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CG.Com's Marty "Retro Rogue" Goldberg brings an exclusive scoop not seen anywhere else - the relaunch of Microprose! Get an inside look at the launch products and see what the company has in store for the current gaming market.
IGN's "10 Videogame Turkeys"[ Comment ] 18:47 PST | jrhunt | Print NewsAny retro gaming fans with a sense of humour about the objects of their affection might want to check out Classic Gaming sister-site IGN Retro for their thanksgiving-themed list of "Top 10 videogame turkeys" for a slightly less-than-charitable look at the past!
And, before you ask, yes, Atari's ET is on it, but no, it's not top of the list! Click through to the article for a look at what could possible be considered worse. The answer may surprise you...
Sunday, 16 November, 2008 – Classic Gaming News
Retrofit: SNES Alarm Clock[ Comment ] 19:43 PST | jrhunt | Print NewsIf, like me, you've got a few consoles that are so old and knackered that they don't actually work anymore, then why not consider doing something useful with them? One example can be see at Apartment Therapy Unplugged where an old SNES and NES were both converted into working alarm clocks, complete with working joypads! I think you'll agree it's a genius use of potential dustbin-fodder.
Tuesday, 11 November, 2008 – Classic Gaming News
Help Release An Atari Computer Game For Charity![ Comment ] 19:59 PST | martyg | Print NewsSector Wars is a previously unreleased Atari 8-bit computer video game from 1985 written in 100% assembly language. The game was completed in the mid 80's in all respects apart from the 'game over' sequence. Discussions had started with an 8-bit software house ('The English Software Company') but the game was never released due to a collapse in the gaming market. Rather than let all that hard work be wasted (over 18 months of programming in his spare time), he thought it might be worth trying to raise some money for a good cause, and help some young children/adults with Cystic Fibrosis.
Once a target amount is rasied for the charity an emulator playable image of the game will be made available from his website for download.
Please visit www.sectorwars.co.uk for full information on how to donate for Cystic Fibrosis and to see screenshots of the game. All donations go direct to the charity via JustGiving and are not paid through him in any way. Please spread the word so we can help raise money for Cystic Fibrosis, and get a long delayed video game released!
[Trixter], connoisseur of old hardware, is celebrating the 25th anniversary of the PCjr. IBM’s PCjr was killed only 18th months after being revealed and [Trixter] lays out exactly why. Overall, it was designed to be cheap to produce and sell, but many of the choices made it difficult to use. They used the CPU instead of DMA for floppy access; cheaper to make, but you couldn’t do much during disk reads because of it. The video memory scheme left little room for programs that could take advantage of it. It also had compatibility issues that made IBM clones a more attractive choice. [Trixter] ends by pointing out that some good came of it when the Tandy 1000 copied the good ideas while leaving out the restrictive memory issues. He recommends Mike’s PCjr Page for more information on this classic machine.
As usual, Lowe has a no-holds-barred approach to explaining the ups and downs of his career, and it makes a fantastic read for anyone interested in the history of gaming.
Grim Fandango came out about the time the adventure game publishing world was crashing. It was an expensive game to make and it was a rather esoteric topic without broad appeal, which didn’t sell well. And when Gabriel Knight came out a year behind schedule and at double its original budget, it had a tough time making a profit. And so the suits looked at this situation and said, “Adventure games must be dead. We’d better not do another Larry game because it won’t make money either.”
Awesome retro Gameboy t-shirt[ Comment ] 19:42 PST | jrhunt | Print NewsIt's not often that we post news about specific products, but after seeing this t-shirt, I couldn't not post it. Echoing the sleek, retro stylings of the original Nintendo Gameboy, this unofficial shirt is an utter must-have for Classic Gaming fans!
Mayhem in Monsterland hits VC[ Comment ] 18:42 PST | jrhunt | Print NewsOrdinarily, we don't bother announcing the various additions to the Wii Virtual Console, but this week, european games will find a fantastic new arrival in the form of Mayhem in Monsterland, an utterly amazing-looking, arcade platformer for the C=64 that Commodore Format once awarded a review score of 100%
Mayhem is certainly one of the best Commodore 64 game ever released, and definitely deserves a look from any gaming enthusiast. It's fairly-priced at 500 Wii points and more than worth it to experience a slice of gaming history - the C=64's last great game.
Monday, 20 October, 2008 – Classic Gaming News
Legacy Engineering Group Parts Ways With Microprose Brand[ Comment ] 20:51 PST | martyg | Print NewsNew York, NY. – October 20th, 2008 – Legacy Engineering Group (LEG) announced today the discontinuation of their licensing agreement with Frederic Chesnais and Interactive Game Group (I2G), owners of the Microprose® brand and related properties. This discontinuation affects LEG subsidiaries Microprose Systems and Microprose Consumer Electronics Division, which have been combined and rebranded Legacy Consumer Electronics (LCE).
Designed with the retro gamer in mind, the 8 way digital joystick is the only way to accurately duplicate the play experience of your favorite retro console and computer games. The fact that its USB means it'll work on any USB enabled platform, and with a list price of US$14.99 its affordable to the masses and not the classes.
We're told that, like previous Legacy products, it features "hidden" hackable features: on the PCB are 10 additional fire button contacts to allow hardware hackers to add more buttons (for those multi-button fighting games) or you can pull the pcb out and use it on home made arcade controls as an inexpensive interface board for your MAME cabinet.
Look for a full review in our upcoming 2008 Holiday Gift Guide.
Thriving video game dedicated auction site, ChaseTheChuckwagon.com has hit and surpassed the revered 1,000-member mark only six months from launching back on March 24, 2008. In what can only be called remarkable growth, hitting 1,000 members in such a short period of time means only one thing according to Mike Kennedy, Owner of ChaseTheChuckwagon.com, "Gamers and collectors alike are looking for other, less expensive, less cluttered auction alternatives". And this is exactly what they are getting on ChaseTheChuckwagon.com.
In addition to the auction environment, ChaseTheChuckwagon.com has also introduced a couple complementing features. Community member forums were first introduced to help the auction members get to know one another, and most recently a streaming radio station was added to the mix. RetroArcadeRadio.com was added to provide retro-videogame themed mood music as a backdrop to searching through the large variety of auction listings.
Mike indicates, "One of the things making ChaseTheChuckwagon.com so great is the sense of community that is brewing and also the satisfaction of being apart of what is now the single, most successful attempt at a dedicated video gaming auction site ever."
In only six months ChaseTheChuckwagon.com has hosted over 17,000 auctions and sold over $30,000 in merchandise. It is well on its way to being a lasting, sustainable auction alternative to Ebay.
Started nearly four years ago by Mr. Peter Hirschberg, RetroArcadeRadio.com is the only online radio stream featuring hundreds of retrogaming themed music. In addition you can also expect to hear tons of rare, vintage video gaming commercials and gaming movie trailers. Tune in today and listen while surfing the net or while searching for your next video gaming treasure on http://www.ChaseTheChuckwagon.com. Click the link above or click the link on the ChaseTheChuckwagon.com home page to tune into this classic gaming goodness anytime. There is no more complete collection of retrogaming tunes to be found anywhere. Enjoy!
Portal on C-64?[ Comment ] 8:09 PST | jrhunt | Print NewsAs if having Portal released on the 2600 a few days ago wasn't enough, retro-inclined fans of the game can take a look at another Portal "demake," this time written for the C-64!
It's called Shotgate, and it's even being produced in a limited run of 20 x C-64 Cartridges! Fantastic stuff! All the details are here.
Portal released on... Atari 2600?[ 1 Comment ] 18:14 PST | jrhunt | Print NewsIt's always encouraging to see new games on old systems (Megaman 9, we're looking at you!) but these "demakes" are even cooler when it means you can get a critically acclaimed game like Portal on a system like the 2600. Portal 2600 completely replicates the experience of playing the original! You know, if you use your imagination REALLY REALLY hard.
Kotaku has the scoop, and if you go get the finished rom from the TIGsource forums you'll find it playable on the 2600 emulator of your choice!
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