Gallery: Mega Drive/Genesis Library (Updated)

Posted on November 28, 2011 by geelw

By popular demand (from a few places), here you go, along with Master System games since they’re living on the same shelf as the MD/Genny stuff. For those who’ve seen the older pics elsewhere, yes, the collection used to be larger by about 40 or so games, but here’s where we’re at now minus a few loose carts I have stored in a bin nearby. I’ll try to get to the Super Famicom stuff within the next couple of months, as it’s more of a project getting them from the closet in the other room…

Review: Star Odyssey

Posted on November 22, 2011 by geelw

Platform: Sega Genesis/Mega Drive

Developer: Hot-B/Starfish

Publisher: Super Fighter Team

# of Players: 1

ESRB Rating: N/A

Official Site

Score: B+ (80%)

After 20 long years one of a handful of “lost” Sega Genesis games finally surfaces thanks to Brandon Cobb and Super Fighter Team. While Star Odyssey may not be the best RPG on the platform, as a piece of gaming history, it’s something that’s truly great too see and play. Thanks to Cobb’s dedication to seeing the project through (and a solid localization job), a few hundred lucky gamers can now play this long lost gem and see what might have been had this one shipped when it was supposed to. Granted, I’m sure it wouldn’t have set the gaming world on fire back in 1991 or ’92, but the Genesis never really got as many great RPG’s as the SNES back in the day, so what’s here makes for a mostly solid game with a few quirks that keep it from perfection. Continue reading →

And While You’re Waiting, Here’s Some More Random Art…

Posted on November 17, 2011 by geelw

Yes, I’m still BURIED in Skyrim (and a few other games, bouncing back and forth between no fewer than six titles), so here’s some more art from my fanzine self-publishing days. Only the Baby Coco Bandicoot cover actually made it to print. The other two were unused and part of my pre-planning back then. I had a ton of content written and article ideas mapped out for about ten issues, but I didn’t want to worry about having to come up with cover art at the last minute. Drawing out a bunch of ideas (I think around 15-20) made for an easier time in planning what other art I wanted to run in each issue. Of course, getting hired to write for the late, lamented Gametour.com (which morphed into Foul Magazine) ended my days as a ‘zine publisher and some of the content (a rather small amount) I’d wanted to run in Continue ended up as part of Gametour and later Foul’s dozen issue run. I’ll run a few more unpublished sketches a bit later if you’re interested…

Jeff Spega’s Tron and Robotron Now Available. You Should Buy It Based On The Table Of Contents Alone.

Posted on November 12, 2011 by geelw

Jeff is a cool guy (creatively cranky like me), a fellow gamer, writer, editor and knows a hell of a lot more than I do about video games. Even better, he was smart enough to write all he knows down in a handy new book called Tron and Robotron: Thirty Years of Electronic Gaming (and Counting), which just so happens to be available for purchase by clicking on that link above. I need to buy a copy just so I can read more than the excellent teasers and excerpts he’s got as a quickie download on his page. Oh, and that table of contents is pretty spectacular. Seriously. Jeff also likes a lot of 3DO games I like, so he’s definitely someone to have around when you happen to have a copy of Burning Soldier and an extra controller lying around and need someone to blast Kaisertians with.

Babycastles. Brooklyn. Sunday. NEW Atari 2600 Games (!) Be There.

Posted on November 10, 2011 by geelw

I won’t be there, thanks to too much work to do, but maybe YOU can go and tell me what a blast you had.

Sunday, November 13th

Innovative Leisure: New Atari Games, curated by Ian Bogost.

Celebrating a new art games arcade at Death By Audio
6:30 – 9pm ||| @ DEATH BY AUDIO (South 2nd & Kent Avenue)
FREE ||| ALL AGES ||| TALKS BY IAN BOGOST, SONNY RAE TEMPEST

More info after the jump! Continue reading →

What’s Old Is New…

Posted on November 5, 2011 by geelw

So, my copy of Star Odyssey arrived today, interestingly enough on a nice and quiet (but busy) Saturday. I spent a few hours playing it and yup, it’s definitely old-school goodness. Not the best RPG on the Mega Drive/Genesis, but a great deal of care went into the game and it’s one of those “lost” games that was well worth the long wait to finally play. For the heck of it, here are pics of the game one of my Mega Drives consoles and the original Japanese release, Blue Almanac. Enjoy!

Grand Theft Auto III Is 10 Years Old…

Posted on October 20, 2011 by geelw

It’s truly amazing how fast time flies sometimes. I can remember getting to review GTA III for the late (but not lamented) Foul Magazine. I stayed up for about 43 hours straight playing to blow through the story and the reason it took so long was that I got sidetracked a few too many times by the game’s many non plot related diversions. Anyway, the great news is the game is finally coming to the iPad (and “other mobile devices” says Rockstar) soon and it looks spectacular. For me, GTA III is like that pair of old jeans or sneakers you find in the back of the closet. You slip them on after far too long and not only do they fit perfectly, you get a wave of memories that make you grin all day long. Happy Anniversary, GTA III – I think I need to play you once more for old times sake…

Ico & Shadow of the Colossus Collection Launch Trailer

Posted on September 27, 2011 by geelw

Yes, it’s here. And Yes, it’s a absolute must buy at a measly $39.99. Hell, if you happen to know someone with a 3DTV and no PS3, do them a favor and lug yours over to their house with a copy of this game and they’ll probably BUY their own PS3 afterward. Seriously, it’s THAT good.

Valve Offers PC. Mac Versions Of Portal Free (As An Educational Tool)

Posted on September 17, 2011 by geelw

Valve is always doing some rather fun stuff with their older games, and now they’re giving educators a chance to share one of the coolest puzzle games ever with their classes without paying a dime for it. Even better, it’s supposed to be for purely “educational” purposes, meaning it would be awesome if some clever teacher out there actually downloaded this for a class and used it in a lesson plan. All you need is a Steam account and a PC or MAC capable of running the game and boom, you’re in. This offer expires on September 20, 2011, so act fast. Hopefully Valve will extend this deal a bit longer. Click on over to Learn With Portals and prepare to be schooled in more ways than one.

How Atari Can Really Take Advantage Of The Digital Age

Posted on September 12, 2011 by geelw

While the company has seen its share of ups and downs (and a few sideways moves) over the past few decades, there's something about Atari that makes me hope they'll be around in some form for as long as people are around to play video games. Primarily a publisher for a good deal of the past decade, since 2004 they've been tapping into their history to produce a few different plug & play console variants in the Atari Flashback line. These units feature not only many classic games, but unreleased as well as homebrew tittles have managed to make it into the mainstream thanks to the small but dedicated team contracted to put the Flashback project together. As good as these systems are, I think Atari can bring things to the next level in a really cool way.Read more »