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Ristar: SEGA’s Forgotten 16-Bit Mascot
A sentient star who stretches his arms and bounds across stages with speed, Ristar is a SEGA protagonist with just as much charm as Sonic, yet time has not been so kind to this cosmic character. In 1995, Ristar debuted on the Genesis/Mega Drive to decent critical...
The Smurfs – Dreams review by Todd Friedman
The Smurfs: Dreams is a charming and light-hearted platformer that offers a fun experience for both fans of the Smurfs and newcomers. Although the reviewer wasn't familiar with Smurf media beforehand, the game’s premise was easy to follow, relying on classic...
The Apple II in 2024 – by By Ken Gagne
As the Apple II nears its fiftieth anniversary, it shows no sign of slowing down. The 8-bit personal computer, developed and designed by Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs, was manufactured in various models from 1977 to 1993, making it one of Apple Inc.’s longestrunning...
Pinball FX Universal Pinball: TV Classics | Live with GenXGrownUp
Join us for an exciting Pinball FX Universal Pinball: TV Classics live stream! Explore the latest pinball tables inspired by your favorite TV shows. Discover tips, tricks, and gameplay strategies for mastering these nostalgic pinball games. Don’t miss this opportunity...
A review of Animal Crossing from Boss Fight Books
At multiple points in her summary of the history of Animal Crossing, Kelsey Lewin discusses the seeming impossibility of marketing a game like this. She documents the first, almost entirely forgotten clip discussing the game at E3 2001, sandwiched between high...
Computer Quarterback: The Best Football Simulator
As a football fan, you may fantasize about being able to play the game as skilled as your favorite player of all time. It is, however, nearly impossible to achieve unless you have a certain level of athleticism. A simulator game may answer if you want to do something...
Japanese Handhelds – by Jeremy Parish
There exists in biological sciences a principle called “carcinization.” This concept expounds on the fact that evolution has a tendency to lead animal life to eventually take the form of a crab. This has happened, quite independently, roughly half a dozen times...
Neon Inferno By Zenovia Interactive
Contra meets Wild Guns in Neon Inferno, a pixel-perfect cyberpunk shooter turning up the heat on all platforms later this year. Philadelphia, PA – Feb. 07, 2025 – Grab your blasters and your favorite knives as Retroware and Zenovia Interactive join forces to publish...
Retro Review: ‘Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Legacy+’ Review: Not Enough New Content
In the ‘90s, the “Ace Combat” series was easily one of the most heralded franchises in gaming. One of Namco’s big three of “Tekken” and “Ridge Racer,” the game sold close to four million copies on the PlayStation and even more when the series moved to the PlayStation...
INK CONSOLE Crowdsupply Campaign Launching on March 1
A new open source system for text-based games Hong Kong, SAR –February 6, 2025– Independentmanufacturer and creative developer Singular 9 Ltd. will be launching a CrowdSupply campaign to fund INK CONSOLE, their new open source system for text based games, on March 1....
MACROSS -Shooting Insight *Review* – Game Released February 7th, 2025
Embark upon a galaxy-spanning mission to rescue the missing songstresses! Based on the popular long-running animated science fiction franchise, MACROSS -SHOOTING INSIGHT- is a brand-new Multi-Dimensional Shooting Game out now! TO ORDER CLICK HERE Pilots,...
Stern Pinball Revisits a Timeless Classic with Metallica Remastered, Available Now
[embedded content] [embedded content] CHICAGO, IL – October 16, 2024 – Today, Stern Pinball, Inc., revealed Metallica Remastered – a technologically advanced version of one of Stern Pinball’s greatest hits. Metallica Pinball was originally released in 2013 and is one...
Review of the GB Operator – By William Schwartz
What distinguishes handheld gaming in the modern era? Strictly speaking, most games today are handheld, as mobile games are played on phones. If you want classic games on that platform, you can probably find them. But Epilogue’s suspicion - borne out by the fact that...
Old School Gamer Magazine Exclusive: Inside RailGods of Hysterra
Old School Gamer chats with RailGods of Hysterra Troglobytes' Art Director Lucian Iurino, who discusses the game’s development, inspiration and goals for the future. About RailGods of Hysterra: RailGods of Hysterra, a cooperative base-building survival action game set...
A scorcher of a shooter!! Releases February 7th, 2025
MACROSS -Shooting Insight- is coming to Nintendo Switch, PS5 and PS4 on February 7 digitally Paris, France - 31st of January, 2025 – Red Art Games is announcing that the Western version of MACROSS -Shooting Insight- will now release on February 7, 2025 in North...
Non-Nintendo Handhelds – by Patrick Hickey, Jr.
Could you imagine gaming without handhelds? While that section of the market is still dominated by Nintendo today, that hasn’t always been the case. Way before the Nintendo Game Boy, there was a market for one-off handheld games made by Coleco and even Nintendo’s Game...
The VGHF Library opens in early access
For eight years, we've been building a world-class collection of game history materials. Now we're turning that into a research tool that anyone can use to study video game history. The Video Game History Foundation Library is the long-term home to our collections of...
Neo Geo Pocket – by John Michonski
The Neo Geo Pocket Color’s failure always seemed odd. Sure, it was up against the Game Boy, the certifiable big handheld in town for its entire existence, but how could such a well-made device with barely a single bad game only snatch a reported 2% of the handheld...
How Half-Life 2 Forever Changed the FPS Genre
After the release of Half-Life 2, the first-person shooter genre saw many changes, thanks in large part to this groundbreaking title from the masterminds at Valve.
Hacking the PSP – by Brian Lesyk
Psst! Hey, you! Yeah, you. Over here. I see you like PSPs. Wanna learn a secret? That thing can do so much more than you probably know, but, like, don't tell Sony I told you this, okay? Let's keep this between us, alright? This info ain't exactly street legal, ya...
Grinding: Mindless Filler, or A Different Kind of Fun?
With the appearance of the role-playing game on video consoles, a genre less about actual role-playing and more about navigating enemy dungeons via numbers rather than reflexes, we also saw the appearance of grinding. How grinding works is simple enough. If...
The PlayStation Portable – by Todd Friedman
The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is handheld game console developed by Sony. It was first announced at E3 in 2003 and shown to the public in ay of 2004. It was released in Japan on December 12, 2004, and in North America on March 24, 2005. The PSP primarily competed...
Intellivision Thunder Castle | Swords & Sorcery in an Ever-Changing Maze!
Thunder Castle is a 1986 maze video game for the Intellivision. The player controls a knight navigating three mazes, defeating enemies to progress. To defeat the enemies, the knight must interact with objects throughout the maze before interacting with them. The game...
The 20th Anniversary of the Nintendo DS – By Matthew Owen
In the early '00s, Nintendo was in dire need of a sales boost. For years, Sony had been dominating the market with the PlayStation and PlayStation 2, while Nintendo's own GameCube failed to meet expectations. Competition was getting more crowded in the console space...
This Day In Video Game History
