Entering the Digitized Era – Part 1 – By Warren Davis

by Old School Gamer | Apr 15, 2019 | Columns, Magazine Preview, The Story Of...

In the beginning, there was the dot. The white dot. Alone in a void of blackness. This was the world of Pong, Computer Space, Breakout and many more. Crude graphics and no color. These were the earliest arcade video games – many implemented solely through hardwired...

Pratt At the Arcade: The Darius Series – By Adam Pratt

by Old School Gamer | Apr 14, 2019 | 1980s, 1990s, Arcade, Columns

Instead of trying to cram everything about a genre into one article, this time I am going to focus on a particular series within the realm of the shoot ‘em up. It is one that started off in arcades and was done in such a way that the home ports never could capture the...

Brett’s Old School Bargain Bin: Asteroids and Beamrider – By Brett Weiss

by Brett Weiss | Apr 9, 2019 | 1990s, 2000s, Columns, Magazine Preview, Reviews

The theme for this installment of Old School Gamer is simu- lation games, but I’m still on a shooter high from the last issue, so I’m going to spotlight two more shooting games that are easy on the wallet, yet fun to play. If you’re cool with cartridge only, Asteroids...

Video Game Trading Card Spotlight – Ellis Rowland

by Todd Friedman | Apr 8, 2019 | 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, Columns

Our next Trading Card Spotlight features Ellis Rowland, who is displayed on card number 42, from the   Superstars of 2011 Collection.  Ellis is proud of his world record at the arcade game Eagle.  His score of 274,970 was posted on the Leaderboard on July16, 2011 and...

Just for Qix: Behind Enemy Lines – By Michael Thomasson

by Michael Thomasson | Apr 7, 2019 | 1980s, Arcade, Columns

Near the end of 1980, Atari released the first-person combat simulator Battlezone in arcades. With its twin stick controls, overhead radar, and innovative plastic periscope, it mimicked an early construct of today’s virtual reality set-ups. Since the viewfinder...

Horowitz’s History – 32X – Star Wars Arcade – By Ken Horowitz

by Ken Horowitz | Apr 4, 2019 | 1990s, Columns, The Story Of...

One of the marquee titles for the launch of the 32X was Star Wars Arcade, a conversion of the Sega coin- op game. Based on the climactic Death Star battle of Episode IV, it set players in the role of Luke Skywalker as he made his classic run to destroy the massive...