So I ordered a new USB Hub with digital voltage monitors. I was all happy it was on sale and now I can confirm if things are charging. I’ve been an Amazon customer since ’98 and a Prime member since it launched. I wonder how many times people have drivers with this kind of attitude. Take a peek at what I saw when I watched my notice of a person at my door with my Ring. Needless to say, after I spoke to Amazon and was given a small % of my Prime fee back I’ve not seen this driver ever again.
January 2025
GROWL (the game) take the fight to the poachers!
So the year 1990 music was at that odd spot between songs like the famed Humpty Dance and Madonna’s Vogue. The world seemed simpler as I remember it as a child the NES was still king and about to be blown over by the SNES and Genesis, however, the actual world was going through massive changes we had Iraq start their wasp nest by invading Kuwait. But in arcades, we were seeing a massive influx in new game technology and 16-bit graphics.
A genre that I remember seeing a lot of was mirrored after games like Final Fight. The side-scrolling “beat-em-ups” genre was all over and you couldn’t walk past 2-3 machines without finding some other thing to pound on. I was the type of kid who looked for the odd games with an interesting story then plop goes my quarter.
With all that being said I came across Growl. It was a 4 player side-scrolling beat-em-up game (there was also a 2 player cabinet) where you played one of 4 different park rangers. Now I know who wants to play a park ranger or DNR (Michigan term) officer/ranger right? Well, when you see animals in cages and evil smugglers and poachers beating on them you have to join the fight!
Now what got me was 2 of the rangers were spitting images of Indiana Jones and yes there were whips in the game that were AWESOME so I sorta put the whole helping animals concept out of my mind and pretended I was playing as Indiana Jones in some offshoot movie.
The game is set in the early 20th century you set off to beat the ever-loving heck out of poachers in large numbers and gather special weapons along the way i.e. pipes, whips, swords, revolvers, rocker launchers (and even the animals you saved would help you for a bit on the same screen). Each weapon had a special attack that when you’d press both attack and jump would execute. I remember my favorite was the whip it would whip the guy in front of you and behind you and looked hilarious. But that didn’t stop me from pushing through this game. I never did beat it in the arcades and it wasn’t until the emulation scene started supporting arcade games that I was able to sit and beat the game.
On a challenge level, it’s around a 6/7 out of 10 but as a kid in the 90’s it was rather hard. The game had 7 stages or rounds and a bonus game for a total of 8 stages. We moved from an old run-down African town to a moving train, a boat, a jungle and cavern, and finally the poacher’s hideouts. This game didn’t vary much though in the enemy department. Only really giving you 6 types of enemies excluding the final boss that had 2 forms.
Eventually, this game found its way home on the Sega Genesis which I remember was a fairly good port and suffered slow downs. Eventually, it was re-released on the Taito Legends 2 for PSX 2, Xbox, and MS Windows (I have not played this version)
So all in all if you are a fan of the beat-em-up games similar to the more popular Final Fight, X-Men, Turtles, or Simpsons you should enjoy this game the backgrounds are interesting, and like I said it’s easy to think you are Indiana Jones heck just look at the poster!
Please excuse the quality of the images I don’t run emulation anymore so I had to just crawl around and find these. It’s the Arcade game flier, marquee, and info, Sega Genesis Cover front and back, and some arcade and Sega pictures.
Crossover by Codeweavers – Mac Gaming is Back!
As any of my friends will tell you I’m no fan of Microsoft Windows. My reasons go back to being a child of the 80s and learning to type on an Apple IIGS to playing word/number munchers on other Macs. There was a time when Macs would get a lot of the top-tier Windows games but eventually, that came to an end.
That didn’t stop me from always being a Mac lover at heart but being forced into Windows at version 3.1. My first computer was a 3.1 and then a ’95. I learned how much trouble one could get in if you so much as typed the wrong drive letter in DOS and tried to run a program. Before I knew it I was fixing everyone’s computers. But that’s not what this article is about.
It’s about playing indie – AAA titles on the Mac! A company known as Codeweavers has a piece of software for Mac and Linux that uses the WINE Project as a core to play and work in Windows-only applications and games.
Crossover of which I volunteered to be a “better tester” is the best thing to hit the Mac since Adobe Photoshop 3.1. What a better tester does is take a piece of software, and attempt to get the software to work using various parameters within the front end Crossover. I have only had a few games as that’s what I test if it will or will not be supported after installation not work (sorry no app testing from me everything I need runs native on the Mac application-wise).
What happens if I use their interface to install say Steam? (if you are a gamer you should know this company and if you are not a gamer check out the link). Once I have Steam installed into a “bottle” I can launch the Windows version of the Steam Client. The client believes it’s running on Windows even though you need not purchase a license for Windows. This is not using Windows so there’s no piracy involved just the components it needs to run the game or application. There’s more to it than that but let’s just stick with the basics.
I own over 200 games on Steam. I’ve owned Windows laptops during this time which is why the count is so high. Plus I’m a collector and a HUGE supporter of independent studios’ work. I believe an indie game is far superior to a big-budget AAA title. There’s more heart and soul in it just like Crossover.
I have no idea how to use the Wine Project. I have tried multiple times and well I just don’t understand it. I’m not a coder or a Linux user which means I’m more or less left out to dry knowledge-wise. But Crossover gives me an interface to use and a means to install my gaming software.
Steam isn’t the only gaming store that’s supported there’s battle.net and a couple others. However, for the sake of my article, it will all be talked about as if I’m running Steam because I am.
I stumbled upon Crossover and Codeweavers studio by accident. I was looking for a way to play my copy of Diablo IV on the Mac. Now for the sake of argument, yes as of writing this 01/22/25 Diablo IV is down due to an update Blizzard put out to its software (restored with a patch 1/25/25). Codeweavers is aware of this through tickets, the forum, and Discord.
Their support is the best I’ve ever received for a piece of software so small. In fact, as an example, I was having overheating issues with my M3 Macbook Pro and submitted a support ticket thinking it was Crossover that was responsible. The CEO of the company *name withheld* let me know after he researched it that it wasn’t their product but a problem with my M3 Macbook it was a flaw in the design. He took my support ticket and the time to research what was going on and personally respond!
Upon further research, this proved to be true as I had to send my laptop to Apple and have them send me a new one from overheating. (Thank the makers for Applecare). So I sold my M3 and upgraded to the latest as of writing this an M4 Pro Max. No more problems. Now while Blizzard (battle.net / Diablo IV) is currently down I play dozens of games that were once regulated to a Windows computer or my Steam Deck on my Mac in full-screen, full-speed glory!
As a better tester, I test games and rate them based on performance. I just submitted a Terminator game for review and approval. However, if you look at a game like G.I. Joe: Wrath of Cobra. I have tested the game aggressively and only found it deserved 4 * based on an issue with the display when changing resolutions. This can be found if you scroll down and select “Rating Breakdown” My name appears with a circle in front of it. Hover over the circle to get my testing notes and settings. I also submitted under the Media tab all the screenshots for the game to show it works at full resolution. Next, I chose to be an advocate for this game. This means if users are having trouble yet I can still run it or have the same trouble I do my best to help them out and constantly test this game as Crossover moves up in versions.
I can’t speak enough about the quality of this software. At first, I was skeptical, thinking no way this would work then to my surprise everything was running like clockwork. I have a few games that don’t run well or run at all but I have a Steam Deck to fix that problem and still do not have to use *SHUDDDER* Microsoft Windows.
Codeweavers did NOT endorse this review nor did they prompt me to write it in any way shape or form. This is me just going on about a great piece of Mac software. I just picked up a lifetime license this past Black Friday from a yearly license. I see the potential for this small software company and the big things it’s doing for us on the Mac architecture! Keep it up Codeweavers!
Check out the photos below of the interface and then I will also include some screenshots I have submitted for games that I tested as working. Thanks for reading. If you are on their Discord I go by James and my full name on their forum as required. Same for better testing.
Below are some stills of the site, the better-tested info areas I worked on. Below the thumbnails is a video file I put together of the game running full speed @ 720p on a 140hz Gaming monitor and an MBP Max M4 64 GB RAM, Mac.
Visit us on their discord!
More vintage cereal for you to crunch on!
Found a few pics of video game-related cereal. Grab some milk and enjoy!
Not really vintage due to the fact it’s still made today and still tastes just as good!
Another one that’s still sailing the seas of the breakfast table!
And let’s throw an actual commercial in here for you!
