Technabob » laserdisc

Mad Dog McCree Comes to iOS: Why?

Conner Flynn — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 18:00:13 +0000

I don’t know what it is about this cheesy retro arcade game, but it is popular enough that it is still showing up on new platforms all these years later. In 2009 the game arrived on the Wii and now it is available for iOS devices as well.

Mad Dog McCree is a gun-fighting game that uses live action video as cut scenes for game play and story. I never played it much myself. If you were a big fan of the game, now is your chance to relive the adventure. The game was popular in the early 1990s, if my memory is correct – during that brief period of time when people thought triggering FMV sequences could pass for gameplay.

Mad Dog McCree is just $4.99(USD) from the iTunes App Store and it even has some remastered game footage. Though there’s nothing you could do to fix the horrible acting and dialogue.

[via Joystiq]

Space Ace Gets the High Def Treatment

Technabob — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 12:45:46 +0000

While I’m not a huge fan of many of those old full-motion-video (FMV) games, I have to keep a place in my heart for Space Ace, a surprisingly entertaining FMV laserdisc-based game created by some of the industry’s most respected animators.

While the game has been resurrected numerous times on everything from CD-ROM to DVD to PC, this is the first time it’s making its way to true high-definition disc formats.

Bucking the recent industry trend of Blu-ray only releases, the classic title will be hitting both Blu-ray and HD DVD formats, and will support widescreen Full HD (1080p) resolution. The game has been lovingly restored and remastered from the original film footage, and pumps up the volume with an enhanced 5.1 surround soundtrack.

Expect the title to include interactive gameplay using your video player’s remote control (or your PS3 controller), as well as picture-in-picture commentary by the games original creators Don Bluth, Gary Goldman, and Rick Dyer.

Space Ace should hit stores on April 8th for a rather pricey $49.95. Digital Leisure has started to accept pre-orders now. While you’re there sure to check out Bluth’s other classic, Dragon’s Lair in high def if you haven’t already.

[via Punch Jump]

Rare Rdi Halcyon Laserdisc Console Up for Auction

Technabob — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 01:38:32 +0000

Back in the early 1980s, long before the Xbox 360, Wii and PS3 dominated the “next-gen” video game market, a little known console lived on the cutting-edge of gaming technology. The RDI Halcyon was a LaserDisc-based gaming system which was designed to bring the first full-motion video gaming experience to your living room. Now one of these rare gaming systems has found its way onto eBay.

RDI was the manufacturer behind such LaserDisc arcade classics as Dragon’s Lair and Space Ace, and the Halcyon was their attempt to bring the same type of gaming experience to your living room. In addition to its FMV game play, the Halcyon had speech synthesis and early voice recognition capabilities. It also was one of the first systems which let you save your gaming progress.

The one that’s up for sale on eBay comes with everything but the original microphone that came with the system, and even includes the only discs ever released for the console: Thayer’s Quest and NFL Raiders vs. Chargers. This is an extremely rare find, so I’d expect the price to shoot through the roof. Here’s the kind of exciting gaming action you’ll be missing out on if you don’t win the auction:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

[Video from the arcade version of Thayer's Quest, but you get the point].

With only two games ever released and originally priced at a whopping $2500 (in 1985 dollars), it’s no wonder the system never really caught on.

[eBay via GameSniped]