Commercial homebrew?

[DaMadFiddler]

As a member of this "community" (or, at this point, refugee camp), I'm obviously familiar with the Goat Store's publications. But what other commercial releases have there been of console homebrew? I'd imagine disc-based systems see it more frequently, due to ease of publication... but I know there have been some cartridge-based games as well. Battle Kid and the Fortress of Peril (for NES) comes to mind, as does that RPG (don't remember the name of it) that made headlines on Genesis a few years go.

Is there somewhere that has a more or less comprehensive list of posthumous console releases, and where they might be purchased? I've got a stack consoles that need their cartridge slots filled

[melancholy]

as does that RPG (don't remember the name of it) that made headlines on Genesis a few years go.

You are referring to Pier Solar, which has apparently been selling very well. They sold out multiple times and plan to do yet another production run in October. I got mine back in March, though I have admittedly not played much of it.

[not just souLLy now]

There's a bunch of NES releases at http://www.retrousb.com/index.php?cPath=29

[DaMadFiddler]

I've seen RetroUSB before; been thinking about ordering a copy of Battle Kid. (Incidentally, the link you posted is for their repro carts, not their new developments). I know there are other places out there that publish games for NES, SNES, and Genesis, though... but I've never seen anything even approaching a comprehensive list.

[Lartrak]

I've actually been wondering the same thing, and a list would be helpful.

BTW, I have a copy of Battle Kid and Pier Solar. They're both really good actually. From what I've seen of your taste on this forum, think you'd really like Battle Kid. It is hard, but the design, music, graphical design and gameplay are all very good. I'd put it in the top 50 NES games actually.

[DaMadFiddler]

Battle Kid strikes me as a cross between Mega Man and VVVVVV, which sounds very appealing. (VVVVVV was the main reason I bought the last Humble Bundle). Pier Solar I'd have to read a little more about... though I seem to recall there being a couple of other Genesis RPGs as well... I think they were just new localizations of games that were either unfinished or unreleased. Not sure what (if anything) there is in terms of new commercial SNES developments, but I know that several previously-unpublished SegaCD games have been put out over the last ten years. It seems like SegaCD would be a good way to release homebrew Genesis games, as you don't have to worry about cartridge production. You could even theoretically sell the disc image as a download, to eliminate distribution costs almost entirely.

[DanteJay]

I ordered a new cable for my Model 1 Genesis/SegaCD/32X tower. Once I've got it all hooked up properly, I am going to try and get my hands on a copy of Pier Solar.

[DaMadFiddler]

Once I've got it all hooked up properly

X'Eye ftw.

[Lartrak]

The only SNES homebrew released on cartridge I know of is Frog Feast, which has been released on a TON of systems. Unfortunately, to date there doesn't appear to be a homebrew replacement for the SNES lockout chip (unlike the NES, where there are a couple homebrewed ones available) so it was made by manually removing ROMs from existing SNES carts and swapping them out, and then replacing the label.

Beggar Prince I think is the other Genesis game you're thinking of. And yeah, it's a bug fixed and English translated release of an old Taiwanese Megadrive RPG.

There have also been a number of both Jaguar and Jaguar CD releases - a few homebrew games, as well as releases of old games that had never gotten released due to the short lifespan of the Jaguar and Jaguar CD. Quite similar to the Sega CD actually. Iron Soldier 2 for the Jaguar CD was also ported to the regular Jaguar - same game, minus the FMV cutscenes. Probably because it was the only really good Jaguar CD exclusive.

[DaMadFiddler]

That's a shame about the SNES; the system has enough built-in hardware features that you can do some surprisingly advanced things with it. But if that's true... how do they make those SNES flash carts? are those made from Frankensteined OEM games as well?

I ended up buying Battle Kid this week. It came in the mail yesterday, and I played for an hour or so last night. It's been a long time since I've played a game that made me work this hard for every inch I gained--I have no idea how you'd beat this game on one of the harder difficulties, where your number of continues is limited. Quite good, though; exactly what I was expecting. It's a shame that publishing for cartridge-based systems is so complicated.

I don't suppose there's an easy way to convert Genesis homebrew games for Sega CD, is there? I've seen a few interesting freeware Genesis ROMs, and it seems a lot more practical to burn them to CD than to try and get them in cartridge form.