by Marcus Albers | Mar 8, 2026 | 1980s, 1990s, Arcade, C64 Vic20
In the world of video game clones, most people will point to Doom as the most cloned game of all time. But, likely that title is held, or at least challenged, by the one and only yellow dot gobbler, Pac-Man. The first time I played Pac-Man outside the arcade was on a...
by Marcus Albers | Mar 1, 2026 | 1990s, Arcade, Console/Handheld
If you were around for the 16-bit console wars, you probably remember the unspoken rule: Neo Geo fighting games were not supposed to be portable to “normal” home hardware without compromises. The Neo Geo MVS/AES was basically the arcade in a box, and it wore that...
by Marcus Albers | Feb 18, 2026 | 1980s, 1990s, Arcade, Console/Handheld
During my college years, I transitioned from exclusively gaming on computers like the Commodore 64 and Amiga. In so doing, I found myself drifting toward the underdog systems of the time, like the Sega Master System and, eventually, the Atari Jaguar. Another underdog...
by Marcus Albers | Feb 11, 2026 | 1980s, 1990s, Console/Handheld
The only console that we had growing up was a second-hand Sears Tele-Games Atari 2600 VCS rebrand. Beyond that, all my gaming was either on our Commodore computers or on the consoles my friends had at the time. When I got to college, I decided to get a console for my...
by Marcus Albers | Feb 4, 2026 | 1980s, C64 Vic20
As I’ve spent the last 5 days sick as a dog, trying desperately to focus enough to accomplish even the most basic tasks, I’m taken back to my childhood in the ’80s. Back then, a sick day was a careful balancing act between not feeling well enough to...