Monday's do not Compute

It's Monday again and... I'm a little mad the weekend is already over. But that just means another fun week here on Planet Zone! So while I eat a bowl of Honey Bunches of Oats and watch Beyond Belief, let me tell you about this weekend I had. It was short. I had meant to do some housework... but that didn't happen. Does playing Mighty Doom count? Did some shopping, got some Christmas presents bought. I did pick up Earthspark Nightshade for myself as well as a TF Micro Machines and SW Micro Galaxy Squadron blind packs up. I try not to get myself much at Christmas time... but sometimes you just need to treat yourself. I think my Code Red (Stranger Things Transformers) came in. I'll open that box in a minute. Oh, I started my Jurrasic Park Advent Calendar! It's Christmas!

I don't have myself together yet, but I promise this week will be fun for all of you. Thank you for continuing to support Zone Base and independent thought. If you like what I'm doing, please share the site with your friends. That'd be amazing. There's strawberries in my cereal.

Generation MSX

This won't be the first time I've wistfully looked at MSX commercials on the site and wished I could have been one of those lucky kids to grow up with one. I'll even admit, the grass is usually greener on the other side of the fence. However, I don't think any amount of realistic thinking or applied rationale could make up for a lifetime of being in awe. Like I said before, thanks to older gaming magazines, there was something badass and punk rock about playing games on an MSX. I fully understand just how stupid that sounds now, but at the time that was the impression that I got because they made it sound just so hardcore. To be honest... I think I was right.

Daiva VI Opening Story

 

Daiva Story 6: Imperial of Nirsartia was added to the Switch Online NES channel a few weeks ago. It's pretty cool when they add random games like this. It gives me a chance to play them for the first time and experience something new that was released off my radar back in the day.  If you're wondering about the 6 in the title, this is the 6th game out of 7. The only one released to the Famicom as it was a home computer (MSX and others I think) series. To appeal to the younger players that the system would no doubt bring in, the game was simplified a bit from it's PC version. The series isn't an ongoing story, but the same galactic war story told from the perspective of other characters in the various parts. 

Game play is pretty fun, but not completely obvious when first starting. Instruction come in handy. You'll need to travel to different locations on a star map and take over them. You'll also need to protect your locations from invaders. Once entering one of these areas the game switches to a side scrolling shooter where you take command of a mobile suit. Progress through the area and defeat the boss to take control the area. At the beginning of this stage, there's a map with three different power ups (health refill, a bomb that kills everything on screen, and missiles to be fired repeatedly from off screen) to be placed where they'd come in handy on the fight. The computer roots of the series is very obvious here as the controls are pure 80's micro computer style. One fire button and push up to jump. That was hard to go back to after all this time.

The jumps can be a challenge as each planet has different gravity. Overall these areas aren't too difficult, but of course they gradually increase as you progress. Also during the star map area of the game, you may encounter other ships. Doing so will put your ship in a turn based battle with them. Daiva Story is pretty fun, but I do wish the game was translated so i could understand the story better. Holding up my phone to use camera translation doesn't always work like a charm and gets old fast. Regardless, it reminds me of those summer nights I'd stay up late playing Star Raiders or StarMaster on my Atari. Good times.

We gonna rock on to MSX2

 

I'm sure that I've mentioned it before, but I felt like talking about it. The MSX seemed like one of the most badass things to me as a child. For the record, it's just a home computer. Micro Computers were all the rage back then and I'd often see them in various video game magazines. Of course not everyone had a computer at home back then and getting one was an uphill battle for me personally (that's for another post). Often, it wasn't until at school or the library that I'd use one. I had video game consoles though and my parents liked to support my reading. So I'd usually get whatever game magazine I'd pick out from the store whenever we'd go. This lead to discovering things like the MSX. 

There was something exotic about this computer system that was out of my reach. Other home computers like the Atari ST also had this allure for me. One gaming magazine that I'd read used cool gothy and punk imagery for their sections. For whatever reason, the computer section was given bloody fonts and crazy imagery. Don't ask me why. I wish I could remember the magazines name, but there was a ton during this time. It was a smaller publication that I only got at one grocery store, so who knows. Realistically this might account for some of my impressions that these Micro Computers were badass. These days I feel like tablets are a return to those old micros... and I have a pretty badass one.

Mega Drive PC Optimized

If I had my way, Zone Base would be made on a Mega Drive PC. Like... if there was an add on kit for the Genesis Mini to make it a functioning Mega Drive PC Mini, we'd be there right now. Instead I'm driving around thinking about what could be with tears in my eyes. There truly is no easy way out, nor a shortcut home. 

It's easy to forget how different the home computing world was in the 80's and 90's. Personal computers weren't as standardized yet leading to households having a variety of options by Atari, Commodore, and other companies. It wasn't uncommon for game console makers to offer their machine as a home computer on it's own. 

At the time, it wasn't a terrible idea. Most home computing revolved around word processing, spreadsheets, random software for various tasks, and of course games. The internet was a lot more limited than it is now and even what it was by the end of the 90's. The Mega Modem was a reasonable solution for online needs at the time, even if it was a bit slow for some things. A lot of time has passed since then and they way we compute is way different now. But man, there's a certain charm to those old micro computers that just can't be replicated.

Load Nightmare

My parents would never buy me one.

Have Yourself A TRS-80 Christmas

It's 40 years later and I'm still blown away by that price. Know what's not 40 years ago? A new week on Zone Base! That was horrible! It's the last week of the Christmas season and the seasonal shenanigans will continue for a few more days. I don't want to go into details, but I just super misspelled the fuck out of continue. It was like five sentences. Good thing for spellcheck!

We've got a fun week of posts here on Planet Zone full of Christmas cheer! Thanks each and every one of you for continuing to read Zone Base and please share with your friends. Or your enemies. I don't know why you'd be talking to them.

New Week SHARP

It's the beginning of another new week here on Planet Zone! Not just any other week, it's a holiday week! Thanksgiving is this Thursday which does mean a little less content this week. The lead up to holidays are generally pretty hectic at work for me. Not to mention the holiday activities! I'll be enjoying Thanksgiving dinner with my family (don't worry, it's a small group this year), putting up Christmas decorations, crazy shopping, and getting some much needed rest. I'm a big fan of Thanksgiving. Not just because of the food and the fun, but there's always a generally pleasant vibe to the air that just makes me happy. Thank you for continuing to read Zone Base! As always please share, it's all I ask!

More Alive Than Ever Before With New Week 64

It's Monday and you know what that means? A brand new week here on Planet Zone! I have a fun week of posts planned that I hope you all enjoy. Thanks again for reading Zone Base and don't forget to share!

I hope that kid knew all those people.

 

Load Up A New Week On Zone Base!

It's Monday and that means another new week here on Planet Zone! I've got some great posts in mind that I hope you all enjoy. Thanks again for reading Zone Base and please share with your friends!