In the early 1980s, video games were everywhere as everyone was trying to cash in on the booming video game business. This included the comic book companies. First of all, both DC and Marvel, two of the largest publishers at the time, were licensing their characters...

In what's being billed as the biggest corporate union of all time, the pending merger of America Online and Time-Warner proves that to be the leader in the Internet world, you must not only have the largest paying subscription base in the world, but you must also...

In the 1980’s, your morning breakfast cereal often served up more than processed enriched flour, pounds of sugar, and colors not normally found in nature. Sometimes, if you were lucky or if you were willing to do a little collecting, your morning bowl of Sugar-Frosted...

Ever wondered what would happen if the Atari 2600 mated with the Atari 5200? When the video game world crashed in 1983, the gaming universe needed a savior. Atari had a system in mind: The Atari 7800 ProSystem, which featured a design that was a hybrid of previous...

Many of us classic gamers became entranced with arcade games back in the early 80's. Magazine articles, TV news reports, and, of course, actually seeing blockbusters like Space Invaders, Asteroids, and Pac-Man wherever we went got us curious. Video arcades, however,...

The Most Unexpected Retro Arcade Package Ever I have to admit, this one just completely floored me. It's been sitting on my PlayStation game shelf for nearly half a year, and I've never even popped it into the machine. (Tough year, eh?) But when I did check it out, I...

As humans, we think too much. We alone among all creatures KNOW we are going to DIE. This is because our analytical minds are too smart. There's something wrong with everything if you analyze it enough. Thinking causes pain. Thinking drives you insane. The more...

In November 1999, Jerry Greiner, better known as classic video game dealer Jerry G, announced he was going out of business after many years. In February 2000, shortly before the official announcement that he had sold his business, I caught up with Mr. Greiner to get...

Wow! All I can say is WOW! Sonic Adventure, a game responsible for Sega's comeback, is truly amazing. The Blue Blur is back, bringing with him an array of new characters, faster moves, and awesome graphics. This time around, Sonic’s old nemesis, Robotnik, has attacked...

Fred Thorlin was Director of APX -- the Atari Program Exchange -- from 1982 through 1984. APX was -- and remains -- a rare software distribution model in which Atari would encourage end users to create software for their 8-bit computers, then sell the software through...

I remember picking up Joystick Nation at the oddly-named Little Professor book store in Green Bay late in 1997. I was so enthused at the thought that someone had written a book about video games then and now that I snatched it up and gladly paid the steep cover price...