Updates & Acquisitions

October 10, 2025

Perhaps I put too much hope into the air with the last update, as I never did hear back about that job. Suppose I'm not too broken up about that, as I've been ghosted by more applications than I can count anymore, but it's just whatever at this point. While I don't expect my readers would have the means to refer me towards gainful employment, I'd appreciate pointers from wherever they may come, at this point. I'm just very tired.

Today finds me returning to a nearby game store (unfortunately, not Tapper's, as that'd be too far in the opposite direction) as I rid myself of games that, frankly, I never wanted to look at again. This nets me an awful lot of In-Store Credit to purchase further nonsense, which I've elected to not spend much of. Except for today, because an item on Golfshrine's wishlist needed clearing, after a near-miss last year.

Believe it or not: this barely even scratched my store credit. Also, I wonder whose clan tartan that is.

On the left, we have St. Andrews Old Course (栄光のセントアンドリュース) for Nintendo 64. While not on the Wishlist (and slightly above my usual budget), it is unusual to find a Japanese golf game complete-in-box at a local shop. This is an unusual one on some technical levels, too, as it was released near the launch of the N64 itself (in Japan), displays high-res graphics through menus, and has analog joystick swinging, which US-made golf games would not bother with for a few years yet.

Wait a second, I can't read this...

Now, around this time last year, I'd acquired a Japanese N64 version of Mario Golf, and made a note that I can't play Japanese N64 carts, as my N64 is an American model, and something something region locking. This does not stop me from actually playing Mario Golf, as I can just slap the US ROM file on my Everdrive and play it that way. What about Glorious St. Andrews, though? I just got done saying that game only came out in Japan, and there's no US release. That's roughly where reality diverges from the narrative, as there is an English translation patch for this game, and an Everdrive suits that perfectly.

I'd say something about it speaking its native tongue, except that's probably Scottish Gaelic.

The wishlist highlight this month, though, is Chip Shot Super Pro Golf from INTV Corporation, a latter-day Intellivision release hailing from 1987. The Nintendo Entertainment System was dominating the market by now, and Mattel pretty much dropped their console like dead weight before then. But from 1984 onward, former Mattel exec Terrence Valeski bought all rights to the Intellivision to spin off into their own company, continuing to sell through the remaining inventory of systems and games, and producing new units once those had been exhausted. Which meant producing new game software as well, with demand for video games having only increased since '84.

A technically-mature golf game for a console older than the golf game interface conventions it borrows.

Chip Shot is almost a game out of time. By 1987, of course, the NES was in full swing, with many of video gaming's most heralded series having seen their blockbusting first entries release this year. By the year 1987, video golfers would have had access to the likes of Mean 18 and World Class Leader Board, and golf game user interfaces had very well evolved past what the Intellivision had previously shown in 1980's PGA Golf. Where PGA Golf leaned on an abstract stick-figure golfer to indicate shot power, and did not show yardage indicators of any kind, Chip Shot now has an on-screen swing meter with impact-timing (and therefore, possibility of hook and slice on a poor shot), as well as overswing causing dramatic variance in shot distance, mechanics that would have become commonplace in golf sims some years beforehand.

PGA Golf (1980) Chip Shot Super Pro Golf (1987)

To compare PGA to Chip Shot is almost an even purer way to observe the evolution in golf UI without being distracted by the differences in visual fidelity. Except that Chip Shot manages to look noticeably nicer than PGA, to the point of wondering if it's even running on the same console underneath it all. But of course, 1987 is a big jump from 1980, and 32 is a lot of kilobytes when compared to the 8 KB cartridge of PGA Golf.

But seven years difference isn't only reflected in the quality of the game itself. The entire video game market had changed radically since 1980, and that included the gaming press. This is where I now have to bring up Computer Entertainer, a monthly newsletter written and eventually self-published by the sisters, Marylou Badeaux and Celeste Dolan. The newsletter is notable for being among the few monthly video game publications to continue being published through the 1984 crash, and it is thanks to the Video Game History Foundation that we have a more-or-less complete run of it, for free access and perusal, among other things.

Some gamers of the present day may or may not have been around to witness this: in December of 2006, Jeff Gerstmann, then a writer for GameSpot.com, wrote a review of Nintendo Wii launch title, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, rating it a respectable 8.8 out of 10. I would term this a strong score. Evidently, some did not, at the time; fan-run websites like TVTropes.org still bear marks of audience dissent that a Legend of Zelda game could ever be anything but the most perfect video game of all time. (Ahem.)

This in mind, let's compare and contrast. From August 1987's issue of Computer Entertainer, I shall present you a pair of game reviews. Before I do, I must explain their star-ratings system (since it strangely is not explained in this issue); the first set of stars is for the quality of graphics, while the second set is for the quality of action. So that said, pay attention to the star ratings in the next two reviews, both from page 12 of the same issue:

Computer Entertainer, August 1987, via VGHF's Archives.

Chip Shot Super Pro Golf, then, rates four stars and four stars - excellent graphics, excellent action. The original Legend of Zelda rates... three and a half stars for graphics, and four stars for action. It's somewhat funny to turn back the clock in this respect, and observe how tastes may have been a bit different years ago about the same game. The Legend of Zelda is still looked upon as an absolute, unquestionable classic. I mean that in multiple ways, too; just try questioning the graphics of Zelda around the die-hards. You'd get pulled apart. And yet, here are some contemporary reviewers who firmly believe that a golf game for an eight-year-old console looks better than the brand new, groundbreaking, blockbuster action-role-playing game. Unthinkable, the fans may cry! And yet there it is. If this revelation angers you in any way, dear reader, I may suggest a piping mug of herbal tea and perhaps some candied ginger. Better yet: a relaxing day at the links.

Other remarks worth noting this time around...