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Retro Gaming

GameStop Will Test Retro Trade-In Program

GameStop Will Test Retro Trade-In Program

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For the longest time GameStop was of the opinion that anything older than PS2 was worthless. Now they seem to rapidly be reversing their thinking. First they reinstated trade-ins for PS2 hardware, and now they’ve re-opened the floodgates to accept machines and games they haven’t taken since the days when they weren’t a monopoly (wow, that was a long time ago). In 250 stores centered around New York City and Birmingham, Alabama, GameStop will begin testing the new policy, and if it bears fruit they will expand it nationwide. We can only guess why they’re doing this. One theory is simply that the PS2 reversal increased sales, but another is that they’ve begun to appreciate how older consoles don’t take DLC or threaten to go all-digital and leave them with empty shelves. Funny how that works. It may not work out as well as the company and some game buyers hope, now that a larger amount of retro consoles and cartridges out there are owned by collectors who would never

Five Retro Responses to Nintendo’s Move Into Health Care

Five Retro Responses to Nintendo’s Move Into Health Care

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Pundits hoping for Nintendo to announce that it was moving into mobile phone gaming were shocked this week to find out what the venerable gaming giant’s next big thing actually is. Health Care. Details are almost non-existent, but Nintendo President Satoru Iwata did say that  company’s move into the “Quality of Life” market would be a non-wearable device, setting it apart from trendy “wearables” such as Google Glass or the Pebble Smartwatch. But, c’mon, it’s not that surprising. Video game companies getting into healthcare and personal improvement devices is not a new thing. In fact, it’s a very old thing, with Nintendo being one of the most recently successful companies to do so with its Wii Fit  line and the general concept of getting off the couch to play with the Wii. Here are five retro examples that show the idea goes back to the early days of gaming. Atari Mindlink – 1984 A common theme in “Quality of Life” hardware devices is the use of biofeedback techniques, and the

Retro Review: Blazing Star

Retro Review: Blazing Star

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Blazing Star is a horizontal shoot’em up developed by Yumekobo and published by SNK in 1998 for the Neo Geo. It’s most famously known for the humorous translation of text “You fail it! Your skill is not enough. See you next time. Bye Bye!”. Though there is more to this game than hilarious translations, and it’s definitely worth trying out. Blazing Star’s story is pretty typical of your average shmup; two planets known as Mutras and Rumeria waged a war against each other, which eventually resulted in the development of biological weaponry. Eventually this lead to the development of the weapon known as Brawshella, which is in layman’s terms a baby with the ability to shapeshift into deadly and monstrous looking abominations.  Brawshella then goes on to control all life on the planet, including human beings, forcing them to fight and kill each other. Only a handful of people broke free (the protagonists), and turned on Brawshella shortly after they regain consciousness.  It’s not exactly a spiritual sequel to Pulstar, but it

Review: 3D Dot Game Heroes

Review: 3D Dot Game Heroes

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Years ago, top down role-playing games dominated the market and presented some of the most memorable gaming experiences in the industry. Unfortunately, those experiences are a thing of the past.  3D Dot Game Heroes developed by From Software and published by Atlus is an attempt to modernize the genre. Does it succeed? Or remain a thing of the past?