Beware Dread Dragonfire!
Today is Appreciate A Dragon Day, so why not pay a visit to an old video game built around the fire breathing beasts? There have been more than a few. Spyro and Skyrim leap immediately to mind, but I want to drift back a bit further in video game history. Let’s travel...
Autofire Power Hour: Episode 44: Billy Mitchell Returns
First of all, thanks to everybody who stopped by and checked us out at the Retro City Festival in Pomona, CA. We had a blast and recorded a lot of cool interviews and content that we are starting to release. These recordings were done on the show floor and are going...
R-Type Dimensions Ex Thoughts
For decades, the R-Type series has been heralded by gamers and critics alike for being a revolutionary shooter. At the same time, its difficulty often has left casual gamers in the dust. Its newest edition, R-Type Dimensions Ex, silences any naysayers, with an awesome...
Sega & Nintendo Retro-Bit Goodies at CES 2019
Way back in the December of 2017, Retro-Bit signed a deal with Sega of America to manufacture officially licenced accessories for consoles such as the Genesis, Saturn and Dreamcast. We didn’t hear much about this arrangement until last August, where prototypes for...
Captain Skyhawk
If you are like me, you probably have halcyon childhood memories of Saturday mornings spent in front of your television, clutching an NES controller in your hands. Maybe you complimented the experience with a bowl of cold cereal (if you were an early riser) or a bag...
Video Game Trading Card Spotlight – Bill McEvoy
Our next Trading Card Spotlight features Bill McEvoy who is displayed on card number 2116, from the Superstars of 2015 Collection. Bill is the main editor of an online magazine called “Arcade Culture”. Bill and his wife Stephanie reside in Ontario Canada and...
Boy, Oh Game Boy: A Look at the Varied Versions of Nintendo’s Landmark Handheld
Portable power playing prologue.
Wolverine for the NES
Stan Lee was an entertainment titan. His creations have touched every conceivable realm of entertainment. It’s difficult to wrap your arms around the scale of it. When I try to reach for comparisons, only the name Walt Disney comes to mind. His mark on the video game...
Adventures in Controller Swapping
Perhaps the most common complaints about the Super Nintendo Classic Edition and its predecessor are that the controller cords are too short and that the controllers themselves don’t have home buttons. Without a home button, players using the NES Classic or SNES...
Five Classic Games That Would Play Great on the Nintendo Switch
With remakes and ports on the Nintendo Switch quickly racking up over the last year, Old School Gamer lets you know what other games deserve to find their way to Nintendo’s hybrid home/portable console. Maniac Mansion: The most influential point-and-click game of...
Stern Pinball Announces New Munsters Pinball Machines
CHICAGO, IL – January 8, 2019 – Stern Pinball, Inc., a global lifestyle brand based on the iconic and outrageously fun modern American game of pinball, proudly announced today the availability of a new line of pinball machines celebrating the iconic American TV hit...
CES: My Arcade Unveils New Retro Hardware w/ Taito and BANDAI NAMCO
My Arcade just announced their latest lineup of retro-themed hardware to the world, including new officially licensed Micro Players and Pocket Players from TAITO featuring rare games never released in the West and BANDAI NAMCO’s iconic MS. PAC-MAN. It also unveiled...
Mole Mania for Game Boy Review
New review is up! This time around, one of Miyamoto's least known titles. It's a puzzle game that involves a mole; it's Mole Mania for the Game Boy! [wpdevart_youtube width="640" height="385" autoplay="0" theme="light" loop_video="0" enable_fullscreen="1"...
Sound Bytes: NES SimCity Prototype (NES, Unreleased)
You may have recently heard that a SimCity prototype for the NES was unearthed near the end of 2018. Although not 100% finished, the game (which was never released on the NES, but instead developed for the SNES) does have a full score composed by Soyo Oka, who also...
Video Game Trading Card Spotlight – Brian Colin
Our next Trading Card Spotlight features Brian Colin who is displayed on card number 2363, from the Superstars of 2015 Collection. His Brian Colin Collection Cards are featured on 2603, 2609, 2612, 2615, 2617, 2634, 2636 and 2637. Brian has worked on over 60 games...
Spider-Man: The First Marvel Video Game
It’s been awhile since I played a video game so long that my fingers ached when I finally set the controller down, but such was the case with the new Spider-Man game developed by Insomniac Games for the PlayStation 4. With an open world and an array of missions and...
Use your Game Boy as a Gamepad with this Modified Cartridge
Everyone loves playing Game Boy games through the Wii’s Virtual Console or the GameCube’s Game Boy Player, but the controls are just never exactly right. Sure, the Game Boy didn’t exactly rep the most complex control system ever that was needing replication, but the...
Mario Mania: Game Cameos for the Fan’s Complete Collection – Pinball
Flip up, super star!
Video Game Trading Card Spotlight – Carrie Swidecki
Our next Trading Card Spotlight features Carrie Swidecki, who is displayed on card number 922 from the Superstars of 2014 Collection. Carrie Swidecki is a Multi Guinness World Record Holder who is best known for setting the overall longest video game marathon of all...
Zombie Nation
There’s nothing like a good mash-up: Abraham Lincoln and vampires or Fruit Loops and quesadillas are just two of the most obvious examples. So, why wouldn’t there be a mash-up of zombies and samurai? More specifically, why wouldn’t you have a mash-up of zombies and a...
Remembering the Nintendo Ultra 64 Dream Team: Spectrum HoloByte
Sadly, this developer would not be one of Nintendo’s top guns.
Perseus and Andromeda
For as long as people have been gathering together, they have been telling stories. From the folktales told around the fireplace to the multi-million dollar blockbusters seen at the movies today, stories have always been a part of the human experience. Stories are...
Soundtrack Roundup: Nintendo’s ’90s Winter Music
It's that time of year, folks! Say what you will about snow and ice (like it or not), but you've got to admit, Nintendo's had some excellent winter-themed music over the years. Being the first week of winter, what better time to explore it? Let's dive right in!...
Video Game Trading Card Spotlight – Jack Gale
Our next Trading Card Spotlight features Jack Gale, displayed on card number 103, from the Superstars of 2011. Jack is also on card numbers 929 and 2155. Jack was one of 22 gamers of the 1985 Twin Galaxies Coronation Day tournament held in Los Angeles, CA. Jack...
Sneak’n Peek: Quaker Oats Foray into Video Games
The Atari 2600 produced many classic titles: Joust, Yars Revenge, Adventure, Super Breakout, and more. They were brilliant games that have become part of the pop culture lexicon. They played an integral part in countless childhoods. While I’m sure you could find...
The Last Official Release: 32X – The Amazing Spider-Man: Web of Fire (1996)
Howdy, retro gamers and welcome back to The Last Official Release - the premium source on the internet of information concerning the last official releases for your favourite consoles. “Premium” is, of course, a matter of taste, but it’s a blistering 41°C (105.8°F)...
Mega Man X: From Mega Rental to Mega Purchase
“X” marked the spot.
Penn & Teller’s Desert Bus
A few weeks ago, I was reading the remarkable short story collection “Press Start to Play”, edited by Daniel H. Wilson and John Joseph Adams. The book centers around the world video games and gaming. One of the stories, “Desert Walk” by S.R. Mastrantone, particularly...
The Last Official Release: 3DO – Creature Shock (1996)
Following on from the last instalment of The Last Official Release in which the Panasonic CD-i was featured, I thought it would be fitting to delve into another facet of Panasonics gaming endeavours. While Panasonic did manufacture the console known as the 3DO...
Video Game Trading Card Spotlight – Dan Wolfe
Our next Trading Card Spotlight features Dan Wolfe, who is displayed on card number 738, from the Superstars of 2014. Dan is currently second on the NES game Bubble Bobble with a score of 1,747,020. Dan is a super fan of the classic console systems such as Nintendo...
Daze Before Christmas: Claus and Anti-Claus
Outside of his work delivering toys to the children of the world, it is fairly common knowledge that Santa Claus is something of a superhero. Don’t believe me? Then clearly you’ve never seen 1964’s classic film “Santa Claus Conquers the Martians.” Stop everything you...
What if Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Was Made for the Game Boy Color?
When past and future collide.
The Odd Release History of Metal Gear
Nintendo entered the home console market amidst the Video Game Crash of 1983. Two years later, they found themselves dominating the market with their Nintendo Entertainment System. Feeling justifiably cautious at the time, quality control was a cornerstone of...
Jazz Jackrabbit: Holiday Hare
The holidays are a special time, a season for family, warm fires, and (as we explored last week) lemmings. However, lemmings are not the only small, fuzzy animal to be featured in a holiday video game. Far from from it! The jackrabbit is also a member of that elite...
Happy Meal Toys and Fast Food Tie-Ins – By David Oxford
Since the dawn of video games, there have been seemingly endless efforts made to bring the pastime we all enjoy to a more mainstream audience: television, comic books, movies, music, and more. But one method that’s been around for nearly as long as the medium itself...
Video Game Trading Card Spotlight – Jim Schelberg
Our next Trading Card Spotlight features Jim Schelberg, who is displayed on card number 284, from the Superstars of 2012. Jim is also featured on cards 739 and 1714. Jim is the editor and publisher of “PinGame Journal”. He has a passion to spread the news and...
Christmas Lemmings!
It’s the holiday season and I haven’t written about a Commodore game in a bit, so let’s mash the two things together, shall we? When you think of beloved holiday traditions, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Directing a herd of lemmings to safety through a...
How Contagious Was Pac-Man Fever? – By Michael Thomasson
Gary Garcia and Jerry Buckner were grade school friends in the early sixties who formed a local band known as Wild Butler. “We were writing songs, playing in bands, and, like most guys at the time, musicians trying to get by -- trying to make it,” states Buckner. He...
Versus Mode: Contra vs. Contra
Each version has their up ups, as well as their down downs.
RIP Joel West
Bezerk Champion, Star of Chasing Ghosts, and a dear friend of mine passed away today. I will miss his kindness and love for the gaming industry. He was a huge help in the Walter Day Trading card project as well as helping sell merchandise for charity and other...