Top 10s—The Sports Countdown #2
23 January 2011 6:11 pm |
Chances are, you've probably been waiting for this one to appear on the list. After all, it's still one of the best boxing games ever created. Little Mac? Doc? Ring any bells? Well, check out the full scoop on the penultimate entry to the Top 10 Sports Games list here. |
Magfest 2012—Four Glorious Days of Video Game Fun
10 January 2011 8:19 pm |
Magfest X has come and gone, and after attending Magfest for the first time I must give it a very warm recommendation to anyone who enjoys video games. Four days of arcade/console/pinball/computer/board gaming, live concerts, panels, and videos for $40! How can you beat that? There was so much to do and see that next year I'll have to free up more time in my schedule to get the most out of every day. Anyway, some personal highlights included:
Bit Brigade
They played an arranged rock version of all the music from Mega Man 2, perfectly synchronized as one of their members performed a live speed run through the game without losing a single life. Although Bit Brigade seemed to do it all effortlessly, it was pretty amusing to see how tired and sweaty they were at the end of around 40 minutes of non-stop shredding. After the show ended, one of the fans told me that last year at Magfest BB played/shredded through Ninja Gaiden. They've also done Contra. I couldn't resist buying almost everything they were selling: |
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| Earthbound Papas
You may have heard of Nobuo Uematsu, the composer behind a wealth of Final Fantasy compositions. Well, he plays keyboards in this band. Hearing their version of Dancing Mad (music to the final boss battle) made me really want to revisit Final Fantasy VI and finish the last section of the game that always somehow eludes me. Rather than do a poor job of describing how epic the performance was, you should check out the original game music and the live version.
Arcade Cabinets and Consoles
As for actual gaming, I played Moon Patrol for the first time, where you bounce along the moonscape in a buggy, jumping over obstacles, and shoot alien saucers. It's great, goofy fun. Blasting through the giant six-player X-Men arcade game while spamming mutant attacks non-stop with five other people was pretty hilarious, too. Seeing classics like Ninja Spirit represented on the TurboDuo as well as Soul Calibur 2 on the Dreamcast also made me very happy.
Merchandise
While the Magfest merchants offered a plethora of video game-related stuff, the deals on classic retro games were few and far between. Nevertheless, I impulse-bought a complete copy of Streets of Rage 2 and couldn't resist grabbing this tee-shirt: |
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Top 10s—The Sports Countdown #3
8 January 2011 6:28 pm |
Now we're getting to the big guns. This title frequently makes the list when people cover the greatest games of all-time, and it easily gets mentioned when you focus on sports titles. Click through to get the scoop. |
Top 10s—The Sports Countdown #4
5 January 2011 8:38 pm |
The last entry concerned American Football. This one, instead, examines Football as the rest of the world knows the term. In other words, we're talking about non-stop running, low-scoring games, and a whole lot of acting whenever opposing players make even the slightest bit of contact. OK, jesting aside, soccer is an awesome game. There are many soccer games out there, but only one breaks into the upper half of this Top 10. The aforementioned title looks a little something like this: |
Top 10s—The Sports Countdown #5
3 January 2011 9:05 pm |
What is the connection between ninjas and football? Is there a sports games with ninjas? Or maybe certain contributors to this website imbibed too much during the holiday season and can't keep such matters straight anymore. In any event, the newest entry in the Top 10 Sports Games list is a cult favorite that most of you will probably recognize. The images below should provide solid clues, but since the spirte doesn't fully capture the ninja's weapon of choice, I'll help clarify: He's not packing a Diskarmor. |
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Top 10s—The Sports Countdown #6
29 December 2011 4:00 pm |
This soccer title helped set the standard for customization and deep gameplay. It also features a rather iconic art style as you can tell from the screenshot below. Read on to learn more about the latest entry into the Top 10 Sports list. |
Top 10s—The Sports Countdown #7
5 December 2011 11:10 am |
If someone asked you to name one of the greatest and most influential sports games ever created, you probably wouldn't think of the latest Sports Top 10 entry. It's an old 8-bit title, and its maker is much better known for other genres of video games. Here's a little hint... |
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Top 10s—The Sports Countdown #8
21 November 2011 6:14 pm |
Wow, it's amazing how much a Top 10 can creep ahead of you during the holiday season, even when you know exactly what games are going to be featured. For those of you who were wondering about the cryptic clue "sports meets swordplay" you need not wonder any longer. I'm talking about Konami's Blades of Steel! To see how this fits into the Top 10 Sports list, read on. |
Optimal Hardware—The NES/Famicom
11 November 2011 11:24 am |
We interrupt the Top 10 Sports game countdown to bring you the latest optimal hardware feature, this time looking at what is easily one of the greatest consoles in the history of video games, the NES. Just about everyone knows about the NES and chances are that if you didn't grow up with one your parents did. But suppose that classic console has disappeared since then, or perhaps you missed the Nintendo invasion back in the day and want to finally experience all of those amazing 8-bit games for the first time. What's the best version of NES hardware to chase down today? This feature aims to answer exactly that question, so read on to get the full scoop. |
Top 10s—The Sports Countdown #9
2 November 2011 5:53 pm |
After getting in a solid gameplay session last night with this particular title, it's time to reveal #9 in the Sports Top 10. Whatever could it be? Well, if you haven't already clicked through to find out, here's a giant hint: |
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Top 10s—The Sports Countdown #10
25 October 2011 10:48 pm |
Welcome to a new Top 10 and a new format. Is it better? Worse? Easier to view? Please drop me a line and let me know what you think. Wondering what the game is that's securing the #10 spot? Well, all I can say right now is that in order to succeed you're going to need to learn to:
Dodge,
Duck,
Dip,
Dive,
and
Dodge!
You should also have a more comprehensive understanding of the developer that brought Double Dragon and River City Ransom to home consoles. To find out more about the #10 entry in the Sports Top 10, click here. |
NES Update—Ms. Heavy Balloon Fortress
22 October 2011 10:07 am |
Bargains Galore—The Wii Virtual Console's Prices Can Be Amazing
26 September 2011 9:43 pm |
When you think Neo Geo, Neo Turf Masters and Magical Drop III probably aren't the first two titles that jump to mind. They are, however, the best Virtual Console titles to download if you want to get incredible value (in addition to great gameplay). To acquire the original Neo Geo AES cartridges would set you back around $2000, assuming you even manage to find someone actually selling them! To find more killer download bargains on the VC, check out the full feature, covering everything from the Neo Geo and TurboGrafx-16 (aka PC Engine) to the Sega Mega Drive and Super Nintendo. |
America Deserves Great Wii RPGs!—Join Operation Rainfall
8 September 2011 10:16 pm |
Wii may not be a retro console, but it is definitely the most retro system among the current generation's offerings. Sadly, the Wii is in the process of suffering an unnecessarily early death due to lack of quality games. Why? That's a good question, because Japan has received some pretty sweet RPGs like Last Story, Pandora's Tower, and Xenoblade Chronicles. Although Xenoblade has been published in Europe, none of these RPGs are currently slated for an American release. What a crime! After all, the Wii has sold over 40 million consoles in North America, the greatest number in any region. Is there any hope for RPG fans? But of course! There is one Internet pressure group is fighting the good fight. Operation Rainfall is a blog with the goal of convincing Nintendo to release these RPGs in North America. Visit them now, add your voice, and maybe we can convince Nintendo to right their ways. |
PSN Retro Coverage—TurboGrafx-16 and Neo Geo Titles Available!
28 August 2011 10:45 pm |
Covering the Wii Virtual Console was always a no-brainer for this site, but the Playstation 3 is stealthily becoming an excellent source of classic retro games as well. Though it's off to a bit of a slow start, Sony definitely has the right idea with providing great value, because it's always been the TurboGrafx-16 (aka PC Engine) games and Neo Geo games that represent the best bargains. Even with the small initial library of titles, you can already find some that are not available on the Wii Virtual Console—bravo! To help you weed out the best of the retro offerings, you'll find a new PSN system selector that takes you to the best titles currently available, ignoring the crap titles that so often cloud these sorts of services. Enjoy! |
Nintendo's Virtual Console—Potential Greatness Eclipsed by Mediocrity
28 July 2011 8:23 pm |
I hate to hit a good man while he's down, and believe me—as an owner of a small amount of Nintendo stock—I can guarantee that the Big N is feeling VERY down right now. With that caveat out of the way, I cannot help but unleash years worth of frustration about the Virtual Console service. The Virtual Console is a brilliant concept, yet Nintendo has executed it so poorly, barely exceeding minimum expectations. WTF? Step it up! Nintendo, you know there are tons of fanboys who will buy your greatest retro games over and over again. So give them a worthwhile digital product!
[Taking deep breaths. Trying to calm down.]
Anyway, this in-depth examination of the failings of the Virtual Console has been brewing for quite some time. Now that I see the 3DS Virtual Console service is hardly any better, I think it's time to let it rip. Nintendo, I'm always pulling for you, but you'd do well to read this feature and treat your retro gamers better. |
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The National Pinball Museum — Play Pinball There While You Can!
26 July 2011 12:16 pm |
Originally scheduled to close on 4 July, I'm very pleased to report that The National Pinball Museum has managed to extend its lease until 5 September. Sadly, what happens after that remains uncertain (if you have any leads, please reach out to the museum's curator). So what are you waiting for? There are already plenty of good tourist reasons to visit Washington, DC, but for the fist time ever a fine collection playable pinball machines is one of them. Get yourself to The Shops at Georgetown Park and fire it up. There, you'll find a museum covering the history of pinball along with a wide variety of electromagnetic machines and solid state ones. You'll find just a few highlights from my last visit below. Games rotate, so if you want the latest list of what's currently playable, you can find it conveniently listed here. |
The SunSoft Seven Pt. 3 — Batman
10 July 2011 6:47 pm |
In the ongoing effort to extoll the finest developers from the golden age of video games, here's the latest feature in the SunSoft Seven feature series. I started collecting comic books not very long after discovering the NES, so it gives me great pleasure to extensively cover a fantastic game based on Batman. Enjoy! |
GamerSpots — The Union of Google Maps and Video Game Info
8 July 2011 11:27 am |
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Once again summer has preoccupied me and I'm a little behind on updates, but I promise there are many items in the works. In the meantime, I want to give a shoutout to this excellent site: GamerSpots. Search your area for video game locations and add your favorites to the database. |
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