tree From Minecraft

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Australian Game Releases: Week 01 - 2015

Slim pickings this week.

Week 01 - 2015

Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker

The intrepid Captain Toad sets off on his own adventure for the very first time through a wide variety of tricky, enemy-infested, maze-like stages to find hidden gems and nab elusive gold stars.

Equipped with nothing more than a neck scarf, backpack and oversized head lamp, Captain Toad finds hidden gems, coins and power-ups on his way to the gold star at the end of each tricky, trap-filled stage. Captain Toad isn't particularly fast or strong. He can't jump and he has no super powers. But he knows that sometimes, it's all about wits and perspective. Twist the camera to reveal hidden locations and other secrets. The Wii U GamePad offers a closer view of the dangers and hidden items in each maze, and its gyro controls can also be used to peer around.
Captain Toad's world is brimming with life, with dangerous enemies, tricky platforms, nasty traps and secrets to uncover. Each stage is its own puzzle to solve, and littered throughout are hidden items in hard-to-reach places. Can you help our tiny adventurer survive to find them all?

Publisher: Nintendo

Release Date: 03/01/2015

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Merry Xmas from Insert Coin 1P

From all of us here at Insert Coin 1P we would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Safe and Happy New Year!

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Writing Throwback: Asheron's Call Review

Here is an old review I wrote over 14 years ago. It's a little repetitive, short, and badly written. However, it is what is and did the job at the time. Maybe that's why that site no longer exists?

Review

MMOG, heard of it? That is massive multiplayer online game. Moreover, what is that you ask, well in a word Asheron's Call. Asheron's Call is a role-playing game with a twist; it is played solely on the Internet. What that means is that you do not play against the computer or challenge a few friends, but instead thrust into a vast world that sometimes can contain up to 1800 people at once. Now we understand MMOG I will tell you a bit more about Asheron's Call.

Asheron's Call places you in a complete world with shops, dungeons, enemies and real life players. You start by creating your character where you get to choose things like race, appearance, class and what skills you have. The character creation is very easy to use but also gives you many options so each person can be a little bit different. From there, you are dropped into the world of Dereth.

So what can you do? Well, almost anything. You can explore, fight, trade, build your experience or just do nothing. This is what makes Asheron's Call fun as you get to choose what you do. Add in the interaction with the other players and you have a unique and exciting game. You can elect to go solo or band with other adventurers by either joining an allegiance or creating your own. You can make up your adventures or just help people that are new to the game.

The world of Dereth is quite large. Running from one end to the other could take a few hours, and I am talking real time here. You just don't realise how big it is until you explore. Along the way are numerous monsters that you can slay to increase your experience. The more experience you acquire, the more skills you can learn or improve, the more weapons and magic you can use and higher level monsters you can fight, and beat.

The main draw card of Asheron's Call though would have to be character interaction. It is surreal to hear the townspeople say hello or quipping how they have not seen you for a few weeks. It shows you the size of this game that you have so much to explore that you can get lost with other players for weeks.

The visuals for the game are excellent with the world in 3D and your stats placed around the screen for easy access. Asheron's Call runs smooth with little to no jerkiness, and the user panel is also easy to navigate. From there, you run all your commands with a click of a button, and you can also get help too within the panel.

Many people ask what is the point of the game though. Well, it is what you want do. If forming a massive alliance is your goal then so be it. Just exploring and making your adventures is exciting too. New stories are added to the game as well so the look of Death shifts and the adventures change so finding new challenges, new places to see and new monsters is quite easy to achieve.

Microsoft publishes the game and as such the game utilises The Zone. There is a monthly subscription fee but to be honest it is worth it, there is just so much to do. It is hard to put into words just exactly what Asheron's Call is like. The best way to understand it too play it. Asheron's Call is a worthy purchase and a taste of the future with the way we play Role Playing Games.

You will meet new people and find new adventures every day and marvel at just how big this game is. I must warn you though; this game is big and only ends when you stop playing it. As such, you must be careful as you can and will lose many hours to this game but just remember you are not alone.

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