Youtube: PC-88 Paradise (new video on the shmup "Final Crisis" is up!)

[kazekirifx]

Hi everybody. My brothers and I have made a new Youtube channel called "Basement Brothers" and I am making a playlist for some in-depth reviews of games for the NEC PC-8801 under the name "PC-88 Paradise". Please come check us out since we are a new channel and we could use your support sharing, liking, subscribing and commenting.

The first video is a very long and detailed look at Ys 1 for PC-88.



(As you can see we currently have a number of arcade board footage videos up on our channel. Now that we've changed the channel name we are planning to do more in-depth videos with editing and narration like the Ys video.)

Thanks for your time and feedback!


Update 05/14/2017:

The second video in the series about the Falcom "shooter RPG" game Star Trader is up. Please check it out and give me your feedback!




Update 08/30/2017:

The third video is the first non-Falcom PC-88 game in the series. Please check it out and let me know what you think



Update 09/14/2017

The fourth video is an in-depth look at the particular model of PC-88 which I own. This one is especially interesting since it uses part of the PCE hardware as an add-on.



Update 12/20/2017

I've finally made a new video! This time I am covering an impressive shmup that was released late in the PC-88's life (1991). I'd be really interested to hear what my fellow turbo folks think of this game.

[esteban]

Subscribed.

Splendid. I love all of the extra background information you included (wiring money for mail order, liner notes, the sleeves for the floppies, one save per floppy, unused music!, etc.)...

Needless to say, make more PC-88 videos.

Your commentary about the game itself is interesting because you make references to other trends/games that were contemporary to Ys I (for example, the fact that Ys was a "beginner ARPG")...Ha!

Definitely continue pointing out the "little details" you notice whilst playing the game...

Plus, it's useful that you compare/contrast to other versions of Ys I for other platforms...

y + s = yes

[Gypsy]

I gave you a sub as well.

LOL that glitch.

[kazekirifx]

Glad you guys liked the little details. I always worry that those sorts of things will bore the casual viewer. Glad to be among people who think alike here.

[Dicer]

Good vid, tossed a thumb up and a sub....

[xcrement5x]

Those PC88/98 boxes are so chock full of goodies from back then.  Keep up the good work!

[mitsuman]

Just subscribed. I changed your subscribers count from 666 to 667. I am sorry Satan.

[Gredler]

Excellent production values for a early release on the channel, nice job! Subbed

[Gypsy]

Glad you guys liked the little details. I always worry that those sorts of things will bore the casual viewer. Glad to be among people who think alike here.

Yeah, the little tidbits are interesting. I wouldn't worry much about casual viewers, unless you are trying to make money off it. Good stuff.

[Michirin9801]

OH MY GOSH! Someone doing PC-88 content in English on YouTube, you have no idea how much I've been clamouring for that!! Subscribed ^^

[nectarsis]

Very cool....subbed as well.

[kazekirifx]

Can't thank you all enough for watching and subscribing. Really glad you enjoyed the video. I'd better get to work making the next one!

[Michirin9801]

Can't thank you all enough for watching and subscribing. Really glad you enjoyed the video. I'd better get to work making the next one!

Looking forward to when you cover the Game Arts games ;3
And maybe the Enix ones too, if you'll do them...
Either way, good job ^^

[kazekirifx]

Looking forward to when you cover the Game Arts games ;3
And maybe the Enix ones too, if you'll do them...
Either way, good job ^^

I own some of the Game Arts and Enix games for PC-88, so yeah, they are definitely on the list if I continue this series long enough. I live in Japan and am always searching on Yahoo auctions and Surugaya, so I am always expanding my collection (though to be honest the amount of PC-88 games available nowadays is quite sparse. Some titles almost never appear on the used market).

[JoshTurboTrollX]

Fantastic video!  Subbed and thumbed!  Thanks for all the effort!!

[mitsuman]

Watched this last night.
That glitch part...oh man..that was great!!

I'm looking forward to watching your other existing vids, and the future ones as well.

[Emerald Rocker]

Great video!  Thank you for posting about it.   I'll gladly watch more like this one

[kazekirifx]

I'm looking forward to watching your other existing vids, and the future ones as well.

Thanks!
Our videos prior to this one were just gameplay footage, but we plan to do quality content with full narration and editing from now on, so please do follow us. We should have at least one new video up this weekend (though not PC-88 or Turbo-related this time, unfortunately). We will be focusing on consoles, Japanese PC's, and arcade games of the 80's and 90's, and even a few new games which are related too. Hope you enjoy!

[seieienbu]

Nice video.  I haven't seen much about the PC88 so I subscribed and am looking forward to seeing more.

[munchiaz]

really awesome video. Love the in depth review, and "behind the scenes" info provided. Also i love your intro. "you guys be quite down there!!"

[kazekirifx]

Also i love your intro. "you guys be quite down there!!"

Really glad to hear that. Reactions to that voice so far have been kind of mixed.

[Sarumaru]

Wow very cool channel dudes! And you guys have been at for 8 years?? Makes me wish I had found this channel sooner great stuffsss

[kazekirifx]

Wow very cool channel dudes! And you guys have been at for 8 years?? Makes me wish I had found this channel sooner great stuffsss

Technically the channel has existed for that long, but until last month we only had raw footage of some arcade games up. We recently decided we wanted to start doing properly edited videos and are trying to leverage or existing subscriber base to get some views.

As you can see, we are still very small and unknown so if you would share our videos with any other people you know who would enjoy them that would be much appreciated!

By the way, the next PC-88 Paradise video will hopefully be up very soon and I will let you all know here when it is. I am confident that the next video will be even more educational and entertaining than the last. Look forward to it!

[kazekirifx]

I've finally got the second video up!

The game is Star Trader by Falcom. Please check it out. Your honest feedback will be greatly appreciated.



Please give it a like on youtube and share with your friends if you find it educational and/or entertaining!

[Gypsy]

This is the first time I've even heard of this game but I imagine that will keep happening with your channel.

The game looks intriguing, I'll have to see if I can find an image of it and get some PC-88 emu going.

Edit: Lmao you voicing the characters was hilarious.

[Michirin9801]

I already left a comment on YouTube, but I figured I might as well leave one here too, pretty nice video ^^

[kazekirifx]

Edit: Lmao you voicing the characters was hilarious.

I really appreciate hearing that since a user on another forum already told me they hated it.

By the way, I just noticed your avatar is from one of Whispered's album covers. That's a coincidence since I am going to see them live in Tokyo this weekend! LOL. Fun melo-death band indeed.

[Gypsy]

Edit: Lmao you voicing the characters was hilarious.

I really appreciate hearing that since a user on another forum already told me they hated it.

By the way, I just noticed your avatar is from one of Whispered's album covers. That's a coincidence since I am going to see them live in Tokyo this weekend! LOL. Fun melo-death band indeed.

Jealous!

And yeah I thought it was quite funny, gives the video personality. Did they give a reason for disliking it so much?

[kazekirifx]

And yeah I thought it was quite funny, gives the video personality. Did they give a reason for disliking it so much?

Well, to be fair they said they "didn't like it" not "hate", but whatevs. They said they would have preferred a shorter review of the game without the attempts at humor and without covering the full plot of the game. Fair criticism as I knew when making it that not everyone would like either of those. I hope those who don't care to watch the whole thing will skip through the video and take away what ever they want from it. I hope to do some shorter videos in the future on games that I feel less personally invested in. Star Trader is kind of a special game to me in some ways.

[elmer]

Thanks! I really enjoyed watching that video and seeing the PC-88 in action.

I hope that you keep it up.

[Gypsy]

Well I watched the whole thing and didn't mind at all that it was as long as it was. But I can understand that some people would lose interest and want shorter videos.

[kazekirifx]

Well, no new PC-88 video yet, but I wanted to mention some general channel updates in case anyone's interested.

We did a podcast on E3 recently.

My brother has been trying to review every Neo Geo game in order of NGH number.

We also did a review of the Wonder Boy 3 remake a while back, for all you TG16 "Dragon's Curse" fans.

I have some more videos on the way, so stay tuned.

[Michirin9801]

I've been watching your bro's Neo Geo reviews and they're pretty good!

[Dicer]

Love the narration, keep these up...

[elmer]

My brother has been trying to review every Neo Geo game in order of NGH number.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_W1EM66_BruhDsODY4WcYolFMxqQn8ng

As I said on your brother's thread on AtariAge ... I'm really looking forward to him getting to NGH-007 (ASO II).

And I look forward to your next PC-88 review, too. 

[kazekirifx]

As I said on your brother's thread on AtariAge ... I'm really looking forward to him getting to NGH-007 (ASO II).

I'm looking forward to seeing a lot more of the Neo Geo reviews too, but he's really struggling to get many views now. Quite a shame. Lots of people would probably enjoy watching those reviews, even if they don't have a Neo Geo or aren't planning on buying one. It's probably not going to be worth his time in the long run if he continues to get views only in the low 100's.

[elmer]

I'm looking forward to seeing a lot more of the Neo Geo reviews too, but he's really struggling to get many views now. Quite a shame. Lots of people would probably enjoy watching those reviews, even if they don't have a Neo Geo or aren't planning on buying one. It's probably not going to be worth his time in the long run if he continues to get views only in the low 100's.

Ahhh ... it would be sad if he stopped, it sounds like a interesting idea.

I have absolutely no idea how you go about "marketing" videos on social media so that people can become aware of them, and get engaged.

[kazekirifx]

Today I added a short review of the Falcom PS4 game Tokyo Xanadu eX+ if anyone's interested.




I am planning another short PC-88 video soon. Sorry for the wait.

[elmer]

Yeah ... apparently, you're not doing a great job of getting the word out when you post these videos, if I'm the first person to respond! 


I've been watching this thread, so I watch the Tokyo Xanadu video as soon as you posted it.

Thanks, I really enjoyed it! 

Especially since I hadn't seen a good review of the game, and was wondering if there was anything left of the old Falcom "Legend of Xanadu" style in the modern games.

It really doesn't look like there is ... which makes me rather sad.

But thank you for taking the time to make the video, I enjoyed it! 

[kazekirifx]

was wondering if there was anything left of the old Falcom "Legend of Xanadu" style in the modern games.

It really doesn't look like there is ... which makes me rather sad.

LOL. Yeah. There really isn't a lot of "Legend of Xanadu" in Falcom's modern games. You might want to try "Xanadu Next" if you want a game that is supposed to be kind of a tribute to the original "Xanadu" game (for PC-88 and other 80's PC's), but still doesn't have anything to do with Legend of Xanadu.

I would say that modern day Falcom retains its traditional style mostly in the way of story, world-building, and music (to some extent). The main reason I still love them is because they are one of the only (if not the only) small Japanese game developers from the 80's/90's that still exists in its original small company form. Falcom was never bought out like so many other small developers from the time, and never grew to the point of unrecognition like Capcom, Konami, Sega, etc.did. Falcom is still a small company, still in its original HQ location, and many of the original developers are still there (like Mieko Ishikawa). Almost to their detriment, they refuse to collaborate with other developers or use other companies' 3D game engines and things like that.

In recent years, their "Trails" subseries of Legend of Heroes has developed quite a huge following in Japan, and I think they have expanded the company a bit. I hope this will not dramatically change the company philosophy, but so far it looks like we have nothing to fear.

[Michirin9801]

You know, I haven't really played almost any of the "modern" Falcom stuff, just their 8 and 16 bit stuff, and that's what I've learned to love them for, but I would totally play some of their more modern games if I owned any of the (non-PC) systems that they were made for, but I just don't...

The one post 2000s Falcom game I did play was the DS port of Legacy of Ys Books 1 and 2, which I didn't like very much, it just feels off in a way, you know what I mean? And the graphics are kind of horrible... I'll give it this much though, it has my favourite version of the Ys 1 and 2 soundtracks, yeah I like that one even better than the FM synth PC-88 soundtracks and the CD quality TurboGrafx soundtracks! Those are just the kind of music that appeal to me, you know, lo-fi sampled music and all, it's just great~

And I just played that one because I got it for my 3DS, all I have to play on right now is my 3DS, so I also bought Gurumin 3D, but I haven't played it yet, I'm just waiting to play it after I finish Dragon Quest VIII, which I probably won't any time soon because I'm not playing it a whole lot so I probably should just go and play it already...

All that said though, I've gotten into PSP emulation recently because I wanted to play the Hatsune Miku Project Diva games as well as the K-on rhythm game on the system, and I'm surprised at how well my PC handles PSP, so I'll be taking that as an opportunity to play Ys Seven and whatever else they made for the system when I find the time (whenever I'm not playing the rhythm or fighting games on the system)

[kazekirifx]

The one post 2000s Falcom game I did play was the DS port of Legacy of Ys Books 1 and 2, which I didn't like very much, it just feels off in a way, you know what I mean? And the graphics are kind of horrible...

That's probably because the DS port wasn't done by Falcom themselves. I haven't played it, but I heard it used Ys Eternal as a basis. Back in the day, I played Ys Eternal and Complete on PC, and it felt like a pretty "pure" Falcom experience.

Gurumin was.... all right. It feels really dated now.

Ys seven I thought was OK. The music is pretty good.

For PSP games, you should probably try the first Trails in the Sky game. People either love it and call it a modern day "Lunar The Silver Star" or hate it for being too long-winded with the dialog (a Falcom trademark nowadays).

The "modern" (though very dated now) Ys game everyone loves is Oath in Felghana (the Ys 3 remake). The action, music, everything is quite excellent. There's a PSP version, but the PC version available on Steam is better.

The most recent game I can't recommend enough is Ys VIII. I loved it. You'll need either a Vita or PS4 to play it, but I highly recommend you do so. Story, action, characters... everything was great. The music was decent enough, as you would expect from any Ys game. And it is by far the longest Ys game ever made. Just play it.

[Gypsy]

My body is definitely ready for Ys VIII. I have it pre-ordered. Modern Falcom games are mostly pretty good. I liked Cold Steel, so maybe I should give the other trilogy a go again. I stalled out on the PSP version of the first game. I believe they are all on GOG now, so whenever there is a solid sale...

[Michirin9801]

As far as I'm aware, most of the Nintendo versions of Falcom games are kinda bad, I hope that's not the case for Gurumin, I've been wanting to play that game for a while, and when it released on the 3DS I thought it was my perfect opportunity!

I might get a PS4 or a Vita someday, probably a Vita because I prefer playing my games on handhelds, then I'll see about playing Ys 8...
I'm planning on playing Trails in the Sky, I think I've already downloaded it, but I can tell you this much: It's gonna be sitting there unplayed for a while...
When it comes to RPGs, Dragon Quest is my priority, and I'm still going through DQ8 (which honestly, I think it might be my least favourite main-line DQ game, probably only above DQ2) and when DQ11 is released I'm gonna be glued to my 3DS for a while... Yeah I know most people are gonna get it on PS4 or Switch, but seriously, the 3DS version is gonna have a 16 bit mode! How cool is that? It's gonna be DQ6 all over again! Well, minus the animated monsters, they didn't go that far this time around... For shame Square Enix...

[kazekirifx]

If you want to play Vita games on the cheap, and don't mind not being able to play portable, I think you can still get a Playstation TV for not very much. I played through all of Ys VIII on Playstation TV since I'm not a very big fan of playing portable.

The thing about the Trails games is that they are all a huge time sink. The constant story to read makes it take a long time, even if you don't want to do all the optional quests and everything. I like to play through each one once on Normal mode, doing all the quests I happen to find. There are crazy people I've seen lately on the Falcom subreddit and Falcom Fangroup on Facebook who like to play through the game multiple times and clear Nightmare mode and get 100% completion. I can only shake my head and wish that I too was supported by my parents and lived in their basement without a job, and somehow also was able to purchase video games.

[Michirin9801]

I appreciate the option that is the Vita TV, but to me the whole point of getting a Vita would be to play it portably, you see, surprisingly enough I have more time to play when I'm out and about than when I'm at home, because I go to college, and I arrive early due to the bus schedule, so I have to keep waiting for the teachers for a while, that's the time that I have to play games, not to mention the time that I spend on the bus, and when I'm at home I'm either working on personal projects or on college projects, and when not doing either of those things I'm usually watching YouTube, which means I'm not playing video games, my only real other opportunity to play is when I'm in bed either trying to sleep or just woke up, so I play on my 3DS while laying in bed...

Being in college is also one of the reasons why I'm always tight on cash...
Oh and, I have no patience what-so-ever for RPGs unless they're on a handheld >w>';

[Arkhan Asylum]

I appreciate the option that is the Vita TV, but to me the whole point of getting a Vita would be to play it portably, you see, surprisingly enough I have more time to play when I'm out and about than when I'm at home, because I go to college, and I arrive early due to the bus schedule, so I have to keep waiting for the teachers for a while, that's the time that I have to play games, not to mention the time that I spend on the bus, and when I'm at home I'm either working on personal projects or on college projects, and when not doing either of those things I'm usually watching YouTube, which means I'm not playing video games, my only real other opportunity to play is when I'm in bed either trying to sleep or just woke up, so I play on my 3DS while laying in bed...

Being in college is also one of the reasons why I'm always tight on cash...
Oh and, I have no patience what-so-ever for RPGs unless they're on a handheld >w>';

this is interesting to me, because I bought a Vita TV to stop having to play Vita RPGs on the thing.

I got tired of sitting there staring at my crotch trying to level grind.

Though, I definitely used PSP/Vita during college as well. 

It's nice to now be able to plug into a TV also.

[Gypsy]

The thing about the Trails games is that they are all a huge time sink. The constant story to read makes it take a long time, even if you don't want to do all the optional quests and everything. I like to play through each one once on Normal mode, doing all the quests I happen to find. There are crazy people I've seen lately on the Falcom subreddit and Falcom Fangroup on Facebook who like to play through the game multiple times and clear Nightmare mode and get 100% completion.

Honestly, I started skipping the unimportant text in Cold Steel. Summon Night 5 as well. I'm sure I will do the same for Cold Steel II and Summon Night 6. These games are just massive text dumps and most of it is meaningless.

And even doing that...the games are still long. I can't really imagine trying to go through them again, for some small reward. Especially on a grindier difficulty. I'd rather try out more games.

[esteban]

ASIDE: I commented on TubeYou how much I liked this Star Trader video, but I guess I didn't post here? I guess I am losing my memory.

Anyway, superb (supremely great) Star Trader video and I really do hope this continues (even though the views/audience is not as high as you had hoped).

I, too have often thought about "wacky" hybrid games that blend genres...and it really stinks that we do not have a richer library of ARPG-Shoot-Em-Ups (see? I don't want RPG, but ARPG).

Or hex-based strategy meets shootemup.

Or, my ultimate dream: a shootemup puzzle game that has two distinct modes of play—, BUT ALSO has a "surreal" mode that allows you to instantly swap back and forth between puzzler and shootemup as necessary (think Tetris or 3D Tetris...but that is just the obvious starting point).

Anyway, it was great to hear your views on Star Trader, a game I knew nothing about.

When I eventually (a few years?) play the neutered X68 version, it will be neat to think of the game's crazy history/evolution.

[elmer]

You might want to try "Xanadu Next" if you want a game that is supposed to be kind of a tribute to the original "Xanadu" game (for PC-88 and other 80's PC's), but still doesn't have anything to do with Legend of Xanadu.

Yep, I've got the original Japanese Xanadu Next, and recently applied the translation patch to it so that I can finally play it.

Perhaps I need to give it another try, but it just didn't click with me when I started playing it.

That could just be because the fan-translation was a bit stiff.

I could always get XSEED's recent version and see if it is any better, but I hear that they've actually added some bugs in it, and ...

... NightWolve would be very, very disappointed in me! 

I might get a PS4 or a Vita someday, probably a Vita because I prefer playing my games on handhelds, then I'll see about playing Ys 8...

Well, I hope that you don't try that with the first Legend of Xanadu game! 

LoX2 would be fine on a handheld, but IMHO, you'll need a really good memory and a head for mapping if you want to play LoX1 without taking any notes ... the maps are a big too big, and you have to go back-n-forth a lot.