

Arcades & Heirlooms: A Vintage Video Game Experience
By the time most of my classmates were saving up to purchase a PlayStation 3, I was still raving about the late, great Sega Genesis. Games like Mortal Kombat and Tekken, with anchored backgrounds and minimal moves, were rendered obsolete by stealth shooters, headset communication, and pseudo-3D graphics, but my...
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Review: Super Mario Odyssey
A lot has been said already about Super Mario Odyssey, a game that is every bit as much of a Nintendo Switch system-seller as The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has been, and yet the heapings of praise it has received fall short of doing the game...
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Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is a 2D side-scroller with RPG elements that was released on the Playstation in 1997. As in many of the Castlevania games, your goal is to traverse the castle fighting demons and the undead until you reach the end and defeat...
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The Legacy of Final Fantasy VII
I remember watching commercials for Final Fantasy VII when I was 11 and being blown away by the graphics. I’d only played the original Final Fantasy for NES, so the difference was outrageous. Cinematic cut scenes, 3D characters, huge swords—it was like watching a movie trailer. There...
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Taking Advantage
I need to make a confession. I have not used a standard NES controller in probably close to 20 years. That doesn’t mean I haven’t played my NES in that amount of time. It’s just that about 20 years ago I decided to...
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NEO・GEO The Luxury Console
Owning a Neo Geo in the ‘90s was the playground equivalent of driving a Ferrari—most kids only ever dreamt of having one. Rich uncles with Neo Geos (no relation to the uncles who worked for Nintendo) were invented for bragging rights; you never questioned their...
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Go TURBO! The Cult Following of the TurboGrafx-16
Something unusual I’ve discovered is that people either love the TurboGrafx-16…or they’ve never heard of it. Serious collectors have told me the TurboGrafx-16 is their absolute favorite gaming system, and casual gamers give me a puzzled stare if I mention it. There...
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Kickle Cubicle review (NES)
What do earmuffs, plums, evil wizards, and kicking things have in common? The addictive puzzle game Kickle Cubicle, that’s what. Circa 1990, Tetris and Dr. Mario were causing headaches for the gaming public, and it’s unfortunate that Kickle Cubicle remains nearly forgotten. This unique...
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Virtual Boy: Virtual Reality Before it was Virtual Reality
Imagine playing video games while being totally immersed in a virtual reality experience. Sounds enticing, right? This is what Nintendo promised back in 1995 with the Virtual Boy, but the console didn't quite live up to the hype. It did bring on a new...
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Retro Gaming
After collecting a few retro systems, you may find yourself running out of spots to plug them all in to your television. Swapping the wires each time you want to play a new system might work, but let's be honest, it's a pain. We'll be focusing on...
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