Secret Level Episode 110 Review: Mega Man

by William Schwartz | Dec 7, 2024 | 1980s, 1990s, 2020s, Reviews

  Having only seen the Pac-Man episode of Secret Level; it was hard to guess what to expect from the Mega Man short. The only real unifying principle of any episode of Secret Level is that engages with some kind of idea from the video game in question. As it...

Secret Level Episode 106 Review: Pac-Man

by William Schwartz | Dec 5, 2024 | 1980s, Reviews

  There’s an old joke about Pac-Man and video games. Everybody knows that video games don’t really influence kids’ behavior. After all, if they were imitating Pac-Man, they’d just be chasing each other around dark mazes, popping pills and...

It’s In The Game Episode 4 Review: Amazon Prime Documentary Covers the Madden Franchise to 2006

by William Schwartz | Dec 3, 2024 | 2000s, 2010s, 2020s, Console/Handheld, Gaming, Reviews, The Story Of...

  Strictly speaking, It’s All In The Game doesn’t really end in 2006. All throughout, this documentary has contextualized the history of John Madden Football alongside the contemporary development and release of Madden NFL 25. That’s just where...

It’s In The Game Episode 2 Review: Amazon Prime Documentary Covers the Madden Franchise to 1995

by William Schwartz | Nov 29, 2024 | 1990s, 2010s, Console/Handheld, ESports, Events, Interviews, Reviews, The Story Of...

  When we last left off with It’s In The Game, the documentary hit the high point of John Madden Football becoming the huge surprise hit of the 1990 holiday season. A lot happens in the next five years, and the second episode achieves a neat parallel by...

It’s In The Game Episode 1 Review: Amazon Prime Documentary Covers the Madden Franchise to 1990

by William Schwartz | Nov 27, 2024 | 1980s, 1990s, Apple 2, Console/Handheld, Retro Computing, Reviews

  It’s a bit strange to think of Madden Football in retro terms. Yes, the franchise dates to the eighties- but it still exists today, debatably as the most popular video game of our era, just not one we generally describe as a part of video game culture...

A review of Day of the Tentacle from Boss Fight Books

by William Schwartz | Nov 1, 2024 | 1990s, 2010s, Retro Computing, Reviews

  As Boss Fight books go, Day of the Tentacle is unusual in that it is not, strictly speaking, an original composition about the 1993 LucasArts adventure game. Author Bob Mackey is a video game journalist who worked for USgamer.net among other publications, and...