While not explicitly speedrunning, it seems like that would be the best method for accomplishing my challenge. I am considering beginning a quest to reach the end credits of every NES, SNES, and Genesis game officially released in the US. I put together a handy spreadsheet for this task:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1xVDghMrJhs27oAdrd-8hHQGXt6HDkJRzCdd4YAR0o1c
You are all welcome to use that if it helps you in tracking classic gaming in one way or another. Throw another column in there for a "Personal Best" if you prefer. Saves the trouble of having to go through Wikipedia then format it to your liking.
But back to my point. I'm hoping to complete every NES, SNES, and Genesis game released in the US. I know this is something which would take years, and I haven't decided on rules yet beyond not using cheat codes.
My biggest concern is some games are not really beatable in a sense. Tetris is perhaps a great example. At what point does one say "I've completed this game?" I imagine there are many games where that is a concern in making this challenge work. Would it be best to set up broad rules for myself, or will there be some games that just have to be done on a case by case basis for what "seems fair?"
Does anyone have any thoughts on this? Any feedback from experienced runners would surely help in this quest.
Well, it's only insane if I pull it off. Otherwise, it's just a dream. I've seen a good handful of themexicanrunner's runs, so I know what you mean about him being good at them. I'm nowhere near even close to the level of many experienced players here, but I'm figuring 5 years sounds reasonable? I'm still a rookie with many games, and the ones I am most familiar with, I haven't played in years, so who knows how it'll go.
That said, I'm more than happy for any advice anyone can throw my way. Speedrunning on its own I'm somewhat weak on, because my nerves get the better of me much of the time, but I'm hoping to take some methods I've seen to help in my quest.
I'm starting this now, because winter is coming and to be frank I don't go out much in the winter. Have to do something to keep from going mad. =D
Advice: Don't do it. Just play the games that interest you, and forget the rest.
That's probably good advice. Thankfully, most games interest me, and there are many classics I just never got around to playing. Not really stoked about the idea of some of them, but I suspect only 5% of them I'll downright dislike. I'll save those for last and if I give up in the end, I give up. :)
The only problem with SNES/Genesis is that their is significant overlap in their libraries. You'd be playing a couple hundred games twice.
How would you/how did themexicanrunner approach sports games? More modern sports games typically have some semblance of a story mode, but the ones from this era really didn't.
iirc TMR did something like “Win the World Series” or “Win the Super Bowl” since those involved competing a whole season.
How do you expect to get these games?... Or are you planning to acquire them through illegal means?
^ Implying emulation of dead systems isn't commonplace
He's not going to get in trouble for emulating SNES/Genesis games. Now, finding ROMs of a lot of Nintendo games nowadays, THAT'S a tricky one.
Hrmm... I hadn't really considered the SNES / Genesis overlap. I imagine some of the games are virtually identical, but on the other hand, games like Aladdin, Beavis and Butthead, Ghosts n Goblins, etc. are completely different on each system.
As for how I'm going to get all of the games... I'm not well-versed in the rules of the forums as I've only lurked periodically. I won't go into specific detail, but there are some sites that have hosted these games for a good 15 years without being a place you have to worry about getting viruses or bad roms. Plus, Nintendo has gotten my money many times over. I mean, I've bought Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past five different times, as an example. Between SNES, GBA, virtual console, losing games as a kid and having to buy them again, etc., I tend to not have any ethical concerns in this regard. My apologies if that rubs anyone the wrong way. For what it's worth, pretty much anything on a console 1996 and later I refuse to emulate, and with PC games, even the oldest games can be played with legit copies in a virtual machine and the like. I guess we've all got to draw our line in the sand somewhere. :)
It sounds like I'll have to do what The Mexican Runner did in terms of determining completion. Come up with a reasonable case by case method of saying "This game has been completed." Championships in sports games make sense. Getting to the highest level in Tetris makes sense. Things like that.
I suppose it doesn't have to be too hard and fast since I'm doing it for fun anyhow. I appreciate everyone's input, and I hope to spend more time here this coming winter (and possibly beyond).
Now to get back to some classic Doom for the remainder of the evening. Quite possibly my favorite old school PC game. See you all around! :)
I would recommend doing thorough research before just jumping into something like this. Get the full list of all the games you plan to run and lay them all out. Wikipedia is probably the best resource for this. You'll get a good idea of just how much time- at the very least- you can realistically expect to invest in this, and decide whether or not it's worth that time investment. If it is, then I'd recommend putting them all together in a schedule in something like Excel, and plan out at least the first month or two. That should be plenty of time to get the feel of what you're really getting yourself into and after that time, you can re-evaluate whether or not you really want to do this.
I'm about a week and a half into Nanowrimo right now, and it's about the time that people start realizing what exactly it is that they've gotten themselves into. This sounds like a very similar, though much larger scale quest, and I thought I'd give you my opinion while the feeling is still fresh on my mind. That's not to say you shouldn't do it- if it's something you truly want to do, then go for it! but if it's anything like Nanowrimo, there will eventually come a point when it feels like grinding and not very fun, and you'll have to push through it. Talk to anyone Nanowrimo-ing right now and they'll tell you all about it. Cheers, and good luck my friend!
If you're going to do this, which I already advised against, know that TMR may have popularized the idea, but he isn't the only one to do it. A lot of his goals were based on Nintendo Age's attempts at a community beating every NES game: http://nintendoage.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=31&threadid=140551 (sample thread) and this list of endings from GameFAQs https://www.gamefaqs.com/nes/916386-nes/faqs/26831
While those are great for NES, I haven't seen the same effort to document Genesis and SNES game endings. There are plenty of on-going "beat the system" library challenges. Some documented in this list: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/176pFv9a3AJIe14VavJFwFSWdLRK9TZ-5uSy3rFyhoZA (note that most people started up within the first year as TMR, but few dedicated the amount of hours per day, and no other challenges in SNES or Genesis have been completed to date). So, your estimate of 5 years is hardly realistic. In any case, good luck and have fun.