About ultrasonic9

I am a retro gamer, aspiring writer, and podcaster who loves music from the 80s and great movies, both classic and modern.

Dreamcast 20th Anniversary

Posted on September 12, 2019 by ultrasonic9

Throughout video game history the final console for a company is barely ever mentioned or hardly given any kind of mainstream attention (like the semi-final Atari 7800 and later the Jaguar; or even the CD-i, although to be fair that latter console was the only one Philips ever did), but in the case of Sega their last hurrah as a console maker was one for the history books, and just as important was a console that helped add new innovations that are commonplace in the industry today.

That’s right Arcaders, I’m talking about none other than…

The Dreamcast!

And despite the behind-the-scenes drama that had been occurring in Sega of America at the time, they still managed to put out a system that was truly “ahead of its time”.

Although it was Sega’s last hurrah as a hardware maker, a great deal of positive things came out of the fallout, namely the end of the antagonistic rivalry between Sega and Nintendo. Once Sega became a third-party developer their mascot Sonic the Hedgehog ended up on Nintendo’s Gamecube as well as on the Game Boy Advance, to say nothing of Sega’s other titles making their way to the Playstation 2 and Xbox. While it is impressive seeing Sega’s games on Sony and Microsoft’s consoles, there is something about seeing Sega games on Nintendo’s systems – namely Sonic – that feel more natural. In many ways, it feels as if though while Sonic is third-party, he fits in with Nintendo’s own in-house characters as if though he was always a part of them, which he had been but on the opposite side. Now that isn’t the case anymore, and for those of us who remember, we can now have the best of both worlds, and with the Sonic & Mario Olympic games and of course the recent Super Smash Bros. titles – from Brawl to Ultimate – Sonic definitely has a place with Nintendo fans.

And of course, the online aspects – being able to play against other players across the internet as well as access other things related to the game company – was a novel concept that ended up becoming mainstream with all game systems today.

In all, Dreamcast did indeed leave one indelible mark on the game industry, and it was a mark that had incredible ramifications across the board.

So thank you Sega for giving us a console that, while it was a last hurrah, it did give you all one amazing send-off as a hardware maker and begin a new chapter as a third-party developer.

It’s thinking…!

The Mandalorian Trailer

Posted on August 23, 2019 by ultrasonic9

Grab your jetpacks and helmets Arcaders, because the trailer for the Mandalorian is finally here!

Reggie Fils-Aime Tribute

Posted on May 28, 2019 by ultrasonic9

It started with a man.
Or rather, one quote.

But just who is Reggie Fils-Aime? What is his “secret origin” story?

Well, it turns out he was born in New York – specifically the Bronx and then grew up in Long Island – to a couple that had immigrated to the US from Haiti in the 1950s. From there he had a pretty ideal childhood, attending and graduating from Cornell University. After that he ended up having some very notable stints in different places like Proctor & Gamble, and even had worked at Pizza-Hut for a time where he played a part in the introduction of the Bigfoot Pizza.

(Anyone remember this commercial?)

In the early 2000s Reggie found his way to VH1 where he not only helped with organizing a charity concert for the victims of 9/11 but he also helped lead an initiative in helping the channel target younger audiences as well as retain their core ones as well. This experience would unknowingly prepare him for his next big gig, and one that would change his life as well as the lives of many gamers from the Nintendo camp.

At the end of 2003 Reggie joined Nintendo as Vice President of Sales and Marketing and in E3 of the following year made perhaps the biggest splash of all with the aforementioned line.

Was it the way he said it? No one really knows, but the interesting thing about it is that Reggie himself didn’t even come up with that line. Instead it was someone from Nintendo’s Public-Relations dept. and it did take some convincing for Reggie to go through with it but once he did…the rest was history in more ways than one.

And in not too long of a time after that Reggie was then promoted to President/COO of Nintendo of America, a position he held until this past April.

But beyond that, Reggie was also a hard-worker who lead by example and didn’t take no for an answer.

“I push people really hard. I push our agencies hard and I push our business partners hard. What I think people respect that I do what I’m asking then to do – long nights, long weekends – whatever it takes to get the job done.”

-Reggie Fils-Aime

And through the Wii’s golden years, to the ups and downs of the WiiU, and then Nintendo’s resurgence with the Switch, Reggie has definitely been a guiding light on Nintendo, right alongside Shigeru Miyamoto and the late Satoru Iwata.

And while his Nintendo quest has come to a close, I can definitely say as a Nintendo fan that it has been one heck of a quest to witness, and seeing a company whose games left an indelible mark on my childhood come back into the limelight in the most genuine of ways is nothing short of amazing and incredible.

So enjoy your retirement Reggie, for after all you’ve done for Nintendo and gamers all over it is well deserved, and whatever your new quest will be, may it be a great one.

And of course,
Thank you for playing!