Latest news with #TimeExtension
Business Mayor
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Business Mayor
This Retro Game Store Is So Good It Has Its Own Video Game
Image: Damien McFerran / Time Extension If you've ever been lucky enough to visit the historic UK city of York, then there's a good chance you've visited the excellent Sore Thumb Retro Games, an independent store packed to the rafters with video games, anime products, vintage toys and much, much more. As a regular visitor to the city, I've been popping in multiple times each year and on a recent trip, store owner Lee Cunningham mentioned that Sore Thumb is getting its very own video game—and if that wasn't cool enough, it's been coded by the 13-year-old David Carter. The game charts a journey from your character's home to the Sore Thumb store, and mixes a variety of styles, including top-down RPG, side-scrolling platformer and even a scrolling racing game. The objective is to gather as much cash as possible during the trip to spend when you get to the shop, but there are hazards on each level which cause your available money to drop. Keen to learn a bit more about how this project came to be, we asked Carter some questions. Time Extension: What inspired you to create the Sore Thumb video game? David Carter: My dad had been messing around with some device for backing up Pokémon saves before their batteries died and had put the Sore Thumb logo onto a cart just for amusement's sake, really, to show to Lee. When we went in, Lee mentioned he'd always wanted a game based on the store, so I decided to have a go at making one. The game, coded by 13-year-old David Carter, mixes various game styles for a high-score challenge — Images: Damien McFerran / Time Extension Time Extension: What tools did you use to create it, and how long did it take? David Carter: Mainly Game Boy Studio; most of what I needed I could do in that. It's not too far off stuff I've used at school. My dad had to do some fiddling with plugins to try and get certain bits to work. Other than that, it was pretty easy to follow what to do by reading up or watching YouTube. I think it probably took about six months of weekends to do, when I wasn't busy fishing! Time Extension: What was the hardest thing to get right with this game's development? David Carter: Almost all of it! I had massive problems getting the Game Boy Printer to work (at one point, it would have printed out a till receipt with your score from your trip to the store!), so I gave up on that. The scoreboard was a lot harder than I feel it should've been, as I was trying to make the levels long enough without having memory/sprite budget issues. Sore Thumb is one of the UK's best retro game stores — Images: Damien McFerran / Time Extension Time Extension: What kind of input did Sore Thumb have in the game's design and development? David Carter: Loads! Lee really had a clear idea of what he wanted, right down to the game of Frogger to get into the store. It's just a shame I couldn't get the beat 'em up or Tetris (Lee loading the van for a show) levels in. He really wanted the game to involve the challenge to become a 'big hitter', which is in. If you get a big enough score, you get the Big Hitter ending [a reference to the championship belt Sore Thumb customers get to wear when they spend enough money]. Read More Switch 2 vs Xbox Series X: which system is right for you Time Extension: What's the feedback been like so far? Was all of the effort worth it? David Carter: The guys in the store have played and fed back on loads of different versions and have always been really impressed, but they have also given tips and good opinions. We've had the game playable at a few Sore Thumb Gaming Nights, where loads of people have played it, and we even had a high-score contest with a prize! I think people think it's cute that a retro store has its own retro game that pays tribute to other retro games! Time Extension: What plans do you have for future games? David Carter: None at the moment. I'm about to start my GCSE years at school, and most of my free time will go to studying (so my Dad tells me). Image: Damien McFerran / Time Extension You can visit Sore Thumb's website here. If you're in York, be sure to drop by.
Metro
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
Iconic Sega composer retires after 41 years, is immediately rehired
The man responsible for the best video game soundtrack ever is technically still at Sega, despite just retiring. While a lot of people may not know his name, gamers of a certain age will already be massive fans of Hiroshi Kawaguchi. He's the composer responsible for the music in Sega arcade game OutRun, aka the best video game soundtrack ever made. Although his most prominent work comes from 80s era games like OutRun, Space Harrier, After Burner, and Fantasy Zone, Kawaguchi has remained a part of Sega ever since, even contributing music to modern games like Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble and Sonic X Shadow Generations. After 41 years at the company, it wasn't too surprising to learn Kawaguchi had retired, after turning 60 this past April. What is surprising though, is that Sega immediately hired him back. The official X account for Sega Sound Team (which collectively refers to all the musicians and composers employed at Sega) broke the news on April 30, announcing Kawaguchi's retirement alongside a photo of him receiving a letter of appreciation from Sega. However, the same post stated that he will continue to work at Sega in his 'second form.' Kawaguchi corroborated this himself via his personal X account earlier today. 'Starting today, I will be rehired as a new employee at Sega,' says Kawaguchi, while sharing a photo of his original employment letter from 41 years ago and joking that he didn't receive a new one. As for why this is happening, Time Extension theorises that it's to do with Japan's continuous employment system. Per Japanese law, companies have to set mandatory retirement ages. The minimum is 60 years old, which is how old Kawaguchi is now. However, companies are technically allowed to keep on staff who reach retirement age by effectively rehiring them under different terms. This means Kawaguchi will probably continue in the same or similar role that he's always had. More Trending Hopefully, he'll stick around long enough to do music for a new OutRun game. There hasn't been a new entry since 2009's OutRun Online Arcade, a digital only title you can't even play anymore, after it was delisted from the Xbox and PlayStation stores. Sega's interest in revisiting dormant franchises, like Jet Set Radio and Crazy Taxi, has us hopeful that a new OutRun game could happen. If not, he should at least get to contribute to the OutRun movie that's been greenlit. Said movie is just one of many film projects Sega has announced, which includes movies for Space Channel 5, Shinobi, Streets Of Rage, House Of The Dead, Comix Zone, and even Eternal Champions. None of them have release dates, though, with the exception of a fourth Sonic The Hedgehog movie that's locked in for March 19, 2027. Email gamecentral@ leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter, and sign-up to our newsletter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader's Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. MORE: Yu Suzuki would like to make a new OutRun and Virtua Fighter MORE: 90s Sega icon Ristar is 30 years old and fans are demanding a new game MORE: Sega tops Metacritic list of the best game publishers for third year
