June 2nd, 2025

NEW PRODUCTS - Double Dragon
(Play Meter, August 1987)

from Play Meter (August 1987, pg. 96)
archived by RevengeOfTheHubz

May 23rd, 2025

Inside Mac Games Feb '94
& MACWORLD Marathon Build

For today's update, I've pulled together a ZIP file that contains both the February 1994 issue of the digital magazine Inside Mac Games & the first playable iteration of Marathon from MACWORLD San Francisco 1994.

Once unzipped, the folder can be dragged directly into InfiniteMac, a web browser based MacOS emulator. From there you can flip through the pages of this early digital magazine, and play the same version of Marathon that was debuted by Bungie at MACWORLD.

Below, I've provided a download button for the ZIP file as well as a direct link to InfiniteMac configured with a period authentic version of MacOS & proper resolution settings. At this time, it seems like things work best in Chromium based browsers, but I was able to get it running properly in Firefox as well. If you have any issues getting things to load, give it a try with Chrome.

Download ZIP

NOTE: a README is provided in both the root folder of the ZIP as well as the Marathon build with step-by-step launch instructions

Direct Link to InfiniteMac with Recommended Settings

May 22nd, 2025

Yuji Naka Interview Supercut

For today's update, I present to you a supercut of some of my favorite Questions & Answers across four different Yuji Naka interviews conducted during the Let's Tap / Let's Catch promotional cycle. I will post the independent interviews at the bottom of the post for you to check out as well. Note that the Q&A from GAME WATCH is originally in Japanese and has been machine translated into English using a combination of Google Translate & DeepL, using context clues to attempt the most conversational & sensible English translation. Enjoy!

Kikizo: I think people were surprised when it was announced that you'd end up working with Sega after all, having left Sega to set up Prope. By contrast, [Tetsuya] Mizuguchi-san (Space Channel 5, REZ) has only worked with other publishers since leaving Sega. Why did you take this direction?

Yuji Naka: I'm not sure how it is in the western games industry, but Japanese games development is very small. So as a creator, once you've reached a certain point, you take on more of a managerial position and don't get to make the games any more, and I think that's why people like Mizuguchi-san and I go independent and set up a new company. And so far, it's often been the case that when these people go independent and set up their own company, the creators sort of act 'against' the old employer - almost like a rivalry. But I didn't have that intention - I didn't have that kind of relationship with Sega - so it came quite naturally for me to maintain that strong relationship with them. And I always knew that these [Prope] titles would be published by Sega.

Gamasutra: How many people are in Prope right now?

Naka: Right now it's about 40 staff members.

Gamasutra: Where did the idea for "Let's Tap" come from?

Naka: It was something I came up with while we were working on another action game. I had noticed around that time that the Wii controller was a remarkably precise device, capable of detecting even very small, faint vibrations.

We did a bit of a test where we placed the controller on a desk and started tapping on the desktop around it.

Not only did the Wiimote detect that, but it also detected when we tapped on a desk placed adjacent to the one it was lying on.

Looking at that, I thought that it was pretty neat, that maybe we could do something with this.

From there, I thought about how up to now, rhythm games have been largely digital in nature -- made up of 0s and 1s representing "off" and "on" -- but this controller could measure more gradual levels of input in between those two extremes.

So it was a process of discovery that ultimately led to the idea, the idea to take a digital game and make it analog and able to accept a wider range of input.

Game Watch: How did you find the right balance?

Naka: I had a lot of time to myself. This is a game where I personally made all the balance adjustments by playing it. I have always believed in myself and tried to create the game with my own balance. When I was at Sega, I was working on so many games that I couldn't even do the balance adjustment. In that sense, this time around, it was very easy to adjust the balance of the game. So it was mostly done by me and the director, Kawarazuka. The rest was done by new employees. We would have a lot of people play a lot of games, analyze the data, and then say, "The balance here is rather on target", and make minor adjustments from there.

Gamasutra: Was it difficult to find the "fun" of such a simple interaction as this?

Naka: Well, think about it -- sometimes, do you find yourself just idly tapping on something during the day? I know I do it pretty much all the time, and I think everybody else does too. So I thought about making that into a game somehow. That's what makes this game fun, I think -- the fact that it's something everybody does now and again.

Now, of course, there are other music and rhythm games, titles where you're matching some kind of rhythm onscreen. But even in the case of Guitar Hero, it's still a matter of "on" or "off," 0 or 1. There isn't any measure of strength.

Meanwhile, with this there's a whole spectrum of strength to the tapping. It's something that's really pretty innovative even within the field of rhythm games.

IGN: Mini-game collections such as this are normally quite crowded, whereas there are only five available in Let's Tap. What's the thinking behind this?

Naka: The angle we had in mind was more like Wii Sports, so these are five simple games but actually they can be played for quite a long time – they're developed in a way that you go to different levels, so even though there are only five, there's more than meets the eye.

Game Watch: Is "Rhythm Tap" your favorite?

Naka: My favorite is the "Gem Game" in "Visualizer".

Game Watch: Why?

Naka: Maybe it's because you can play it as much as you want while spacing out. It's a game where you don't have to think too much. Really, you just things into a container that floats in space. In my opinion, this is the most interesting part of "Let's Tap." The moment I finished it, I thought, "Oh, this is absolutely great."

Originally, the "Gem Game" was just a bouncing ball, but since it was in the "Visualizer", I tried making it something where you can just enjoy the changes. At first, I thought, "it's enough to just move the ball with physics and have fun," but then I thought, "maybe I should make it a little more game-like," so I added the container. There used to be a "water game"... a maze-like thing set in a container filled with water, and when you pressed a button, the water pressure would make rings fly into a container. This is the same kind of game. Have you ever played something that you didn't have to think about? I tried to make a game like that.

The goal is to make all the balls the same color, but due to the fact that the game uses physics, sometimes the right color ball doesn't go into the bowl. There's a balance between frustration and "ahh" feeling of "Will it go in? Will it go in?" that keeps me playing for tens of minutes. I can keep playing no matter what, even if I'm in a meeting. It's a lot of fun.

This game was so much fun that I advertised it as the "game that even penguins can play" because you just tap. There are surprisingly few games in the game industry that allow you to enjoy them without concentrating and with only a little input, other than pachinko. I want to make a game like that someday, and I think I have created a game that's on the right track. "Gem Game" is the best. I guess it's just my personal taste.

Gamasutra: I'd like to see some penguin playtesting.

Naka: I sure would too!

IGN: The Let's Tap's peripheral – a cardboard box – is gloriously lo-fi. What's your opinion on the growing amount of more expensive peripherals on the Wii?

Naka: With games, the difference with films is the interactivity and the ability to input. It's really a case of what device would be required for a specific type of input, and in this instance it just happened to be the cheapest option – a box. In the future there will be new types of platforms to develop new kinds of inputs.

Game Watch: You have another game, "Let's Catch", how did this one come about?

Naka: "Let's Catch” was something I came up with when I was thinking of a new way to use the Wii Remote. At the time, Sega was starting to operate a darts bar, and because of that, Mr. Oguchi (Hisao Oguchi, current director of Sega) took me to a darts bar and taught me how to play darts. I came to like darts so much that I set up a darts machine at home.

When I founded Prope, I played darts with everyone at Prope. We said, "Let's make something like this". And so we made a darts game for the Wii. It turned out pretty similar [to real darts], but I didn't put it out in the end.

At that time, we talked about how interesting it would be to [use the Wii Remote] to grab something and throw it. However, the aspect of throwing proved to be difficult to turn into a Wii game. So we started thinking, "In that case, why not grab the ball?". We then came to the conclusion that "grabbing a ball is just like catching a ball, isn't it?"

...

Playing catch is not just about throwing it back and forth, there is a great deal of communication between people. You can feel emotions change when the ball is dropped, the strength of the throw, and you can talk about things like, "How are you doing lately?" The back and forth of the ball is a part of the communication between people, and that communication that moves people's hearts. I think it's really interesting.

I don't play baseball, I don't watch live TV, and I don't play catch, but as a game creator, I always want to make games that move people's hearts. That is how the game "Nights" was born. There have been many cases where people have taken on the challenge of game creation from a similar place. "Samba de Amigo!" was actually created from a similar challenge.

It started from darts to the idea of catching with the Wii remote control, and then developed into a place where we thought, "The emotional dynamics of catch are very interesting." So, we focused on the "catching" aspect ... That was the start of "Let's Catch", which I created in the hope that people would be exposed to the fun of playing catch.

Kikizo: Well, we'll look forward to that. What's your favourite game ever and why?

Naka: Lemmings. I consider the architecture and the system of the game really quite superior. And the fact that each one of the Lemmings has got its own designated roles and different movements - yet their characteristics are based on real Lemmings, so from a character design point of view also, I find Lemmings quite fascinating.

Sources:
IGN
Kikizo
Game Developer Magazine
Game Watch: Page One | Page Two

May 21st, 2025

Season One Announcement:
Selection Four

click/tap to play music, double click/tap to pause!

I'm happy to announce the next game I've selected for Capralogue Season One: Double Dragon!

The history of Arcade Games is incredibly exciting to unearth because, unlike traditional games media, most magazines and promotional material for an arcade game is marketed not toward the consumer but instead toward the small business owner. As you'll come to find as we uncover more about Double Dragon, arcade marketing in the 80s and 90s takes on a very different form, with writing carrying a promise of booming potential earnings right alongside gameplay and genre descriptions.

As far as a full playthrough is concerned, fighting up against the 'quarter eating' limitations and really pushing the limits of mechanical understanding in order to secure a One Credit Clear makes for some of the most riveting gameplay sessions you can ask for. It'll serve as a perfect counterpoint to the three games already in the lineup, something to chip away at session by session until mastery.

So look forward to Double Dragon, the fourth title in Capralogue Season One!

May 20th, 2025

The GTC-100 Universal Cabinet

TAITO America 1987
Via The Arcade Flyers Archive

May 19th, 2025

Season One Announcement:
Selection Three

click/tap to play music, double click/tap to pause!

I'm happy to announce the next game I've selected for Capralogue Season One: Marathon!

This was meant to go out on Friday, but I hesitated due to the news surrounding the franchise reboot's confirmed art theft & subsequent claims of company morale in 'free fall'. A big part of the idea around Season One for me was the idea of 'origin points', and you'll see many of the titles selected across the season carry this loose thematic cohesion. When it seems that the future of Marathon is uncertain at best & torched at worst, the idea of saying "Let's play the original Marathon to get excited for the reboot!" became a much tougher sell for me.

However, in taking the weekend to think more about it, I believe Marathon from 1994 is worth playing and learning from even completely removed from the promise of a brand new big budget Extraction Game reboot. In the years following DOOM's seismic impact on the First Person Shooter genre, we'll find that Marathon found and established itself in a very exciting niche within the genre - pushing storytelling boundaries, enphasizing atmosphere, and cementing Macintosh in the mid 90s as a real player in the games space.

To put it lightly, the circumstances around the reboot of this franchise are a real disappointment. With that being said, that disappointment is only amplified by how important Marathon is as a franchise - not only for Bungie, not only for Apple's Macintosh, but for the trajectory of the Games Industry as a whole. It's a title & franchise that I have wanted to dig into for a very long time now, and I'm not going to let an uncertain and sullied future rewrite the past.

So look forward to Marathon, the third title in Capralogue Season One!

May 15th, 2025

The Macworld Expo (and CES) Report - Excerpt

via Inside Mac Games (Volume Two, Issue Two - February 1994)

Very excited to be able to spotlight this - Inside Mac Games was a fully digital Zine distributed on floppy disk beginning in 1993, and the February 1994 issue contained the first screenshot of "code-name Marathon", the next big game from Bungie Software.

Be sure to check back Friday for an opportunity to not only flip through the pages of this issue of Inside Mac Games yourself, but also PLAY the first iteration of Marathon ever shown to the public at MACWORLD 1994 San Francisco! I still need an extra day to work on functionality and get everything working just right, so I hope you come back to check out this very special piece of interactive history!

May 14th, 2025

Let's Catch Trailer (Translation in Captions - Machine TL)

Let's Catch Promotional Video from its Official Japanese Website.

A Quick Note: Captions are available that translate all the centered headline text from Japanese to English. I used both Google Translate & DeepL to cross-reference an approximate translation of the Japanese text, but it is not perfect. If anyone would like to help translate by hand, don't hesitate to reach out!

May 13th, 2025

MACWORLD Expo San Francisco
(January 5th-8th, 1994)

May 12th, 2025

Let's Tap: Tap Runner
Official Flash Game

May 9th, 2025

Season One's Influences:
15 Things to Watch & Read

One of my favorite rituals when learning about a new game is digging into interviews and seeing what directly influenced the creation of what I'm about to play. Video games are a very young medium, and so there's a lot of cultural touchstones in gaming pulled from other forms of art, and most creators aren't shy at all to tell you exactly what inspired their work. Here I've provided 15 things for you to experience before Season One begins - 10 things to watch & 5 things to read.

Taking the time out to experience any or all of these will definitely enrich your experience with the games of Season One, even if you may be confused right now as to how some of these could relate. Every item in the list contains a hyperlink that will take you to its respective Letterboxd or Goodreads page.

Enjoy your weekend!

May 8th, 2025

Season One Announcement:
Selection One & Two

click/tap to play music, double click/tap to pause!

I'm happy to announce the first two games I've selected for Capralogue Season One: Let's Catch & Let's Tap!

If you were around the Twitch channel back when things were called GoatedQuest, you probably had a feeling in the back of your mind that the first pick couldn't have been anything other than this. For years now, I've had what I could only call a crush on Let's Catch, an unassuming WiiWare title about playing catch with strangers in a park. As you'll see when you watch our playthrough (or play yourself!), Let's Catch has a lot more going on in the narrative department than it lets on. It's a concept that I'm fascinated by, and I can't wait to toss a ball around soon!

Let's Tap is a game that I wasn't quite as familiar with but, through digging into the history of PROPE, I quickly learned that it was Let's Tap that was the new studio's flagship. In the keynote posted yesterday, you saw Naka proudly describe Let's Tap truly novel control: without pressing any buttons, simply tap a hollow cardboard box with a Wii Remote resting on top, and let the controller's accelerometer interpret the vibrations as input!

After discovering just how closely the two titles were linked in development, promotion, and release (Cross-Save Unlocks!!!), I decided that there was simply no way I could play one without the other. So, I hope you're excited to check out the first two titles from Yuji Naka's independent studio PROPE, and the first two titles in Capralogue Season One!

May 7th, 2025

PROPE Keynote @ TGS 2008
(October 9th, 2008)

At the Tokyo Game Show, PROPE founder & Sonic the Hedgehog Creator Yuji Naka revealed his independent studio's two debut titles: Let's Catch & Let's Tap. The full keynote is above, with dedicated trailers for each title below. Please note: all videos are in Japanese

May 6th, 2025

Sonic Creator Teases Game for Penguins (September 22nd, 2008)

Via blog.wired.com
[Archived on September 27th, 2008.]

May 5th, 2025

Confirmed: Yuji Naka Leaves Sega (May 8th, 2006)

Via Next-Gen.biz [May 8th, 2006]
[Archived by archive.org on June 19th, 2006. Yuji Naka image added by Capralogue based on 2012 archived source]

Press Release (JP) of the announcement provided by SegaRetro.org

May 2nd, 2025

Links & Clues

Eagle eyed readers of yesterday's introduction post may have seen three hyperlinked images embedded in the text. If you didn't, it may behoove you to keep an eye out for any Underlined Text in these posts, the pictures may hold the key to finding out Season One games early!

In the spirit of the start of the season, I'll post the three images that were hidden in yesterday's message. However, this is a one time only affair, going forward you gotta find them yourself!

That's all for today, but more clues will be popping up throughout the course of the season, so keep your eyes peeled. Enjoy your weekend!

May 1st, 2025

Introducing Capralogue: Season One

Man, keeping up with the games industry is getting more & more difficult, huh? You seeing these price hikes?

I mean - it's always been a lot, sure, but when there's real universal excitement around these New Releases culturally, it's a bummer to get priced out or disillusioned and, in turn, fall out of the conversation. Growing up, Rental Stores were my saving grace, but now we're kinda left hoping that the game people are excited about ends up on a subscription service in order to stay in the know. With Direct-style marketing on top of all that, it feels like once a week there's a new shotgun blast of cool games popping up with little-to-no time to slow down and process each individual game independently. I love this industry, but man it's a lot! I know I'm not alone either. And so, for a long while now, I've been tumbling around this idea in my brain, some way to get the feeling back.

You see, I grew up with a voracious games media appetite, diving headfirst into that anticipation cycle has always been a very important piece of the appreciation puzzle for me. My dad would let me skip school every year to watch E3 live (during finals season!), I had subscriptions to multiple game magazines, and I was constantly hunting online for the next big thing to get excited for. For me, learning about a game was as much fun as playing it.

This is not a 'back in my day' post, what I've recognized is that ALL that info is still out there. That TV commercial, those magazine interviews, that piece of art that's been stuck in your mind for 20 years? All that New Release excitement is still out there, and it's easier than ever to rediscover & recapture it. Make something feel brand new again. That's where Capralogue: Season One comes in.

Capralogue: Season One is a collection of eleven games that I've chosen - some are cultural titans, some were ahead of their time, some were never really given a chance. New or old, console or PC, acclaimed or panned - it's all irrelevant here, we're here to celebrate and to play. Over the course of this season I will be recreating each of their anticipation cycles here on Capralogue.com. Every weekday you'll see something new - on Monday you might see a trailer for our first game, on Tuesday it may be an interview for the second, on Wednesday a Press Release announcing the third. Remember Smash Bros Dojo? It'll be kinda like that.

We're gonna be taking our time, giving lots of room to learn about these games, share enthusiasm and indulge our curiosity. In order to keep the excitement going for the duration of the season, I'll be unveiling each game over the course of the season through these posts as well, so check back for some New Game Announcements. Each game will, in time, have a full Companion page right here on Capralogue.com, so future players can see all the history in one place.

And of course, It's not exclusively about hype, eventually these games will reach their 'Release Date'. When that happens, I'll be streaming a Full playthrough of each Season One game on Twitch.tv! I strongly encourage you to join in and play along with me - whether it's your first time or if you're just acting like it is. No schedule, no pressure, just hanging out on the couch with friends checking out some new games. The way it was meant to be.

I'm putting a lot of work into making this something really special. All of these games will be playable cost-effectively - some have direct re-releases available on modern platforms, all can be emulated fairly easily. My goal here is to take these eleven old games and make them feel brand new again, showcasing some history and celebrating this medium I love so much. I hope you'll join me for Capralogue: Season One!

April 14th, 2025

Community Art Showcase #2

We're back with another showcase of a really impressive piece of art created for April's Community Art Initiative!

This piece comes to us from polycubic, and it is a a stunning depiction of Hedwig's vision of God in astoundingly detailed charcoal art. I was out and about when this piece was posted into the discord, and I stopped in my tracks to zoom in on the cloud & fog detailing. Thank you so much cube for your time and effort!

April's Community Art Initiative is nearly halfway over, and the Roll Credits keep flowing! Remember that YOU too can get 30 Roll Credits by submitting a piece of art for the Community Art pages! With Hotline Miami 2 rolled last week for Capralogue 005, I'd be remiss not to mention that Hotline Miami 2 is now eligible for art for April's Art Initiative as well! I may not be 50 Blessings, but I can offer 30 Roll Credits.

April 11th, 2025

Capralogue 005 Is... Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number

Developed by Dennaton Games
Released March 10th, 2015

Companion Page (Work in Progress)

April 9th, 2025

Capralogue 005 Roll on Thursday, April 10th

While Xenogears is still in full swing, we're going to take a one week intermission, with a new game decided by Marble Roll this Thursday! This selection is intended to give the folks playing Xenogears alongside the stream some extra time to catch up. It will also give myself, and those watching, the ability to digest the 55 hours of story we've experienced so far.

Given that this is Capralogue 005, the GoatedQuest era EFAF rules apply - Every Fifth A Follow-Up to a series already started on the channel! I've pared the list down to games that have a sub-15 hour completion time on HowLongToBeat, to avoid rolling another massive game as an intermission for a massive game.

That still leaves us with 30 heavy hitters, from Resident Evil 2 to Super Monkey Ball 2; Burnout 3 to Silent Hill 3; Metal Gear Solid to Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear; Riddick: The Merc Files to...

You get the idea.

Below is the full list of eligible games, take a look and be there live when one of these games will be rolled & officially selected as Capralogue 005!

- Capralogue 005 Options -

April 7th, 2025

Community Art Showcase #1

With April's Community Art Initiative in full swing, I'm honored to take this opportunity to showcase some pieces I've already received for the month of April. As long as there's at least one piece of art to showcase in a week, expect these posts weekly! Also, while I'm not quite set up to place these pieces in the Community Art pages yet, you can expect to have them showcased there as well SOON!

This first piece comes to us from NancyDrew420, who has created a lovely hand-painted watercolor portrait of everyone's favorite Linbarrow Sister, Darcy!! Given that Misericorde: Volume One is heading into its finale this upcoming Sunday, showcasing this Misericorde art is a real treat. I especially love the very delicate attention to detail paid to the faint shadowing across Darcy's face and habit, click the image to view it full resolution & really zoom in there. Inspired stuff, thank you Nancy!

Our next and final piece for the week comes courtesy of gekigadream, who also utilized watercolors to bring us their interpretation of one of the most awe-inspiring shots in Xenogears so far. Grahf's introduction, standing on the shoulder of his Gear in front of a blood-red Full Moon is a scene I will never forget, and it's recreated here to great effect. Geki's art nails that sense of scale, and by forgoing detail in favor of a more dream-like painted atmosphere, I find it even elevates the mysterious sense of foreboding that Grahf carries in every scene he shows up in. A wonderful piece.

- - -

I must say, I was not expecting two HAND-PAINTED watercolor pieces to lead the charge here in the month of April, but I can't think of any better way to set the tone for the month to come. Thank you again to Nancy & geki for kicking things off, I'm eager to see what the rest of the community submits throughout the course of the month!

April 2nd, 2025

April Community Art Initiative

I'm Happy to introduce the first of hopefully many Community Initiatives as part of Capralogue.com: the April Community Art Initiative!

In an effort to begin to populate the Community Art pages within the Companion Pages for each selection, I'm calling on anyone with a creative bone in their body to tap into whatever form of creative expression you feel most comfortable with and draft up some Art!

Art submitted within the month of April will be celebrated and thanked with a 30 Roll Credit bounty! That's the same as gifting 10 subscriptions to the channel!

I highly encourage everyone to take part in this. Not only to populate these pages, but just because Art is such a fun way to celebrate characters met and memories made across the playthroughs we have experienced so far on this channel.

So, best of luck, I look forward to seeing what you come up with. Submissions can be sent directly into the Discord, or you can send it to me directly at hello@capralogue.com.

Let April's Community Art Initiative begin!!

March 31st, 2025

Welcome to Capralogue.com!

While this site is still a work in progress, I'm excited to have the opportunity to share an early look at Capralogue's new home outside of Twitch.tv!

Capralogue.com is the new hub for everything related to Capralogue: from Companions, to Roll Credits, to The List, even Trading Cards & Moments(?!) make a return here! I've also included external links to some of the important Capralogue accounts such as Twitch, YouTube, Patreon, & Backloggd.

Over the coming weeks, check back to see the Companion Pages populate with everything you've come to expect from the current Capralogue Blogspot, plus new exciting Community driven pages. Speaking of Community Pages, stay tuned for upcoming initiatives for a chance to earn some easy Roll Credits!

This whole site is created by hand, a result learning HTML & CSS for months now to create a website that evokes the most passionate and exciting Video Game fansites of the late 90s & early 00s. That's all from me, it's your turn to check out the sidebar and click around and find out what Capralogue.com is all about!