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OK! Back to business as usual. It's Wednesday. Enjoy your danged video, consarn it.

The talky bits for this episode (and a few others to come) were recorded on-site at Portland Retro Gaming Expo this year (with my coworker Joe Modzeleski handling camera duties). Apologies to those of you who had hoped never to see my face in HD again! I've also decided to take a new approach to the Nintendo Power bits, showcasing nice photos of relevant spreads rather than attempting to incorporate motion (which has honestly never quite worked as intended). 

Files

Rare extremities: Marble Madness & John Elway's Quarterback | NES Works 114

It's the British invasion all over again as Rare Ltd takes on two American institutions—namely, Atari and football. As the UK-based company makes inroads into becoming the TOSE of the West, we see the grim dichotomy of aggressive contract labor come into focus once again: Depending on the project and publisher, Rare's output could vary wildly. For Milton Bradley, they put together a bang-up rendition of coin-op classic Marble Madness. For Tradewest, their freshly endorsed version of arcade sports sim Quarterback feels, shall we say, lacking. The duality of man in action. Production notes: Video Works is funded via Patreon (http://www.patreon.com/gamespite) — support the show and get access to every episode up to two weeks in advance of its YouTube debut! Plus, exclusive podcasts, eBooks, and more! Why watch when you can read? Check out the massive hardcover print editions of NES Works, Super NES Works, and Virtual Boy works, available now at Limited Run Games (https://limitedrungames.com/collections/books)! SG-1000 Works: Segaiden Vol. I is available NOW, and Metroidvania: The First Decade is due in 2024. NES footage captured from Analogue Nt Mini. Video upscaled to 720 with xRGB Mini Framemeister.

Comments

John Learned

As a non-football person, you're getting an, ahem, pass for splicing in that particular Elway footage. If you're telling me you chose that on purpose, though...

William Wend

NES Advantage definitely did help with Marble Madness. I could never play it with the analog NES controller.