The Super Mario Bros. Game & Watch: A Neat Little Nostalgia Trap
The Super Mario Bros. Game & Watch system is really neat. As someone who grew up mostly playing the Tiger electronic handhelds this new device pays a great homage to the Game & Watch titles from decades ago. So why am I talking about it now than way back in...
Just 4 Qix – Quake – by Michael Thomasson
Back in 1998, a small California cabinet making company called LAZER-TRON partnered with computer software developer id Software to bring high-end PC gaming into the arcade. Teaming up with Opus Entertainment and LBE Systems, the troop attempted to stir up the arcade...
E3: 25 Years of Gaming – by Todd Friedman
E3, short for the “Electronic Entertainment Expo”, is the largest computer and video game show in the United States. Almost every name in the industry is present during this convention. There are leading pub-lishers, developers and manufacturers represented at this...
Atari 2600 Encyclopedia: Do you know Centipede?
Release Date: 1982 Publisher: Atari Controller: Joystick Players: 1 Genre: Shoot’em Up Alternate Title: N/A Model #: CX2676 Rarity: 2 Programmer: N/A This is a surprisingly solid port of the arcade classic. You take control of a magic wand wielding elf who must...
Video Game Trading Card Spotlight – Sam Tuff
Our next Trading Card Spotlight features Sam Tuff who currently is displayed on card number 3538, from the Superstars of 2021. Sam, from the North East of England, is a World Record Tetris player. He holds over 60 world records on the Twin Galaxies Scoreboard for...
Pokemon Disasters – by Michael Thomasson
Certainly it is doubtful that Pokémon creator Satoshi Tjiri knew when he started up his hand-written and stapled video game fanzine, Game Freak, that his creation would cause such a fuss! The avid insect collector and video game hobbyist became enthralled with...
The Resident Evil Trilogy – by Michael Mertes
Back in 1996 PlayStation players were introduced to the survival horror world of Resident Evil. Trapped in a mansion and armed with limited resources to defend themselves, players would fight for their lives against the biological atrocities that infested the halls of...
ISSUE 20 – iiRcade News Flash
Sometimes great news about an industry member comes in after the magazine has already been laid out and needs to get into the magazine's next issue. iiRcade, a great supporter of Old School Gamer Magazine, had some releases that were announced in November and early...
Atari 2600 Encyclopedia: Do you know Hangman?
Release Date: 1978 Publisher: Atari Controller: Joystick Players: 1 - 2 Genre: Education Alternate Title: Spelling Model #: CX2662 Rarity: 2 Programmer: Alan Miller This simplistic education title recreates the spelling game that has taught generations of children to...
An Interview with Joel Billings – Founder of SSI
OSG: Hi Joel. You’ve been very generous with your time over the years, sharing the history of SSI, including an Antic magazine interview (Antic Vol. 4, No. 3 July 1985), a Matt Chat YouTube channel interview (#181, #183, #184, and #188 from 2013), and a Video Game...
Strategic Simulations from Board to Console – by Bill Lange
Fight it out with your trusty six-shooter in the famous gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Lead the French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte’s grand armies across the European landscape. Hold the line against Pickett’s Charge at Gettysburg. Sink the mighty Bismarck. Command the...
Game Boy Advance: Handheld Gaming Perfected.
To say that the Game Boy Advance (GBA) is the best of the entire Game Boy family may be a tad rhetorical. It was the more powerful system, it eventually had a backlit screen and the clamshell design made the whole system easier to fit inside a pocket. You also...
The Official “40 Deuce” SB2 Glossary – by Bill Donohue
Yeah, I live on 42nd street, but for me, it will always be 40 Deuce. That was the name that Ray Gilligan, my former drummer and all-around crazy guy, gave to the street we both lived on. At one time, there was a magical period on the 40 Deuce: Ray was the official...
Video Game Trading Card Spotlight – Warren Davis
Our next Trading Card Spotlight features Warren Davis, who is displayed on card number 239, from the Superstars of 2012. The designer and programmer of Q*Bert, Warren has been around the gaming industry for decades. He has worked at such companies and Gottlieb,...
An Interview with Ed Logg – by Kevin Butler
Atari was a corporation that was “born” in 1972. The first arcade game released by this fledgling company was Pong. After that, Atari released games such as Breakout, Sprint (both 2 and 4), Night Driver, and Firetruck to name a few. In 1977, Cinematronics released a...
Atari 2600 Encyclopedia: Do you know Enduro?
Release Date: 1983 Publisher: Activision Controller: Joystick Players: 1 Genre: Racing Alternate Title: N/A Model #: AX-026 Rarity: 2 Programmer: Larry Miller Get behind the wheel of a souped up race car and compete in an all day race against several hundred other...
The Beercade Project – by Michael Thomasson
OLD SCHOOL GAMER MAGAZINE • ISSUE #1934War is as old as time itself. Since the beginning, factions of men have argued and battled over such things as fire, food, love, land, peace, justice, and frankly just about anything else. With the introduc-tion of The Last...
The Atari 2600 Encyclopedia – by Ryan Burger
Derek Slaton has done what no one else has ever done: chronicle every release for the Atari 2600 console during its original run in the marketplace from 1977, with Combat as part of the original nine games, through Klax in 1990 (the Atari 2600 was formally...
SNK VS. CAPCOM: THE MATCH OF THE MILLENNIUM Review
While many say that Marvel VS Capcom is the ultimate experience in fighting game crossovers, I have to disagree. As someone who frequented the arcades regularly, I spent plenty of time split between my favorite Capcom fighters like Street Fighter Alpha 2 and SNK...
End of Days – Virtual Boy and 3D Tetris – by Michael Mertes
Released in March of 1996, 3DTetris was the last North American title to be released for the Virtual Boy. True to its title, 3DTetris attempts to take the 2D premise of falling Tetris blocks and place them into a three-dimensional square well. Both the well and Tetris...
Atari 2600 Encyclopedia: Do you know Bachelor Party / Gigolo?
Release Date: 1982 Publisher: Playaround Controller: Joystick/Paddles Players: 1 Genre: Adult Alternate Title: N/A Model #: 205 Rarity: 5 Programmer: Joel H Martin This adult title brings lots of laughs, and a surprising amount of gameplay. Bachelor Party is a simple...
The Future is now! Amico Special Review – by Michael Mertes
On Wednesday, August 5th, 2020, Tommy Tallarico and many other vital members of the newly reformed Intellivision company held a special web event to give the world the latest news on their brand new Amico console. The broadcast kicked off with a well-produced video...
Atari 2600 Encyclopedia: Do you know Death Trap?
Release Date: 1983 Publisher: Avalon Hill Controller: Joystick Players: 1 Genre: Shoot’em Up Alternate Title: N/A Model #: 50010 Rarity: 8 Programmer: Jim Jacob This is one of the more infuriating shooters on the 2600. You are a cadet fresh out of the academy who is...
Diary of an Arcade Employee – by Ryan Burger
Vic Sage has produced podcasts since 2013. His signature podcast (that I enjoy), “Diary of an Arcade Employee”, began in 2015. Since then, he has changed from the Retroist, to his own Pop Culture RetroRama site, and has since brought the podcast out of the mothballs...
iiRcade to Add Five New Titles from Data East – Including Karnov
iiRcade Inc., the ultimate connected arcade machine that allows gamers of all ages to play their favorite retro and modern games in arcade style at home, is pleased to announce the addition of 5 popular Data East titles that are officially licensed by Paon DP Inc.,...
Gamemaster Classified: A Howard Phillips Tell-All Book Hits Kickstarter!
Armed with an NES controller and his signature bow-tie, Howard Phillips isn't someone you can easily forget, especially if you grew up during the spectacular rise of the Nintendo Entertainment System. Like many others, I first came to know of Howard Phillips through...
Robin Of The Wood for the Commodore 64
Release Date: 1985 Publisher: Odin Computer Graphics Players: 1 Genre: Maze game, Arcade adventure Theme: Fantasy Developer: Steve Wetherill, Paul Salmon, Fred Gray Robin of the Wood was an imposing title on the Commodore 64 platform, and the developers pulled out all...
Boulder Dash® & Atari®, two gaming legends, reunite in their most modern forms. A walk down memory lane!
Boulder Dash® Deluxe™, the brand new sequel to Boulder Dash®, a world-famous interactive video game from 1984, is now available on the, likewise, brand new Atari® VCS Console. Munich, Germany – Feb. 9th, 2021 - BBG Entertainment GmbH, a leading producer and...
The Golden Days Of Multiplayer Haven’t Ended.
I’ve seen and heard some people lament the loss of couch co-op games. Saying that multiplayer games being all online has taken away from the ‘good ole days’ of playing games on your couch with your friends. Now while these gamers aren’t necessarily wrong, I do feel...
Hidden Gems for the Nintendo 64 – by Brett Weiss
Critics of the Nintendo 64 often say that the console has nothing really good to offer outside of a few triple-A first-party titles like Mario Kart 64, Super Mario 64,Pilotwings 64, and Goldeneye 007. While the system does indeed have its share of stinkers (Superman:...
Mike Ditka’s Big Play Football
Mike Ditka’s Big Play Football is yet another miserable football game created for the NES. The one thing that separates this game from the pack is that it was never released. Nintendo Power mentioned it in their "Coming Soon" section for almost an entire year while...
Theme VS. Design – by Howard Scott Warshaw
Hey there, I’d like to interrupt you for a moment, if I may. Did you know psychotherapy and game design have a lot in common? This is not to say that game developers are insane. Of course, I’m not not saying that either. What I am saying is this: since becoming The...
Video Game Trading Card Spotlight – Ken Williams
Our next Trading Card Spotlight features Ken Williams, A.K.A “Sushi-X”, who currently is displayed on card number 30, from the Superstars of 2011 Collection. Ken was on the staff of Electronic Gaming Monthly in the early 1990’s. In 2006 Ken, along with Terry...
The Long Road to Game Boy Color – by Michael Mertes
When people think of the console wars in the 1990s, they instantly picture an epic 16-bit fight with Nintendo's Super Nintendo Entertainment System against Sega's Genesis/Mega Drive console. Yet the war also expanded to the handheld realm of both respective companies....
The Unpopular Ones – by Michael Mertes
While the U.S. has seen a wealth of portable game consoles released across the continent, many never had the opportunity even to make it to store shelves. Allow us to introduce you to two such portables: The Gamate and WonderSwan GAMATE: THE MAIL ORDER PORTABLEThe...
Sega’s Game Gear by Todd Friedman
In the latter 1980s, Sega made a big push to compete with Nintendo in the home console market. The Sega Master System brought a whole new generation of gamers to decide whether they should be team Sega or team Nintendo. Then, in the early 1990s, there was the 16-bit...
Atari 2600 Encyclopedia: Do you know Ghostbusters?
Release Date: 1985 Publisher: Activision Controller: Joystick Players: 1 Genre: Arcade Alternate Title: N/A Model #: AZ-108 Rarity: 4 Programmer: Dan Kitchen This sub-par game based on the popular movie is a slog to get through. You are the world famous Ghostbusters,...
Video Game Trading Card Spotlight – Kyle Goewert
Our next Trading Card Spotlight features Kyle Goewert, who is displayed on card number 26 from the Superstars of 2011 Collection. Kyle is also featured on cards 327A and 554. Kyle is one of only a few that have competed in the Kong Off, an annual Donkey Kong arcade...
Game Boy: The Early Arcade Ports
Despite being outgunned by the Atari Lynx and Sega Game Gear in terms of color palette, lighting, screen size, and sheer processing power, the original Game Boy trounced the competition in the category that mattered most to Nintendo: unit sales. The success was driven...
Arcade Classic Lode Runner Coming Soon to iiRcade
iiRcade Inc., the ultimate connected arcade machine that allows gamers of all ages to play their favorite retro and modern games in arcade style at home, is adding four officially licensed Lode Runner games from Tozai, Inc. to...