And check out Greg’s web series Generation 16 (Episode 8 now available) – click here. And take a trip over to Phil’s YouTube Channel to see some awesome retro game vids.

Own an iPhone/iPod touch? We’ve got an app for that–the Player One Podcast player app is available now. Play shows new and old, read show notes, access the show Twitter, website, email, and more! Click here to download.

Got an Android device? You can now download our app on the Amazon Android Appstore. Find out all about it here.

Follow us on twitter at twitter.com/p1podcast.

Thanks for listening! Don’t forget to visit our new web site at www.playeronepodcast.com. Don’t forget to join our forums if you haven’t already!

Running time: 1:51:00

Check out this episode

And check out Greg’s web series Generation 16 (Episode 8 now available) – click here. And take a trip over to Phil’s YouTube Channel to see some awesome retro game vids.

Own an iPhone/iPod touch? We’ve got an app for that–the Player One Podcast player app is available now. Play shows new and old, read show notes, access the show Twitter, website, email, and more! Click here to download.

Got an Android device? You can now download our app on the Amazon Android Appstore. Find out all about it here.

Follow us on twitter at twitter.com/p1podcast.

Thanks for listening! Don’t forget to visit our new web site at www.playeronepodcast.com. Don’t forget to join our forums if you haven’t already!

Running time: 1:23:30

We’re in a bit of a bad stretch in the WELCO METOT HENEX TLEVEL series. Here we have the second of three Make My Video titles from Sony Imagesoft and Digital Pictures. This also happens to be one of the US launch games for the system. And people wonder why the Sega CD didn’t catch on.

Youth hip hop groups were kind of a thing back in the early nineties. Another Bad Creation more or less kicked the whole thing off in 1991, but when Kris Kross came on the scene in ’92 they blew the doors wide open with their backwards clothes gimmick and their first single, “Jump.” It sat atop the Billboard Hot 100 chart for eight weeks, which set a record for any rap recording at the time. They followed it up with “Warm It Up,” which spent time near the top of the charts as well, not to mention winning a Billboard video award. Their debut album went platinum after that.

So actually, when you think about it, Kris Kross were the most relevant of the three Make My Video groups when the Sega CD launched in 1992. Marky Mark’s “Good Vibrations” had been big in ’91, and INXS’s “Suicide Blonde” was a year older still.

Kris Kross pretty much peaked with their first album. Their two followups were less successful. But they did stick around a while, appearing in movies and going on tour with Michael Jackson to promote his Dangerous album, as well as making a cameo in Jackson’s “Jam” music video.

Anyway, there’s not a whole lot to talk about here. This game follows the same formula as the rest of the Make My Video series. You’re challenged to edit a music video in real time using three simultaneous streams – the actual music video and two collections of stock footage – as well as a bunch of effects like strobes, mirrors, colored filters, etc.

Your videos have to meet the requirements laid out at the beginning of the editing session. In Kris Kross the whole thing is based on a painfully kiddie-’90s-hip radio show premise where eight different callers ask you to tailor videos to them based on “Jump,” “Warm It Up” and “I Missed the Bus.” And once you get through those eight callers you also have the option to freestyle edit.

These games were tech demos. Sega had bet heavily on full-motion-video being the future of the genre, and wanted to show off what the Sega CD could do. And though the videos were postage-stamp small and the quality was atrocious, it was kind of impressive that three different feeds were running simultaneously.

Still…thank goodness I only have one more of these to write about.

Sad post script: As I was doing the research for this article I discovered that one half of Kris Kross, Chris Kelly, died just a couple weeks ago on May 1, 2013. He was 34 years old.

And check out Greg’s web series Generation 16 (Episode 8 now available) – click here. And take a trip over to Phil’s YouTube Channel to see some awesome retro game vids.

Own an iPhone/iPod touch? We’ve got an app for that–the Player One Podcast player app is available now. Play shows new and old, read show notes, access the show Twitter, website, email, and more! Click here to download.

Got an Android device? You can now download our app on the Amazon Android Appstore. Find out all about it here.

Follow us on twitter at twitter.com/p1podcast.

Thanks for listening! Don’t forget to visit our new web site at www.playeronepodcast.com. Don’t forget to join our forums if you haven’t already!

Running time: 1:24:00

Check out this episode

And check out Greg’s web series Generation 16 (Episode 8 now available) – click here. And take a trip over to Phil’s YouTube Channel to see some awesome retro game vids.

Own an iPhone/iPod touch? We’ve got an app for that–the Player One Podcast player app is available now. Play shows new and old, read show notes, access the show Twitter, website, email, and more! Click here to download.

Got an Android device? You can now download our app on the Amazon Android Appstore. Find out all about it here.

Follow us on twitter at twitter.com/p1podcast.

Thanks for listening! Don’t forget to visit our new web site at www.playeronepodcast.com. Don’t forget to join our forums if you haven’t already!

Running time: 55:30

Check out this episode

And check out Greg’s web series Generation 16 (Episode 8 now available) – click here. And take a trip over to Phil’s YouTube Channel to see some awesome retro game vids.

Own an iPhone/iPod touch? We’ve got an app for that–the Player One Podcast player app is available now. Play shows new and old, read show notes, access the show Twitter, website, email, and more! Click here to download.

Got an Android device? You can now download our app on the Amazon Android Appstore. Find out all about it here.

Follow us on twitter at twitter.com/p1podcast.

Thanks for listening! Don’t forget to visit our new web site at www.playeronepodcast.com. Don’t forget to join our forums if you haven’t already!

Running time: 1:11:30

And check out Greg’s web series Generation 16 (Episode 8 now available) – click here. And take a trip over to Phil’s YouTube Channel to see some awesome retro game vids.

Own an iPhone/iPod touch? We’ve got an app for that–the Player One Podcast player app is available now. Play shows new and old, read show notes, access the show Twitter, website, email, and more! Click here to download.

Got an Android device? You can now download our app on the Amazon Android Appstore. Find out all about it here.

Follow us on twitter at twitter.com/p1podcast.

Thanks for listening! Don’t forget to visit our new web site at www.playeronepodcast.com. Don’t forget to join our forums if you haven’t already!

Running time: 1:27:00

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Sega spent many marketing dollars convincing all of us that Nintendo was for babies, that the Genesis was for the cool kids. And they did it with great success, obviously. But that doesn’t mean that the baby gamer market was completely abandoned. At some point in 1993 or 1994, Sega of America decided to add a kid game brand to their library, and the Sega Club label was born.

Sega Club was short lived – only late 1994 through 1995 – but it saw a fair amount of releases. Crystal’s Pony Tale, Ecco Jr., Math Blaster, The Magic Schoolbus and more all found their way to the Genesis in that time period. All in all, the Genesis got nine Sega Club games, the Game Gear three, the Master System one. Kids on Site is the single Sega Club game for the Sega CD.

The game was created by prolific Sega CD developer Digital Pictures under their rare Digital Kids label. Digital Pictures also published the game to the PC and Mac. As far as I know, this is one of only two times the Digital Kids brand was used, the other being a Macintosh-only title called What’s My Story?

The point of the game is basically to put the player at the controls of four different heavy machines you’d normally find at a big construction site. You’ll spend time driving an excavator, a wrecking ball, a bulldozer and a steamroller. The game is, of course, comprised entirely of full-motion video.

As this is a kids’ game, there’s not a whole lot of challenge to be found. Each machine comes with a goal – roll over the fresh asphalt three times with the steamroller, level the building with the wrecking ball – which can be completed very quickly and comes with a small reward in the form of a medal on the menu screen.

But if you choose to drive away from your set tasks, there’s a whole lot more you can do. You can find a fruit stand and use the steamroller to make juice. Or use the wrecking ball to destroy the worksite port-a-potty, much to the chagrin of the perpetually-on-break construction workers that act as background players.

The game is hosted by Bertha, a construction worker who generally offers up real information about each machine before handing off hosting duties to her cohorts, Dizzy and Nuts. Yeah…Dizzy and Nuts. The main purpose of these two is to deliver your tasks and act as comic relief. Remember, this game is for kids, and so the amount of slapstick humor here is overwhelming. Each level generally ends with Nuts getting hurt in some stupid way.

It sounds stupid, and it is kind of stupid. But it’s also the sort of thing a young boy or girl eats up. My four-year old son is absolutely crazy about this game, as he’s fascinated by the heavy machinery featured, and he thinks the slapstick on display is the absolute height of comedy.

So yeah, the merit of creating a game for small children on a system as niche as the Sega CD is very debatable. But I have to say that Digital Pictures did a pretty good job here, which is not something you can say very often.

In Episode 008 we welcome the two latest publishers to the Mega Drive fold: Kaneko and Renovation. We also explore the genesis of Project Million Seller.

Games Included:
- Darwin 4081
- Phantasy Star III: Generation of Doom
- Psy-O-Blade
- DJ Boy
- Whip Rush

Enjoy!

And check out Greg’s web series Generation 16 (Episode 7 now available) – click here. And take a trip over to Phil’s YouTube Channel to see some awesome retro game vids.

Own an iPhone/iPod touch? We’ve got an app for that–the Player One Podcast player app is available now. Play shows new and old, read show notes, access the show Twitter, website, email, and more! Click here to download.

Got an Android device? You can now download our app on the Amazon Android Appstore. Find out all about it here.

Follow us on twitter at twitter.com/p1podcast.

Thanks for listening! Don’t forget to visit our new web site at www.playeronepodcast.com. Don’t forget to join our forums if you haven’t already!

Running time: 1:12:00

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