Over the years I have been developed and been involved in creating several books based on the NES. From magazines to complete compendiums.
NES-Bit Magazine System was the first 2 publications I created and both are currently available on Amazon.
NES-Bit Magazine System Volume 1
Originally a community created retro magazine to celebrate everything NES.
Consisting of various articles, reviews and a unique glimpse into the
world of the Nintendo Entertainment system.
With 36 NES packed pages covering:
Power Glove Import Special
Nintendo History
Super Mario Bros/Wizard movie reviews
The Holy Grails of NES collecting
NES Homebrews
Consisting of various articles, reviews and a unique glimpse into the
world of the Nintendo Entertainment System. The second issue is packed with over 60 pages of content!
Highlights include:
R.O.B The Robot
Castlevania (Cover) Special - A look at the NES series and some of its unique stand out points
A look at some of the NES's classic Shooters
8bit wars - Classic systems go head to head
Legend of Zelda Special
Japanese Imports
After producing several magazines and retro gaming books, Keith Lutener takes you on a journey through the NES catalogue.
Exploring games of yesteryear as well as talking to the developers
who helped bring you these games. Add to this a selection of handy
guides including instructions on how to properly care for your NES.
Packed with over 200 pages of reviews, developer/programmer
interviews and articles the NES-Bit Compendium offers something for
every Nintendo Entertainment System fan. Even dabbling into the world
of Nintendo at the movies with the epically known Super Mario Bros.
movie!
Being based in the UK one of the ultimate pick ups for the time (yes I know it was advertising but still...) was the regular Club Nintendo Magazine. It came with previews of a good selection of games and often a good selection of guides for numerous games. Was anyone a subscriber back in the day? Post in the comments below!
Several years ago I spent a great deal of time tracking down as many issues as possible. Here is the very first issue for download
Currently running a very active, daily Youtube show where I do gaming discussions, reviews and general messing about in games. Here's a quick sample of what I have to offer but please subscribe, rate and share my channel!
Taking some inspiration from writing my blog I decided to sit down and put my writing to good use. The result is a dedicated UK website for the NES collectors scene which can be found here at NES-Bit: NES-Bit
The aim is to have a complete database of reviews, information, articles, magazines etc You name it and this site will hold it! The database is pretty much complete when it comes to game listings and I've managed to top it up with over 50 reviews, several articles, magazine downloads and some handy hints, just have a look at these links:
Yep I've even thrown in a forum so there's plenty for you lot to get involved in. Please feel free to join up or let me know what you guys think as I really want this to be a success.
My biggest aim is to just to chat, grumble and generally tell you about games I'm interested in as well as what I've been upto in the retro world. My biggest problem with writing the blog was always trying to fire out a couple of thousand words on a regular basis but with the ease of video I'll do my best to offer a more first hand approach to the games I acquire or even own. Please see what you think by following the above link.
It's been a heck of a long time since I updated and I'm sure the few that do come here on a regular basis aren't best pleased with the lack of updates. Sadly it seems traffic to the blog has been quite small since it started so I have been giving series consideration to branching out and trying something new.
With this in mind a week or so back I purchased a brand new camcorder and I'm trying my best to learn how to use it as well as fiddle around with PC editing software. The plan is to start a regular Youtube channel with various reviews, thoughts and just plain old gameplay video's which I'm hoping will be of interest to some of you folks.
The NES won't be my primary focus this time I will be adding plenty of info about other Nintendo systems, some of the older Sega consoles, PC Engine and it's CD-Rom counter part plus various other bits from my retro gaming collection. With this in mind I'm hoping to get a load of decent game related footage when I visit Tokyo in August so exciting times ahead!
Havent been around much lately because I have a pretty big project in the works! Just to show I haven't been completely lazy heres an article I have had published on Gaming Verdict in the past few days:
Not my usual NES stuff but I was asked to try branching out into different areas. Please, please, please rate my article and comment on the site if you think it's any good!
Despite owning several Famicom disk titles I only realised recently that I’ve only created an entry about one so far! Disk games in general feel like a treat to load each time because even though they can take several seconds (compared to the instant cartridge loading) it always adds to the expectation of what you are about to play plus with the usual unreliability of disk games it’s actually a joy when they load without any errors. I’m a huge fan of Zelda, something about the top down view appeals to me when it comes to adventure games so I always try my best to keep an eye out for similar games which is when I followed a suggestion to try out a game called Nazo No Murasamejou.
It seems to be a relatively common game for the Famicom disk system and I had no issue finding a copy on eBay for just £6 as an added bonus it was in immaculate condition. Published by Nintendo in 1986 and only released in Japan (edit. It seems there was a rerelease for the Gameboy Advance in 2004 for the Famicom mini series) it surprised me to learn that the game never seemed to have much commercial success for what is effectively a Zelda clone with enough differences to make it stand out though it did spawn a Japanese television series which was based around the games plot. I had to rely on the internet to discover the plot because nothing is explained in game basically the whole tale is set in ancient Japan when an alien descends onto Murasame castle, taking over the inhabitants with the use of evil spheres and doing the same to the Lords of four surrounding castles. Your job as Takamaru is to work your way through each castle defeating the Lords and seeking out the alien. Not the most epic of tales but compared to the first Zelda game it does have a bit more thought put into it.
It plays identical to Zelda being in the form of a top down scroller however everything seems to work at a much quicker pace. Enemies appear and rush towards you at some speed and it can require some skill in order to dodge fireballs, throwing stars and other weapons. With one button for the players sword and another for the shuriken there isn’t much choice when it comes to weapons though this does change in the form of power ups that replace the standard throwing stars. These appear every few screens and from what I’ve seen ranged from a fireball, a bomb that clears screens and a cloak that makes you invisible.
You may be wondering if I managed to complete this.....and I have to say no. It’s extremely hard with each screen throwing several enemies at once all having their own types of weapons, usually projectiles. Thankfully Takamaru can deflect some of these with his own sword but you really need to be quick to avoid the onslaught. Starting outside each castle you work your way along its gardens before finally making your way inside only to find a large maze like structure which eventually leads to the Lord. It’s fast, frantic and quite frankly a challenge but this is all in the games favour. When you manage to clear a castle Lord it actually feels like a proper accomplishment and because the game is so fast it’s never a burden to work your way through.
So was it worth the long loading times to play, which I’m sure some of you will notice in the video (sorry I couldn’t resist leaving the loading times in)? Certainly yes, for £6 I was faced with a game that could put some of the newer titles to shame, simple to learn but difficult to master it’s the ideal retro game and a real gem. If you are considering buying a disk system or even a Sharp Twin (you really should, try reading my earlier blog entry about them if you are undecided) then Nazo should be at the top of your shopping list. Highly recommended and well worth finding a copy if you can.
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