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illegalsmileIV:XX

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Posts posted by illegalsmileIV:XX

  1. illegalsmileIV:XX - SNES

    1. Name, age, occupation, location?
    Clement, 40. I'm a freelance writer/journalist, living, and working, with my missus of 10 years in Birmingham, England. 

    2. What hobbies or other interests do you have?
    I'm two-thirds of the way through writing a semi-autobiographical, though mainly fictional, novel, at the moment. Interests outside of writing include reading, Blues and Country music, painting, guitars, Cigar Box Guitars, harmonica, stand up comedy, retro technology and, obviously, Hockey. I also enjoy collecting vinyl records, rolling papers and typewriters, all while staying 4:20 friendly and being the best exponent of Dudeism I can be.

    3. When did you get introduced to the game NHL'94?  How did it happen?
    I was around the age of 18 and I worked with a Russian guy, who I used to get drunk and stoned with on the reg, while we played GoldenEye and MK64. He introduced me to Hockey games with Wayne Gretzky's 3D Hockey and I introduced him to "Alternative Comedy," with The Young One's, Bottom and The Comic Strip Presents videos. He happened to mention how good the 16-bit generation of Hockey games were, NHL '94 particularly. I'd never played any sports games, back in the day. I was more into Street Fighter II and Mortal Kombat, as a kid. I have been a complete Nintendo fanboy since around the age of twelve, so it wasn't long before I went and bought a long forgotten SNES again. (I'd owned one previously to the N64, but had sold it, along with all the games, to help pay for the brand new N64 console.) It was around the year 2000 when I repurchased the Super Nintendo, the console and the games could be found for pennies. I bought a ton of games from charity and junk shops, some of which were awesome titles you'd pay a fortune for today - Chrono Trigger, Earthbound, Super Metroid and Harvest Moon, all of which I bought for no more than £1 each. One of the games I'd picked up was NHL '94, the game I'd been told so much about, on many a drunk and stoned N64 and Young One's marathon night. I played '94 and fell in love with it, I realised quickly, after getting hold of '95-'98, and NHLPA '93, NHL '94 was hands down the best Hockey game of the 16-bit era. Even then, I knew it was special. From that point on, twenty-two years later, '94 is still the game I play more than any other. (With honorable mention's going out to NBA Jam T.E., M.K. 2 and UMK 3.)

    4. When did you get introduced to nhl94.com and the online community? Were you playing between these two dates?  (That is, between first becoming aware of game, and first becoming aware of nhl94.com.)

    Without this video popping up in my YouTube feed, I'd have never have known about the community. But, yes, I was definitely playing prior to finding the community.

    5. What are a couple things that you love about the game?
    The sheer simplicity of it, it isn't something you need to dedicate a huge amount of time to, before gaining a full understanding of the controls. Once you get to know the controls and a little understanding of the game itself, you start to see how differently weighted different teams are. You see the differing play-styles, the skating, you want to experiment with every team, the lines, manual goalie and off sides. And before you know it, you've been playing for twenty years, or more...

    6. Are you a gamer in general? What other games do you play?
    Definitely. It started at the age of eight with a Commodore 64 and copies of Wonder Boy and Silk Worm, then I moved onto the Amiga 500, Cannon Fodder, Elite and Lemmings. Before I knew it, the Console Wars had started and I enlisted to serve my country, serving my time and fighting alongside Field Marshall Mario and Nintendo. This, I did with pride, right up until the release of the PS2. The PS2, for me, was the most exciting console since the release of the Super Nintendo. I later went on to buy a PS3 and felt cheated by the console, from that point on, I purposely turned away from modern gaming. By this time, I'd already bought a SNES and still owned my PS2, so I sold my PS3 and bought an Atari VCS. I followed that up with a NES, another N64, a ZX Spectrum and an Amiga 500. Nowadays, all I own are "retro" systems and computers. I prefer pixels over perfection.

    7. Do you follow hockey in real life? Any other sports?
    Hard Yes! I'm an Oilers supporter, but also enjoy watching the Wild and Bruins as well. Sadly, I decided upon the Oilers as my team, I still have no idea why, but there we are... Now, I'll watch pretty much any Hockey game, from any league. The only other sports I can really watch and take an interest in are Basketball, (Go Celtics!), and Baseball, (Go Red Sox!), but neither are as interesting, or as exciting to watch as Hockey.

    8. If you have been to a live tourney, what was it like meeting the real people behind the screen names? Any big surprises?
    I have never been to a live tournament, would like to, but haven't yet.

    9. What is behind your screen name? (Origin story, if there is one.)
    Illegal Smile was the name of my first band, it was named after the John Prine song. The IV:XX is just 4:20 in Roman numerals. I lowercase the "i," at the beginning purely because it's more aesthetically pleasing.

    10. Favorite NHL94 player in game (and why)?
    It's got to be The Great One. I mean, just out of loyalty... [Taking off the rose-tints] Besides Gretz, I'd have to go with Yzerman. He was the first player who truly stood out to me as being different. Mistakes are non-existent with him, he's one of the few completely fully-rounded players, he can turn on a dime and shoot as quick and direct as a bullet from a gun.

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    • Like 3
  2.  

    Riddle me this... 

     

    Have you ever hit a "Two-Liner?"

    Are you aware of why "Tron," does indeed, "Funkin' Blow?"

    Has your face ever been "Bunged up?"

    Are YOU an embarrassment to Pilsner?

    If you answered, 'Fackin eh! Right on!,' (or possibly, 'I don't think your FUBAR references are landing, bud'), to any of the above, then you might(?) get a kick out of this blogcast. By episode 3, the good starts to get turned up and the suck gets turned down, as NHL '94 becomes an impromptu feature.

    If you've already Bindair Dondat, and you're not interested, then that's cool too, but... I am now going to tell everyone, you tried to stick your tongue in my mouth. 

     

    WAHOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!

  3. 2 hours ago, KaBa78 said:

    In the pinball League they print and send them too, quite funny cause most of the younger players liked that

    They are a really cool idea... They remind me of the punk fanzines of my youth, written on a typewriter, photocopied in the local chemist and stapled together by hand. :victory:

    I'll be honest, I'm not an online player of this awesome game, but I do like to try to keep up with the league and results... I'm not going to pretend and say I have any useful knowledge - at all :unsure: -, to offer... (Well, nothing that someone with far more experience and know-how couldn't tell you. In far more detail...) But, I can write a fairly passable article... I mean, if you want some added input or help, I'd do what I can to help the community... If I can be provided with the information, I would be willing to have a go at putting a few articles together.

     

    2 hours ago, KaBa78 said:

    Portraits of the best players ect.

    These would have to be 16-Bit portraits. 

  4. On 11/11/2014 at 9:50 PM, kingraph said:

    I want to make a site for this very reason...leaning towards this spring/summer if I find the time to start.

    I just found the site, do you think you'll have any plans of finishing it off?

    I mean, I've read what was already there and honestly, it looks as though it was shaping up to really be something useful and could really go some way to creating more competition.

     

    http://nhl94strategy.com/

    For anyone who's interested.

    • Like 1
  5. 3 hours ago, danTML7 said:

    who are you? like what's your real name or your name on the socials?

    I'm not on any social media, I am on the discord, but I don't really engage, because until recently I couldn't get discord to work right. 

    I don't play online tournaments, because I doubt I'm good enough... I watch the gameplay, but I'm just a console gamer and a big fan of '94, generally.

     

    3 hours ago, danTML7 said:

    you gotta click on my name above and click submit for your vote to be counted I think.

    I swear, I thought I'd done that... It's done now... I think!

     

    3 hours ago, danTML7 said:

    I .... have no life. lol

    Ah, who has this year?!

  6. 13 hours ago, The90Jacket said:

    How do you vote for Halifax? 

    AGREED!

     

    I had to go with m'boy, dantml...

    Besides having a tendency to go with the underdog... Out of everybody that makes this community what it is, dantml is the guy, who's YouTube channel keeps a non-online-player, like myself, up to date with tournament game play. 

  7. May I be the first to thank dantml and King of 94 for their recent "Classic League," uploads, on YouTube! :red_heart::exciting::red_heart:

    As someone who doesn't really do Twitch, and I find discord too busy and confusing, it's fantastic to be able to watch the classic league matches, on a comfortable platform. With the exception of Smash64 and GoldenEye Speedrunning, '94 is the only gameplay I watch. Largely due to reasons of boredom, (also, non interest), so, it's great for a non-competitive player, like myself, to be able to still keep up with the league games.

    Thank You, dantml and King of 94. :thumbs_up:

    (Both of whom are ahead of Jay, who hasn't uploaded s**t in months - jus' sayin' -, and don't get me started on Smo... Who I had to resubscribe to, a second ago, just to make this potshot more moral.)

    Cheers, from the UK, to organizers, uploaders and all of the players of this fantastic game... If you're ever in town, I'll lend you £10 and you can buy me a drink. :big_smile:

    • Like 2
    • Haha 1
  8. 2 hours ago, Edge of '94 Midwest said:

    You don't have to like both.  They're both great for their own reasons, but if you don't like one let it go.

    Speaking as a decorated veteran of the Great Console War, of the early 90's, it would have been a cold day in hell, during the conflict, when I would have agreed with this statement. The dedicated 12 year old, I was, would have called you a "retarded-spaz," (you were allowed to, back then), for not recognizing the superiority of the SNES. 

    But, now, in my more mature years, I fully endorse this message of peace. :dal_skater_hand_grab:

    I urge everyone of my brothers and sisters to do the same, we fought our war, but that war is over now... I, like my fellow Soldiers of SNES once took pride in knowing we came out of the conflict, the clear victors, there are some, I know, who still do. But, I say to them, did we win? I mean, in the long run? Sure the SNES hardware had the clear advantage in colors and sprites, as well as more flexible hardware that was able to expand with newer tech included in game cartridges, but the Genesis was black, and that was good too. 

    Let us all, together, end this petty rivalry, once and for all. :thumbs_up:

  9. 12 hours ago, DanK said:

    The f**king WHALE rules. And I won't hear anything to the contrary

    Yup, my missus is definitely good people, but "whale" is going a bit far... I mean, she likes her Pringles and Doritos, but that's just the munchies. :haha:

    And, yes, what you're thinking is correct... No, she won't ever read this! :D

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  10. 11 hours ago, DanK said:

    I like to play CHI-DET and play as the Blackhawks because I'm a YUUUUUGE Blackhawks fan (esp when Roenick was 1st line at the motherfucking dot) but also because DeToilet always beats me in that matchup and I just fuuuuuucking hate myself. So it works!

    I have to be honest and say, despite all the great combinations of team match ups, Chicago-Detroit is certainly the most fun. Both teams are just in god-mode. I always play Detroit... And by "always play Detroit," I mean, EVER SINCE AUGUST CHICAGO CAN GO f**k THEMSELVES... Umm, sorry 'bout that, what I meant to say was, yeah Chicago doesn't really "gel" with me, even with Roenick... Yzerman like a ma'facka!

    (Also, while I'm here, f**k DOMINIK KUBALIK TOO!)

    Okay, I'm done, I'm going to lie down, for a bit... :nothing_to_say: 

    • Haha 1
  11. Quote
    2 minutes ago, seamor said:

    My friends and I like San Jose VS Anaheim (embracing the suck, and also a nice Cali rivalry), and Hartford VS Quebec for maximum 90s effect.

     

    My Missus has a tendency to play as the sharks or Hartford... When she plays as SA, I'll take Ottawa - worst goal-tending in the game. When she's Hartford, I've always found my Oilers to be a fair match up, but I also have a tendency to go for the nineties vibe with Quebec.

    • Love 1
  12. Quote
    8 hours ago, DanK said:

    CUNTY

     

    I only realised after writing, I could have written it as "c**t." I'm not used to censoring my cursing. :angry: So far, I have realised, I can get away with Motherfucker, tittyfucking and, now, cunty... Without the use of the last one, my vocabulary would literally be halved, so I owe you an enormous thank you for that one! :thumbs_up:

    Oh yes, I've met one or two Aussies, and if there was ever a nation that values this, oh so sacred word, it's them. I've read posts on here that are censored and I didn't realise it was done automatically... Really, it's a good thing, I'll just have to get more creative with my cursing and expletives. Aussie rules, I am positive, isn't even a sport, it's just a way for Aussies to beat up people they don't like, under the guise of a sport... It's like they have looked at rugby and American football and thought, "yeah, they're both good, but unless someone dies on the field, then it isn't a real sport."   

    I'm in England, by the way... I absolutely love your spelling of Northern Ireland, the only flaw I can point out is, it's actually legible... From my experience with the Irish, legibility is not at the top on their list of priorities.

    I know my post went on, (as my ol' man would say, 'you're a f**king wordy c**t, m'boy'), and I did intend to put a thank you at the bottom of it - "well done, if you read all of this, I wouldn't have bothered m'self" -, y'know, that sort of thing. But I forgot due to incapability... No, I wasn't drunk, you racist bad C-word, I was actually as high as a motherfucking-tittyfucking-bastard! So there! :)

    I had no idea if my explanation, for my edit, would be understandable to people, (**** = The naughty C-word), or whether folks would just think I was drunk. As I say, I wasn't, but having mentioned the Irish thing, I knew it was a safe (and fair) assumption.

    • Haha 1
  13. Right, I don't play online and I know f**k all about modding, but I can, at least, get in on this...

    My first experience with video games came with Super Mario Bros, on the NES, way back in 1987. It was my Christmas present for that year. Despite being a kid who was into comics, sci-fi, Planet of the Apes and Godzilla films, (an expected natural video game addict), it wouldn't be until a few years later, with Duck Tales, that I came to appreciate just how fantastic the NES was/still is. I later received Chip 'n Dale the following year and, (as a SNES was out of the price range of my parents, at the time), TaleSpin, in 1992. These three are still my favourite games on the NES, a console I still own (not my O.G. one though), and play a fair bit.

    The following year, however, I did receive the prestigious SNES, although, certainly in the U.K., the Megadrive/Genesis was infinitely more popular... It was also cheaper. I went through the entire life span of the SNES, NEVER ONCE playing a sports game, on it. Instead favouring games such as Super Mario World, Link to the Past, Donkey Kong Country, Mario Kart and Street Fighter II - which every kid, whether a SNES or Megadrive owner, played, when I was growing up.

    My first sports game came with the N64 console, which, by the time it came out, I'd bought for myself, as I was working at this time. Once again Super Mario dominated the time that I spent playing - remember I would have been around 16/17 at this point, when you're making your own money and can pass for eighteen in pubs and an eager weed smoker, video games get put on the back-burner. (Nowadays, I would say they go together like whiskey and impotence, but I was young and still had to learn.) A game which came to overtake SM64 was GoldenEye 007. I worked with a Canadian guy, a year or two older than I was, who also owned an N64. One day, following some ribbing and friendly banter over GoldenEye times...

     

    'I can finish "Frigate," on double-O agent, in less than three minutes, you f**king Canuck ****.' (Forgive me, I'm Irish. That word is religious to my people.)

    'Yeah, well I've got it down to two and a half, you f**king thick-Mick Irish ****.' (And, as I said, he was Canadian, so it was also pretty close to his heart too.)

    That sort of thing.

     

    He invited me round to his, for a beer and smoke and to settle our dispute.

    Without wishing to brag, I beat him like a ginger stepchild, most times, out of however many games we played. We started to drink heavier and smoke more, as you'd imagine, both of us suffered greatly with our aim. I suggested he put on Mario Kart, as drunk-kart-driving, is not only big and clever, but it was also damn fun to boot. Instead, he put on Wayne Gretzky's 3D Hockey and I whinged like a bastard, lit a joint and watched him play. 

     

    'Stupid American team names... Redwings, sounds like a panty-liner. Blackhawks, that's racist! Maple Leafs? Is that a f**king joke, Maple... Leafs? Seriously?'

    'The last one is a Canadian team, you stupid (*guess what came next*)'

     

    I got stoned enough to want to have a go and I was awful at it, I mean, seriously bad. He set it to "play game" mode for me and the first team I played was Hartford and I was beaten, something like, 9-0. I got pissy about it and said if he didn't put Mario Kart on, then I was going to tell everyone in work, that he tried to touch my winky when I was drunk. The following week, I was reminded about just how bad I was and, I know this probably says more about me than it does him, I went out after work and picked up a copy of the game for myself. I was pleased by the fact of how cheap it was, I believe I paid around £25 brand new, (hockey isn't big in Britain, then or now.) I didn't mention it to him and came to learn the basics of the game over the next few nights, playing into the early hours of the morning. At the end of the week, I said I wanted a rematch, he laughed and said okay... When I started playing, right away he asked, when I'd bought it for myself, I said, I didn't know what he was talking about and he pretended that he believed me. On the wall, in his living room, he had a large Edmonton Oilers flag, from first playing the game, at home, I chose to play as the Oilers because I wanted to beat him with his own team and I was happy to choose any team that Satan was on. While we were playing, my pal said something to the effect of, "Yeah, this is good, but it's no 94." I asked him what he was talking about and he went on to explain how fantastic NHL'94 was. I balked at the idea of a game from a previous console being better than the 3D graphics of the one we were currently playing, he told me, the graphics don't matter, the game play was awesome on 94 and he was thinking of buying a SNES and a copy of the game again. I have no idea if he ever did, as not long after, he'd decided he'd had enough of Britain and moved back to Canada.

    Without the competition of it, I stopped playing Gretzky's 3D and went back to playing my usual type of game, mainly GoldenEye. Every now and again, I would give 3D another go, still playing as the Oilers, for old time's sake. The first NHL game I ever played was 99, still a favourite on the N64, I bought it mainly due to remembering being told how good NHL'94 was. My logic being, well if 94 was good, 99 should be fantastic. In my opinion, it was good and, overall, better than 3D. The N64 I have today is still my original console, I kept it purely for GoldenEye and Perfect Dark, I never bought another games console after it and a few years later, 5-6, I repurchased an NES and SNES. I bought back all my old games and a few (hundred) that I never had the chance to play first time round, one of which was NHL'94. The game was outstandingly brilliant, I mean, I, to this day, do not feel as though my friend did it justice, when he explained how good it was. It was/is far superior to both 3D an 99, (as well as every other hockey game of the 16 and 64-bit era's, although NHLPA'93 is definitely up there as a favourite too.) I quickly developed a passion for, both, the game and the sport itself. I watched hockey games on cable television and adopted the Edmonton Oilers as my team. I've been playing 94 for fifteen years and have loved hockey and my Oilers, for nearly as long. My Missus of seven years is an Oilers fan, because I said she can sleep in the shed if she even dreams about cheering for anyone else, and she is f**king good at 94 too... Even if she does have a tendency to beat me with Hartford. As well as that one time with the Sharks, THAT WE DEFINITELY DON'T TALK ABOUT!!

    I only found this forum and (cult) community, earlier on this month, but I have already realised, I am in the presence of (sad old men like myself) like minded aficionados of the greatest video game on the planet. Half of whom seem to have more talent for programming games than EA themselves.

     

    - IV:XX

    **** = The naughty C-word, just in case you're curious.

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