The Game Scholar: What’s in a Name? – By Leonard Herman
Since the dawn of time, or at least since 1975 when every Tom, Dick and Harry began releasing their own forms of videogame console that used General Instruments’ AY- 3-8500 chip, people have been referring to all video tennis consoles as Pong consoles. This is quite...
Contra vs. Paul Tesi – By Steve DeLuca
Coins Detected in Pocket Welcome to another installment of a column dedicated exclusively to Old School Gamers and Old School Games from the Golden Age of gaming. These gamers, back in the day, had to physically use a coin or token to start a video game. The earning...
Old Casino Games still reign supreme despite advent of new technology
Despite the advent and proliferation of new technology, particularly mobile technology, classic casino games continue to stand the test of time, enchanting and enticing millions of US players every year to try their hand at some of the nation’s favorite pastimes....
The Cabinet of Curiosities: Goodness Gracious
We were somewhere in the Louisiana backwoods. I had been driving for hours, powered by a mixture of Five Hour Energy, coffee, and the Trainspotting soundtrack. A light fog hovered above the asphalt. At least, I think it was a fog. There was a non-zero chance that it...
Video Game Trading Card Spotlight – Estel Goffinet
Our next Trading Card Spotlight features Estel Goffinet, who is displayed on card number 553, from the Superstars of 2013 Collection. Estel is also featured on cards 1049, 1240 and 2496. Estel is one of a very small group of gamers who has a recorded and approved...
Konami Announces the TurboGrafx-16 Mini
I swear every one of these mini-consoles includes the same promotional image of a hand holding it, palm spread. I get the connotation – it’s to emphasise size. But since the NES Mini, they’ve all been exactly the same. I’m surprised Nintendo hasn’t unleashed the...
The Cabinet of Curiosities: Buzz Bombers
In and of itself, the game Buzz Bombers was not that unusual. The title was Intellivision’s answer to the mega-popular game Centipede. In fact, the concept behind Buzz Bomber might be slightly less ridiculous. In Centipede, you play the part of a garden gnome with a...
Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A B A Start – The Contra Anniversary Collection Is Here!!!!!
The Contra Anniversary Collection brings this classic Run and Gun franchise back to modern platforms and a new generation of players. Grab power ups and blast your way through waves of menacing enemies and bosses that will put your reaction skills to the test. Also...
30 Years of Gaming: A Look from 1989 to 2019
Gamers today enjoy optimum gaming experiences backed with microphones, 4K visuals and evenVirtual Reality. However, our grandfathers didn’t have these luxuries and couldn’t enjoy online gaming platforms and online gambling accounts with providers such as Steam and...
Mario Mania: Game Cameos for the Fan’s Complete Collection – Tetris
Mario (and Luigi!) are both in the Game Boy’s original pack-in title, but is seeing them more trouble than it’s worth?
Convention & Event Update: February 2019 – April 2019 – By Old School Gamer Staff
MIDWEST GAMING CLASSIC, MUSEUM OF PLAY , VINTAGE COMPUTER FESTIVAL EAST MIDWEST GAMING CLASSIC MILWAUKEE, WI BY RYAN BURGER Spring is a quieter season for gaming conventions, but winter found a way to come back to the Midwest Gaming Classic again, this year in...
My Arcade Reveals Collectible SPACE INVADERS Micro Player
Taito Partnership Expands to Bring Arcade Game Icon to Tabletop Form LOS ANGELES, CA – June 11, 2019 – My Arcade today announced the SPACE INVADERS Micro Player™ in partnership with TAITO Corporation. Expanding on My Arcade’s collectible line of Micro Players, gamers...
The Best Retro Basketball Video Games of All Time
Although Atari released the first NBA game called Basketball way back in 1978, it was the 90s that revolutionized the industry. Advanced graphics made it possible to step into the shoes of your favorite players and hit the virtual court. Plus, with 2K Sports and EA...
ATARI® Brings the New ATARI VCS™ Video Computer System to Life During E3 2019
LAUNCHING OFFICIAL PRESALE IN PARTNERSHIP WITH GAMESTOP AND WALMART After Successful Indiegogo Campaign, Atari Re-Energizes Legacy Fans and Engages New Generation of Gamers by Announcing Atari VCS Configurations, Specs, and Pricing for Systems and Accessories NEW...
Arcade1Up Unveils New Titles at E3!
Arcade1Up announces Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Marvel alongside a 16-foot Marvel cabinet! New York, USA – June 10, 2019 – Arcade1Up is extremely excited to return to E3 bigger and better than ever with the announcement of exciting new cabinet titles for fall...
Thanks to Everyone that Pledged
This Kickstarter has been backed! This book will be published and shipped out to gamers. Thanks so much This 100+ page full color book covers the entire first year of Walter Day's Twin Galaxies Superstars trading cards, with stories! Pre-Order Book A collaboration...
E3 2019 is here! And So Are the Goodies !
E3 2019 is taking place this week at the Los Angeles Convention Center, and New Wave Toys is proud to be taking part. We will be on the floor inside the IndieCade Booth again this year. Come by and see us in West Hall Booth 5200! If you make it by, you will be...
Tecmo Super Bowl Is Alive and Competition Is Fierce – By Sam Fritz
Down, set, hut, hut, hut, hut, hut, hut... If those words continue to ring in one’s head then it is likely they have at one point experienced the thrill of 1991’s Nintendo Entertainment System classic “Tecmo Super Bowl”. You might have found yourself sprinting...
The Cabinet of Curiosities: Frog Bog
Back in college, I was enamored of Samuel Beckett’s ‘Waiting for Godot’, an existential tragi-comedy in which nothing in particular happens for two acts except for the bizarre ramblings of the play’s two characters. When the play ends, the audience leaves either...
Video Game Trading Card Spotlight – David Perry
Our next Trading Card Spotlight features card number 200, from the Superstars of 2011 Collection. His name is David Perry. David is a Northern Irish video game developer who brought to us dozens of video games such as Earthworm Jim, Wild 9 and Enter the Matrix....
Old School Gamer Exclusive: Inside ‘Neon Abyss’
Old School Gamer Magazine chats with Jason Yeung, who discusses his new game, Neon Abyss, which is now on Steam Early Access. Old School Gamer Magazine: How was this game born? Jason Yeung: Roguelike games have been in the form of designs similar to Diablo for years....
The Polymega Now has a Light-Gun for HDTV’s
It hasn’t been since March that we’ve heard a peep from the Polymega, and that was mostly technical information and emulation progress. But if you haven’t considered buying one thus far, that might soon be changing. Light-gun games have been the scourge of retro...
Own a Mac? Here’s how to play some classic console games
In 2014, I switched to a MacBook Pro and I’m never going back. Of course at first, I didn’t use it to play older a more recent games, it was a workstation before anything else. And I was glad. It was faster, more robust and more intuitive than my PC which was acting...
The Cabinet of Curiosities: Color A Dinosaur
There is something you should probably know about me. I’m a grown man, who just had a dinosaur themed birthday party. There were dino party games, decorations, and an entire selection of dino inspired snacks. I adore the Jurassic Park and Jurassic World series, but I...
A Closer Look at Nintendo’s Official NES Peripherals: NES Cleaning Kit
With just a touch of Mario Mania, for good measure.
Five Unusual Arcade Games
Arcade games are still a staple part of the gaming world. For every gamer enjoying surround sound and immense visuals in their gaming den, there is someone else at a hipster arcade gaming bar sipping a beer that was brewed by Monks who are always doing handstands....
Toe Jam and Earl Back in the Groove – By Conor McBrien
That’s right! After seventeen years away, the old-school alien duo from the planet Funkotron has returned. Crowdfunded through Kickstarter back in 2015, ToeJam & Earl: Back in the Groove is the fourth game in the series and the first to be independently published....
AtGames® Announces the Legends Ultimate Arcade Machine
Full-Size Arcade Machine Features Legendary Video Games, Cloud Connectivity, and other Amazing Features Los Angeles – May 30, 2019 - AtGames® Digital Media Inc., a leader in interactive entertainment products today announced the Legends Ultimate arcade...
The Cabinet of Curiosities: The Coca-Cola Kid
As we tour the Cabinet of Curiosities, we will see all manner of oddities. There is a special section reserved just for product promotions, such as Yo! Noid, the Domino’s Noid video game, and Kool-Aid Man, the Atari game featuring...the Kool-Aid Man. All of this...
Why they’re rare: Tetris for the Sega Mega Drive
Rare games often have their fair share of urban legends. The rarer the game, the most far-fetched the story. One of those game is assuredly Tetris but a specific version of it. Namely, the one released in extremely limited quantities for the SEGA Genesis or the Mega...
Dreamcast Version of Tanglewood on “Hiatus”
Released in the August of last year, Tanglewood was an enjoyable, endearing and inventive platformer to see a physical release for the long-discontinued Sega Genesis/Mega Drive. This came about after a successful Kickstarter campaign, in which 892 backers raised...
The Cabinet of Curiosities: Tongue of the Fatman
The world of video games is filled with many weird and wondrous things, digital creations that would make John Waters scratch his head and say, “Well, that seems like a bit much...” It is my goal, nay, it is my QUEST to find and document those games here in the...
Remembering the Nintendo Ultra 64 Dream Team: Epilogue
Sweet dreams…
Top Ten Underrated Retro Gaming Experiences on the Nintendo Switch
The Nintendo Switch may be a sexy and capable console, but it’s also one that is filled with a plethora of amazing retro experiences. In this exclusive Old School Gamer Magazine list, we count down 10 awesome retro experiences you may have missed or skipped past on...
Ice Cold Beer and Arcade Tournaments – By Phil Day
By and large, the great achievements of early arcade gamers from the 80’s remained known only to the faithful few until 2007, with the release of the feature length documentary film, King of Kong. At first, the film seemed peculiar: a niche subculture of competitors...
Best old and new apps and games every US sports fan needs to have
Back in 2016, the number of smartphone users reached 2.1 billion. Interestingly, the rate of ownership will increased by over a third at end of this year, at which time an estimated over three billion people will own a handset across the globe. The growth and...
Williams Pinball Volume 4 – Available Now!
Buckle up! Williams Pinball Volume 4 is a wild ride with 3 new tables and revamped flipper physics. White Water, Red & Ted’s Road Show and Hurricane will be released on May 28 to PlayStation 4, Xbox One & Windows 10, Steam, Nintendo Switch and Mac. Also to the...
Brighten Your Room With Mario and Nintendo
Brighten up your room and dream of your next adventure with Mario and friends, with this super-fun and stylish NES Console Lamp. The lamp has a lampshade that features a classic Super Mario NES game, and the base is a classic NES controller. You can use the controller...
Brett’s Old School Bargain Bin: Warlords and Mega Bomberman – By Brett Weiss
I like a good, epic solo adventure like H.E.R.O. for the ColecoVision, or God of War for the PlayStation 2, as much as anyone, and I also enjoy playing (and replaying) any number of quickie twitch games, all by my lonesome. However, there’s nothing quite like facing...
Tag Team Wrestling
For my money, artists such as Mikhail Baryshnikov and Bob Fosse don’t hold a candle to men like Ric “Nature Boy” Flair or Kerry Von Erich. Nor can Pavarotti or Maria Callas match the passion and drama of performers like Gorgeous George or Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson....