A few weeks back, we highlighted the release of a documentary called Atari: Game Over that digs into one of the biggest game-related urban legends ever: Did Atari really dump hundreds of thousands of copies of E.T.: The Game into a landfill? It turns out that, yes, they actually did do that, though that's not the only question answered by the film. Others, such as "why?!", come up as well, and they got us thinking: What about Atari itself? How has it changed since the days of E.T.? Quite a bit, it turns out, and here's a look at where the brand once known for some of the most groundbreaking games is right now. Check out more after the jump...
I recently picked up a multi-game disc for my Xbox 360 that features 40 classic Sega Genesis games, and I have been in nostalgic heaven! There are so many classics on here, so I decided to take some time out over the next few weeks to take a look back at some of the great games that laid the groundwork for the fantastic video games we have today. To do so, I will use fan art courtesy of Deviant Art to show how people with artistic talent remember the gems of the past. The first game I will look at comes from Sega, and has its origins in the arcades of old. Originally a coin op game, it was ported to a bunch of international systems but most famously here in the US to Sega Genesis. It was a pack in game, meaning you got it with the system... which means that it was one of the games that almost everyone who had a Genesis owned. The game followed the adventures of a resurrected Roman Centurion that is tasked by Zeus to rescue Athena from the evil demon Neff. While questing after Athena, the centurion can absorb spirit balls that allow him to transform into different monsters, a la Altered Beasts. Each board has a corresponding beast, with five in total (werewolf, dragon, bear, tiger and golden werewolf). Each monster had multiple special attacks, some much better than others. I spent many hours trying to master the five levels (only five levels.... wtf!) and capturing enough spirit balls to transform into all the different creatures. The bear was by far my favorite, but the dragon (that flew for Christs Sake) was definitely the most equip for battle. The game was short, sure, but it was always a fun time. When I popped the game into my Xbox 360, this was one of the titles that I immediately cued up. So in honor of this Genesis 16 bit classic, here are a few artist renderings of the characters from the game to pay homage to the greatness that it possessed. Enjoy the art after the jump, and always remember where you came from when it comes to video game culture....
I am a bit out of the look when it comes to the video game world, but I am not blind so I see the fantastic ads and game play footage that is constantly flooding mass media. Video games are big business... and the companies have to do something to stand out among the large groups of games getting released in order to score the consumers $60 bucks. So when my buddy Nunzio (an avid gamer and video game blogger himself) posted this Far Cry 3 game trailer on his Facebook account, I knew it had to be special. Now I preface this by saying that even though I have heard of the Far Cry franchise I personally have never played the game at all. But after watching this 3 minute trailer, I have to admit that this title might find its way into my X Box 360. The first person shooter channels the early 80s era of taping TV shows (with all the commercials) on a V/H/S and having Michael Biehn as the voice of the main character is a good way to gain my geek interest piqued. All in all, a great commercial whether or not you even play games like this. Far cry 3: Blood Dragon is due in stores May 1st 2013. Check out the commercial after the jump...
I am not a big toy collector, nor do I claim to be up on the whole toy game. But given the fact that it has gotten larger and larger over the last few years to the point where toys & collecting toys have infiltrated the mainstream, it is hard not to catch some news about cool releases every now and again. And when the tidbits I come across are from two of my favorite coin-op/Nintendo games of all time, they get showcased here on CCD. Ghost n Goblins may be my favorite side scrolling 8 bit game ever. I love the adventures of Arthur in his quest against Lucifer. And I always loved the fact that you would lose your armor when you first got hit, and would be forced to play the rest of the board in your underwear. Dig Dug is my favorite old school coin operated game. You can keep you Pac Man, Ms. Pac Man, Space Invaders, Galga, etc.... I'll stick with inflating bad guys until they burst and dropping rocks on their heads! Both of these properties were given the toy treatment by a company called Gargamel. These cool ass toys seem to come unpainted, and then are customized any way you want. Since I am not really up on the whole toy game, I am not sure. But these look amazing, so I thought I should share. Head on over to Kaiju Korner to hear what Andy has to say about these releases as well as over 200 other pics he took at Wonder festival 2013, the years first big toy event. Go ahead afetr the jump to see the Ghost n Goblins/Dig Dug to pics....
Super Mario Brothers for Nintendo is one of the greatest games ever created, and it holds up quite well. While games have advanced over the years to the point that they are almost lifelike, the NES classic still holds up in terms of functionality and ability to hold a child's interest. But if the game was being released for the first time in this day and age, there would have to be some changes made. They could keep the side scrolling action, the Goomba & Koopa enemies, and the flagpole... but they would have to tweak things like what would happen to the enemies when you killed them, what powers the power-ups would give you, and how the hell a plumber from Brooklyn could slide down a 100 foot flagpole without a problem!!!! Check out the video from BM Studios called Super Modern Mario Brothers after the jump, and see just how great a new Mario release would be....
I have been on a bit of a Lego kick lately, probably because I have not been getting my usual "Lego Iconic" fix from Mr. Jeff Bond (get back to work brother!!!!). I came across this wonderful stop motion video called "Lego Arcade" and its sequel 'Lego Arcade 2' over at Topless Robot on one of their countdowns, and I was thoroughly impressed with both of them. Michael Hickox recreates some 80s arcade classics such as Pacman, Tron, Galga, Dig Dug, Centipede, Space Invaders and quite a few other by using Lego pieces and filming them making the moves of the respective games. Pretty great stuff that brings back a lot of memories of my local arcade, The Bow Wow in Howard Beach, NY. My favorite part of the videos has to be the sound effects... so perfect! You can catch both videos after the jump...
Wreck It Ralph is shaping up to be one great looking movie, a homage and love letter to the era of coin operated video games & arcades from the 70s & 80s. Those place lost their value once home video game consoles became prevalent with the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1985. But Disney's newest film seems ambitious, and they are getting all the right nods to the popular games of that time in the footage so far. So Disney decided to make the tie in that seems the most logical and created a playable version of the game from the movie, 'Fix It Felix', so that people can become familiar with the main characters (Good Guy Felix, bad guy Ralph) who will serve as the main characters in the film. You can click here to get taken over to Disney's page for the game and enjoy... but heed this warning, it is quite addictive!!!! Movie is in theaters on November 2nd.
'Wreck It Ralph' is Disney's newest foray into the original animation market, and it looks pretty great. For those of you guys who have never heard of the movie, it revolves around a villain in a classic video game who has had enough of being the bad guy. So he leaves his familiar game world and goes on to try his hand at being good for a change... and he is voiced by John C Reilly!!! I am loving the fact that Disney licensed a bunch of classic game characters (watch the trailer and you will see some doozy cameos in there!!!) for the flick and it looks fun. Plus it is going to shine a light on the coin-op era of arcades, which was the late 70s/early 80s and some of the best years of my life!!! This one kicks off the 2012 Holiday season when it comes out on November 2nd. Enjoy the trailer after the jump.
God, sometimes I wish I was a talented graphic artist/video programmer/editor. I have so many great ideas to make creative things, but I have no ability to actual realize them (meh meh!). Thankfully, there are hugely talented like DaneBoe who like geeky shit and could bring these awesome things to life. Check out his mash-up of two of my all time favorite arcade/NES classic games, Paperboy & Contra. If this doesn't take you back to 1988, I don't know what will. Click after the jump for the video...
This video is sure to tickle the funnybone of anybody who considered themselves a gamer back in the 80's. If you spent anytime in a gameroom surrounded by coin operated video games, at some point you found yourself over at the Gauntlet machine. What was so attractive about this wonderful game? Well, for starters you could play with three of your friends. That meant four of you on the game at once... Gauntlet was the first machine I remember being like that (later on X-Men and TMNT would also be 4 player beasts). Click after the jump for more...
Penney Design is a very talented graphic design firm from jolly 'ole England and they have organized a project that caught my attention when surfing the 'Net. They took modern film & TV show properties and re-imagined them as Atari 2600 era video games (the CVS, or Cartridge Video Game system... very clever), both boxes & cartridges. Check 'em all out after the jump.
Here are a few awesome Video Game GIF's that go out to all the momma's out there... these are great and come to us from Amy Sly via Buzzfeed. Make sure you send your mom some video game love with one of these bad boys! (Just click the pics to see them in action)
What does it mean? I didn't know then and I don't know now, but it did get me my games.
Long before console gaming really kicked off for me, days were spent click-clacking away on my Commodore 64. "Death Sword," "Zaxxon," "Boulder Dash," "Lode Runner;" they weren't always the best quality, but they were plentiful. I rememebr getting a floppy disk once that had somehwere around 100 games on it. Where did it come from? Who knows. The birth of the modern piracy market.
This was the first real beast of the home PC market. Millions of people had real computers running in their homes. And now it's back.
Ready to cash in in on our ridiculous obsession with all things 80's, the system returns beefed up with a dual core, full HD and surround sound output, numerous card reader inputs and an optional Blu-Ray drive.
There's also a classic C64 emulator to play all those games at a quick press of a button. The games are either included or are to be mailed soon after release.
Ok so, it's obviously just a fancy PC stuck in a retro chassis, there's been a whole scene of hobbyists doing mods like that for years. But what a case it is eh? You can get more info at the official site, and pick one up for $250 to $900 depending on your specs.
Can't really say this is something I would get. It's definitely one of those, "hey that's pretty cool if only I had unlimited money" kind of deals. But with the promise of it making me more alive than ever before.....
I always loved Don Bluth's 'Dragon's Lair' when I was a kid. It was always the coolest game at The Bow Wow which, for all of you guys not from Howard Beach, Queens, was a huge arcade on the corner of 163th Ave and Crossbay Blvd. This place was like heaven on earth, with well over 100 arcade cabinet games to play. They had all the newest titles, but as they all came and went, 'Dragon's Lair' stayed put. The vivid graphics were just so entrancing, they blew the doors off even the best games of the time. Sure, there wasn't much to the game (it wasn't easy but, you were merely controlling the motions of the hero, Dirk the Daring). Dirk was a real hero, bumbling as he may be. And Daphne had some boobies on her, so that didn't hurt to make the game popular amongst the fellas. Throw in a bad ass dragon named Singe and you got yourself a hell of a package.
The game was popular on computers of the time, and then they made versions of the game for various systems such as Super Nintendo and X-Box. It also lead to a short lived cartoon series (only 13 episodes) that was pretty much a perfect animated copy of the game itself. I have always loved the styling of Don Bluth's artistry, and the cartoon-y yet awesomeness of the characters is hard to ignore. I hope this little trip down memory lane jars some memories of this great game and cartoon. Do you remember 'Dragon's Lair'? Did you play it in the arcade? Did you watch the cartoon? Let us know in the comment section below.
Also, check out this cool behind the scenes review of the original 'Dragon's Lair' game by The Choco Bros. This will surely refresh some of your memories if you need it. Great stuff.
