Shareware: Influential Origins of Shareware in Gaming – By Robert Seale

by Old School Gamer | Feb 14, 2019 | 1970s, 1980s, Arcade, The Story Of...

If you were playing PC games, or even just using PC software in general, at any point throughout the 90s, you almost certainly saw or heard the term “shareware”. Not quite a demo, not quite freeware, shareware was a revolution in software distribution. It was crucial...

Requiem for Game Room – Microsoft’s Arcade Revival and It’s Lost Potential – By Ken Horowitz

by Old School Gamer | Feb 13, 2019 | 1970s, 1980s, 2010s, Arcade

The death of the American Arcade has been somewhat overstated, I think. Given the rise in barcades and the growing popularity of classic arcades like Chicago’s Galloping Ghosts, Mark Twain would likely chuckle at pronouncements of the industry’s demise. People have...

Just for Qix: Hopping Zombie Vampires And the Last Apostle Puppet Show – By Michael Thomasson

by Michael Thomasson | Feb 12, 2019 | 1980s, 1990s, Arcade, Columns

Many video game fans believe that 1992’s Mortal Kombat was the first fighting game to use digitized sprite graphics. Others recognize Atari’s 1990 hit Pit-Fighter as the premiere beat ‘em up boasting the technology. The truth is that a rather obscure title, released...

The Untold Story of Highlander: The Video Game (No, not the one you are thinking of)- By Warren Davis

by Old School Gamer | Feb 11, 2019 | 1980s, 1990s, Arcade, The Story Of...

If ever there was a licensed property that would lend itself to becoming a video game, Highlander was it! You’ve got a collection of immortals who challenge each other to sword fights to the death (by beheading, no less!), over the course of centuries, until there can...

My Experience as an Expert Witness CAPCOM VS. DATA EAST – By Bill “The Game Doctor” Kunkel

by Old School Gamer | Feb 10, 2019 | 1990s, 2000s, Arcade

By 1993, the last thing I was looking for was an expert witness gig facing off against yet another of the most popular and powerful software developers in the business. So of course I wound up working the expert witness deal for tiny Data East against the all-powerful...

Sega vs. Nintendo – Historic Fighting Game Battle – By Justin Francoeur

by Old School Gamer | Feb 9, 2019 | 1990s, 2000s, Arcade

Thanks to the popularity of 1991’s Street Fighter II, fighting games had become a hot property. It was only a matter of time before a savvy game designer would identify what made SFII such a hit, expand on it, and release it as a new best-selling game. Hence, October...