Tetris Celebrates 25 Years
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Nintendo, Puzzle, Retro

We wondered why we kept seeing the almost intelligible Google logo of late, until we realized it was in honor of 25 years of the puzzle game. If you were one of those who saw it in your head after playing for hours, shame on you. If you weren’t, have your own marathon with the David de Niese’s unlicensed NES Cafe Tengen Tetris. We bet you will get hooked enough to have your own nightmares.
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| Every Video Game
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Blaze Mega Drive
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Retro, SEGA
Never got over Sonic the Hedgehog? Blaze has announced that it is releasing a new version of Sega’s classic console. The Mega Drive is plug and play, has 15 games built-in, but should also play all old cartridges. Titles include Alien Storm, Crack Down, Fatal Labyrinth, Golden Axe and Sonic And Knuckles. You can pre-order the Mega Drive for only £37.99 (~$53.00) with free shipping and expect a delivery date of April 24.
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Arcade Cow Features the Classics
If you find yourself still playing Classic video games, take a trip in time at Arcade Cow. They feature over 7000 free games that they have collected. Included are various action, arcade, strategy and puzzle games. They are all free to play and gamers can post on the forum and rate them. Those who remember the addictive play of Mario Bros. and Castlevania should be pleased and although they appear elementary now, younger players may appreciate the roots of today’s gaming.
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| Arcade Cow
Arcade Gaming Bank
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Action, Portable/Mobile, Puzzle, Retro
Remember how much coinage you lost at the arcades? Now you can play a couple of those old games and save some cash at the same time. Every time you feed the Arcade Gaming Bank a penny, it will let you play either Tetris or Breakout. You can get a lot of practice in for a dollar if you can get used to the smaller screen. The retro mini-game is available for ¥3850 ($39.50.)
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| Strapya World
Space Invaders baseball caps
Posted by Lolita Beckwith Categories: Accessories, Casual, Culture, Retro

Last year we featured lots of Space Invaders stuff, such as the bling, welcome mat, tote bag and even a baby mobile. Well we just found out the classic video game turns 30 this year. To celebrate, manufacturer Taito and New Era caps have teamed up to release a collection of seven black, fitted-style 59Fifty caps embroidered with the game’s characters. We think they’re a tad pricey at $57 each, but think of how great it will go with this scarf. According to StrictlyFitteds.com, the caps are available at Cap Collector One and New Era.
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| Strictly Fitteds via Gizmodiva
The Console Wars Veteran I gaming medal
Posted by Lolita Beckwith Categories: Accessories, Culture, Nintendo
Only a hardcore gamer knows the unique sense of accomplishment felt after reaching “100% completion” on a video game. But when you brag about it, you’re likely to get the response “So whaddya want, a medal?” Well, now you can actually have your own gaming medal, courtesy of Supermandolini. The limited edition Console Wars Veteran I medal honors “the memories of endless epic battles, infinite high scores and numerous blistered fingers.” The metal badge features a retro NES controller, but we’re hoping other consoles will get the medal treatment soon, as we’d love a SNES version. Available for approx. $27 USD.
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| Supermandolini via Retro to Go
Geek Jewelry: The “Space Invaders” Rings
Posted by Lolita Beckwith Categories: Accessories, Culture, Retro
Call us paranoid, but we’re beginning to wonder if the aliens in “Space Invaders” really are trying to take over the world: The tote bag. The baby’s mobile. The scarf. The doormat. And now… the rings! Yes, now you can show your love for the classic game 24/7 by wearing one of those pesky aliens (or elusive spaceship) on your finger. Choose one of four designs, each made of pure silver with Rhodium plating. Strangely, we couldn’t find price info on the manufacturer’s website, so you may have to contact them yourself for details.
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| Toy Me Milano via Geek Sugar
Xbox Live Arcade and Virtual Console Releases This Week
Posted by Paul Hamilton Categories: Virtual Console, Wii, Xbox 360, Xbox Live Arcade
There are six new games to choose from this week on Xbox Live Arcade and Virtual Console, though none of them are original games (which you expect from VC but even XBLA is arcade ports this week). Plus, most of this week’s games are relatively inexpensive with one exception.
Games this week include Bonk 3: Bonk’s Big Adventure, Adventure Island, Landstalker: The Treasures of King Nole, Donkey Kong Jr. Math, Cyberball 2072 and Fatal Fury Special. Details for the releases are below.
Click to continue reading Xbox Live Arcade and Virtual Console Releases This Week
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| Nintendo Press Release
California Extreme Channels a Simpler Time
Posted by Paul Hamilton Categories: Culture, Editorial, Retro

Gamers of a certain age, if given half a chance, will gladly recount grand tales of smoky rooms, dimly lit by a few dozen cathode rays where the only sounds are the white noise of competing digitized soundtracks, crude speech sythesizers, blips and bells, pings and whistles and artificial arpeggios rolling down an electronic scale.
The misty sincerity of those gamers who cut their teeth on the quarter-munching cabinets of Space Invaders, Asteroids, Missile Command and Sinistar is almost enough to make one forget what a mess the modern arcade equivalent has become. The gargantuan interface machines with their elaborate weapon approximations and physical demands juxtapose over a likewise spectacular price per play resulting in a hollow shell of what the old guard knew so well. These are not arcades as exist in those guarded memories, they are interactive entertainment experiences: The kind of branded, marginalized speciality device that has been focus tested and trade-show marketed to get the premium floor space right out front in view of the mall concourse is showpiece here.
Even those arcade machines which can still accurately be described as video games compete for the higher-yield ticket-generating skill games (which ironically involve very little skill). Most of those who recall the days when 3D graphics referred to the vector lines of Tempest pass by these modern emporiums. Perhaps they shake their heads a little or make a disparaging comment. Kids these days. Get off my lawn. They don’t enter; inside is only heartbreak.
Perhaps what hurts the most is that it is a heartbreak we chose. We have no one to blame but ourselves, for while the arcade as it was may be dead, ultimately it is us who killed it.
We wanted the more valuable entertainment experience. We asked for and then demanded a perfect replica of our arcade favorites that we could play at home from the comfort of our couches. We pressed for more arcade-quality graphics on our home consoles until our set top boxes had visuals that outpaced anything showcased on a standalone machine. We asked for, and received, greater narrative depth in our games and as a casualty for our insistence we killed the arcade—the very entity we now mourn.
Click to continue reading California Extreme Channels a Simpler Time
Track & Field Hits Xbox Live Arcade This Week
Posted by Chris Pereira Categories: Microsoft, Release Dates, Retro, Screenshots, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Arcade

This week the Arcade goes retro with the 24-year-old Track & Field. For 400 Microsoft Points you’ll get the classic button-masher, complete with 4-player split-screen and Xbox Live support. Along with this announcement, Microsoft has revealed some of the XBLA games we’ll be seeing in August and by summer’s end.
Headlining releases this month is Hexic 2, sequel to the XBLA launch game, Hexic HD. We’ll also receive Ecco the Dolphin and War World during August.
And “in the coming weeks,” we’ll see Geon: Emotions, Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords, Space Giraffe, Streets of Rage 2, and Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix. (That one’s a mouthful.)
Check after the break for a brief description of all these games, and a few more screenshots of Track & Field in action.
Click to continue reading Track & Field Hits Xbox Live Arcade This Week
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