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Edge of '94 -- Modano Mo' Problems IV -- March 2, 2024 I would like to start off by thanking Troy (@trojanlargefarva not sure of tag on forums) and @LeifErikson for putting together and hosting such an amazing event. Leif's team was absolutely spectacular. They started setup at 10am on Friday and worked a good portion of the day to bring it all together and then stayed for hours after the event on Sat night breaking it all down. Big shoutout to Noah for running everything so smoothly behind the scenes all day on Saturday as well. I just can't express how lucky we are to not only have someone in our community who owns his own production/AV company, but is also a CRT collector/enthusiast... and to top it off, willing to essentially craft a tourney venue inside a hotel lobby. THURSDAY I arrived Thursday afternoon ahead of anyone coming from out of town. As I explained on discord, my brother and gf live around the corner from Moxy so I thought I would be stopping by and having dinner with them on Thu evening, only to find out a couple days prior from a pic they sent over text that they were in Mexico (lol). Needless to say, my plans opened up that day. @LeifErikson hearing about this a couple days before reached out to let me know he would stop by to set up a solo crt and mega sg setup so I or anyone else arriving Thu could play that day. Again, just a true testament to the kind of thoughtful character that we're all dealing with when it comes to Leif. I arrived at hotel around 3pm and some of the staff from the year before was there (Justine and our bartender Ben who developed the Goalie Lock in '23) so we caught up for a little bit. Went upstairs to throw my things in and when I came down Leif happened to be around the corner in the library. We played some exis, caught up and he had some time to go out to dinner before he was set to pick up his daughter so we hit up Nightingale in Uptown not too far from Moxy. Food was ok, drinks were better, company was best part of the experience. Leif was nice enough to drop me back off at the hotel after at around 7. I knew that @annatar and @angryjay93 (so happy I don't have to type CalmGreg) were going to arrive somewhere around dinner time. Not knowing if I was going to encounter SoCal CG or AJ which would cause anyone anxiety, I apparently walked into the lobby with enough purpose and steadfastness that I was immediately questioned by this highly energetic sprite, Maly, who happened to be the hotel manager. She made fun of me for how serious I walked in the door... I didn't have it in me to explain what damage an insufferable SoCal CG can cause (lol) so I laughed it off as I should have. She was really fun, Ben was there so she was getting me drinks and it was just more of the Moxy being welcoming. Side story while I was at the bar: there was this weird guy on a tablet sitting next to us. It looked like a video stream of an overhead desert environment. He looked a bit stressed and then all of a sudden he starts swearing to himself and going on under his breath... but juuuuuust loud enough for my new pixie friend to hear him carrying on. She asked him what was going on just as I can see some house or building exploding in this tops down perspective. He's like "oh, nothing , nothing" but she can clearly see his tablet screen as well. Then she asks him if he works for the govt and he responds by saying "welllll, ya know..." then stands up, "excuse me for a moment" and walks away so disturbed. My skin was about to fall off due to the cringe factor. This mf'er was playing it up like he's bombing targets while having drinks in the Moxy lobby on a Thursday night. That is some lame f'ing garbage. All I could think when he finally paid his tab and took off is after a rousing remote Search & Destroy mission, I wonder how much 'ole Captain Carnage tips over there. Shortly after he left, my fun fairy asked if I wanted to head with her to the Wine Bar down the street which I was definitely agreeable. In my head, one can't help but think at that moment, "Interesting. Definitely a vibe here. Where is this night headed? I'm not sure... but I'm digging the potential. I'm game". As I turn to leave with her, who is right there at the front desk... Annatar and AJ! I introduced them to Maly and she asked if they wanted to go to the wine bar with us so they ran upstairs to drop off their things. (Listen, I had this whole jokey diatribe written out to poke fun about the timing of them as the dynamic duo of c0ck blocks but in all honesty, I couldn't have been happier in that moment when I saw those 2 guys.. AJ is a good friend and I've always wanted the chance to spend more time getting to know Annatar. especially now that there's more of an opportunity with him playing Gens). I think the biggest takeaway on the walk to the wine bar was not only did our aggressively entertaining imp not know where Montreal was (to be fair, I did not know it was due straight north of NYC... thought it was NW of NYC), I don't think she had heard of Montreal... ever! In fact, I think the jury was out if she knew where Canada was so there was that. The wine bar was fantastic. Just a jazz duet of a singer and guitarist. Annatar hadn't eaten yet so we ordered a charcuterie and a good amount of wine. When the board was brought out, Mali had to be made fun of with her high powered flash photo that made the WORST photos I've seen. This old guy had to teach her to turn the photos off for food pictures and that this was most likely the reason none of her food pictures had any likes on her instagram until that point. haha. One notable interaction with our bartender/server was inspired by the skilled threat we had to look forward to on Saturday with our very own AJ... I asked her if she could impart on us the most effective way to poison someone undetected. This seemed like a good question at the time considering she had an abundance of cheeses and meats at her disposal. To be fair, she didn't really recover from the shock of the question and therefore, provided no useful information. AJ was very pleased with this outcome. We walked back to the hotel after dropping Mali off at her car (to my dismay, she did not bob her head twice and disappear into a poof of magic dust... she just got into a Hyundai. lol) We must have got back to the hotel around 1030 to play exis in the library portion of the lobby and before I knew it, we headed to bed around 2am. Didn't know that time could fly like that when you're getting shellacked. Thus concludes our Thursday adventures... I'll skip the part where SoCal CG heads upstairs to play with his Juicy Bits. :tangerine: Stay tuned remainder of the Edge weekend write-up later this week...

Have you ever wondered what all the player names were associated with the numbers in the Original NHL Hockey? Well here it is!! This is the Original NHL Hockey (1990-91 Playoff rosters) inside NHLPA 93. --Rosters, ratings, and lines are taken directly from the original game. --San Jose is not included as the players were totally fictional. --Awesome EASN Splash screen. --Awesome new Center Ice logo. --Banners updated. --Ron Barr Team introductions are updated to reflect 1990-91 season. --Sim Data updated to match 1990-91 Season. --Starting goalie sim accurately reflects 1990-91 season. --Playoff Match-ups accurately reflect 1991 playoffs. --Uniforms mostly match the original with minor more realistic improvements. --Eliminated NHLPA symbol on the playoff brackets. --Eliminated second splash screen with the goalie. --Eliminated numbers from Ron Barr intro screen. (Replaced with rom info) --Weight Bug Fixed. (The original NHL Hockey did not have the weight bug either.) Updated to version 2 on March 9, 2024. I added the C/B check fix and cleaned up some errors on the Ron Barr intros. nhlpa92v2.bin nhlpa92.bin

Okay. This one might not be the one you are waiting for, but it's time to lighten up the backlog and make a retro review. The year is 1998. <examples of events and pop culture stuff no one cares about> and the NHL is finally allowing its players to play in the Olympics. To mark the occasion, a couple of video games came out, both of which admittedly were ported from existing games to varied results. The [possibly] more well known one was Olympic Hockey '98 published in North America by Midway for the N64. The game was panned for being a recycling of Wayne Gretzky's 3D Hockey '98 [which itself was recycled from Wayne Gretzky's 3D Hockey]. Ignoring the international reskinning, the game also had the dubious distinction of being a 3-on-3 game, with a broadcast angle view and early era 3D graphics and voice acting that haven't aged well. The second [likely even less well know] game based on the monumental tournament was itself a port, this time based on the EA Sports NHL games, specifically the engine that the '96 through '98 entries were based on. Even more specifically, long time small team developer Team 1920 was contacted to help convert the PAL version of Elitserien'96 over to an Olympic hockey game. Perhaps scared off by the critical panning of the N64 game, EA decided to not have the game ported to NTSC markets, leaving this one as a European-only release. Not wanting to get the improper experience, I was able to import over a nice vintage 21" PAL CRT TV and original SEGA Mega Drive. I was told by some "electrician expert" that I would not be able to convert my house to 50 cycle electrical power, but I was able to get a generator that had the proper output, which coincidentally also had these weird shaped plug sockets that fit the weird shaped plugs on my new-old TV and game system. On a side note, I had to play with the window open, even though it's winter, because apparently "generators aren't supposed to be run indoors you idiot", but I don't think it affected my play too much. Anyway, this is supposed to be a game review, not a baking recipe, so let's get on to it. Presenting: Olympic Hockey: Nagano '98 [or apparently originally Nagano Hockey '98 in Europe] Apparently the original EA publisher logo had to stay [they're so boring], but Team 1920 changed it up for this one as usual. The first thing you'll notice in this game is that the number of teams has been reduced. As opposed to the original 26-31 teams available in NHL '96-'98, this game only has 14 teams. These include all twelve countries that took part in the main 1998 tournament, as well as final Group A qualifiers Italy and Austria. [Italy actually placed higher than Japan in the final standings, but being that the Olympics did take place in Nagano, it's obvious why they were in the main group] Season mode was nice inclusion, even if the national teams don't necessarily play full "seasons". This would be based on the 44-game schedule of the Swedish Hockey League, with the top eight teams qualifying for the playoffs. The game lets you pick your team and shows some team ratings that are [probably] based on how well they stack up against the rest. It appears that even though the game never got an official North American port, Team 1920 was already working with CBC Sports [your official Olympic Games Broadcaster] in Canada. You can also play a standalone Playoff Mode if you chose. This comes in Single Elimination or Best-of-5 varieties. But if you play trough the season [and qualify] you are given a chance to go for gold as well. The difference however, is that if you win the tournament in Season Mode, you are rewarded with a team photo. [that looks suspiciously like...] Another award for completing a season is... awards. The top players [or coaches] get to have their names under medals for being atop their respective metric. One thing to note with this version of the game as opposed to the original NHL games, is that the simulated opponents in a season are a lot more mixed, so unlike NHL'96-'98, where a simulated game or season would normally result in a very predictable outcome [Detroit, New Jersey, Quebec/Colorado finishing near the top of the standings and/or reaching the Finals] the AI is a lot more random in this case, which keeps things interesting. In ten full simulations, I had eight different countries win the championship. Speaking of players, one interesting wrinkle that turns up here that [normally] didn't come up in international hockey [although it is becoming less rare in more recent years] is the inclusion of player transactions. In addition to creating custom players, adding new players to your roster or trading players between different countries, you can straight up deport anyone who under performs. Harsh. [interesting coincidence with this screen shot, as real life Sweden's Samuelsson would actually be dropped from the team after their first game for having applied for a U.S. passport] You can also view all of the rosters and player ratings in this game. Most of the big teams' player ratings come courtesy of NHL'98, probably for consistency's sake and nothing to do with how time consuming it would be to independently calculate every single player from scratch. While annoyingly not on by default, you can also turn on line changes and add your new acquisitions to your starting unit. Another side note. Canada's roster actually includes the injury-reserved Paul Kariya as an extra player, so you can play with either him, or his replacement Mark Recchi, in your lineup if you chose. Game play is pretty standard actually, if you've already played the Genesis versions of NHL'96-'98, but unlike ol' number 99's Atari arcade game, and the subsequent ports, it sticks to real 5-on-5 hockey. Hook up the official EA 4-Way Play adapter for some 2v2 couch multiplayer, or when you get tired of getting charlie-horsed by your big brother, 1vCPU is okay too. There's also a shootout mode, but why the hell would you ever want to play that? On a side note, if you don't feel like tracking down a real copy, I guess you can use an emulator. A couple things to note is that you will want to use the auto-detect or PAL option on your CPU settings or else the game won't boot up. However, once you have the game running, you could actually change the CPU setting to 60hz NTSC, but it will basically act like all of the players are pumped up on steroids and cocaine and the game physics get out of control. Another artifact of the Swedish originated port, is that the player position indicators are still using the Swedish initialization. I guess the code for the single characters was hard to find or something. But as long as you are familiar with your player's numbers, you should be fine. Anyway, no review score. Just try it out yourself if you want. Olympic Hockey - Nagano 98.bin

nhlpaOriginal6v2.bin nhlpaOriginal6.bin --Rosters, ratings, and lines by Coach Mac. --Rosters are not from an exact year but from an era as described below. --Ratings are exactly aligned to the original NHL Hockey ratings template. --The 6 teams are divided into 4 Divisions with each team appearing in each Division. 1951-55 Gordie Howe Division (The Red Wings won 3 of 5 Cups) 1956-60 Jean Beliveau Division (The Canadiens won 5 consecutive Cups) 1961-67 Bobby Hull Division (The Blackhawks won the Cup in 1961, Toronto won 4 Cups) 1991-92 NHLPA93 Division (The Original 6 teams taken directly from NHLPA 93) --Awesome EASN Splash screen. --Awesome new Center Ice logo. --Banners updated. --Ron Barr Team introductions are updated to reflect the team. --Sim Data updated to match the team.. --Starting goalie sim accurately reflects that team. --Playoff Match-ups accurately reflect Divisions listed above. --Uniforms match the teams in each time frame. --Eliminated NHLPA symbol on the playoff brackets. --Eliminated second splash screen with the goalie. --Eliminated numbers from Ron Barr intro screen. (Replaced with rom info) --Weight Bug Fixed. Version 2 --I added the C/B check fix. --Put fatigue back in the game. --Corrected some mistakes and made improvements to the Ron Barr intro quotes. --I added some nicknames, line names, and when teams won the Cup to Ron's intro. --Updated the title in forum.

great story! Fun Times last weekend @IAmFleury'sHipCheck

Great write up. We want more! What about Verticality ?