Armchair Arcade - Chronicling the Complete History of Videogames and Computers

Matt Chat's Legacy of the Ancients

Matt Barton — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:39:17 +0000

This, week, I cover Quest Software's Legacy of the Ancients for the Commodore 64!

Video Overview of the Hyperkin Gen Mobile and FC Mobile II

Bill Loguidice — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:51:45 +0000

Bill Loguidice's video overview of the Hyperkin Gen Mobile and FC Mobile II, the former an officially licensed portable Sega Genesis clone and the latter an unlicensed portable Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) clone. I'll provide more detail in the comments as I spend more time with the systems.

Feature Film Documentary on Videogames - Looking for new and archival media

Bill Loguidice — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:35:10 +0000

As you may already know, we're working on a major feature film documentary on videogames, tentatively titled, Gameplay: The Story of the Videogame Revolution, which is through Lux Digital Pictures, responsible for such features as Nightmares in Red, White and Blue: The Evolution of the American Horror Film and American Grindhouse. We're presently in the process of gathering the last of the important footage and would like to round it out with archive materials, commercials, promotional videos and other media - past and present - that would be relevant to the documentary. While we're presently in negotiations with most major videogame companies, we're always on the lookout for more, more, more. If you're a rights holder, archivist, work for a videogame company (even one of the big ones), etc., and would like to contribute materials, please get in contact with me at bill@armchairarcade.com. The film is going to be a celebration of the positive aspects of videogames (and computers) through a vivid historical narrative that takes viewers right through to the present day (and beyond) and features interviews with top industry pros and quite a bit of in-game footage, a lot of which has never been seen before in this type of format. Thanks for the help in making this even better!

RetroGaming RoundUp Podcast 10 - November 2009 - Full Metal Gear Jacket

Bill Loguidice — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 01:41:31 +0000

The guys at RetroGaming RoundUp have now made Podcast 10 - November 2009 - Full Metal Gear Jacket, available. Check it out here. The episode's contents:

Wii Fitness for Dummies is now finished! Look for it February 2010.

Bill Loguidice — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 23:36:35 +0000

The authors horsing around after taking photos for the book.Well, it's with great relief that I announce that Christina and I have finished work on Wii Fitness for Dummies, my follow-up book to Vintage Games. Even better, we delivered early so we can make the annual Dummies promotion that is run in March at bookstores everywhere. Ours will be one of the featured books. Wii Fitness for Dummies covers Wii Fit Plus, EA Sports Active: Personal Trainer, and Jillian Michaels Fitness Ultimatum 2010 in great detail, as well as exercise theory, form and function. We also cover other Wii fitness products and accessories. Finally, there are plenty of screenshots, photos of us modeling key exercise poses to make it even easier to follow along, as well as a special color insert that details exercises you can do when you're away from your Wii. In short, if you're interested in fitness on the Wii, this book is for you. The book itself should be out February 2010 and will be shelved with other fitness books. Naturally, there's still much work to be done between now and then, but the bulk of the load (from our end) is complete. Now it's time to focus my energy back to the documentary I'm working on with Matt Barton, Lux Digital Pictures' Gameplay: The Story of the Videogame Revolution.

As always, I'll keep you all updated on the progress of those and future projects.

Matt Chat 37: Bullfrog's Syndicate

Matt Barton — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 15:58:23 +0000

Here it is, folks, the new Matt Chat--this time on one of my favorite Amiga/DOS games, Syndicate!

The Top Free Browser-based Videogame and Computer Emulator Sites - November 2009 Edition

Bill Loguidice — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:21:26 +0000

In the interest of sharing, I'd like to provide my current list of working emulator sites for various platforms. All of these enable gameplay directly within your browser, so there's no sticky business of downloading software and finding the necessary game files to get it all going. These are all great sites and we should all show our support. I'm dubbing this the "November 2009" edition of the list and would love to keep adding to it, so suggest away and when I do the next edition, I'll expand it. Here goes:

* 2600online.com - Play various Atari 2600 Video Computer Systems games
* c64s.com - Play various Commodore 64 games
* Freearcade.com (Scott Adams section) - Play various Scott Adams/Adventure International text adventures
* JEMU - Emulate and play on the Acorn BBC Model B, Amstrad CPC464, Dick Smith VZ-300, Sinclair ZX Spectrum 48K, Sinclair ZX80 and Siclair ZX81
* nintendo8.com - Play Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)/Famicom games
* Play Infocom Adventures Online
* The Gallery of Zork - Infocom museum and plenty of games to play
* Sandy White's Ant Attack
* Sarien.net - Play Sierra adventure games
* SC-3000 Survivors - Play Sega SC-3000/SG-1000 games
* Virtual Apple ][ - Play Apple II and IIGS games
* vNES - Play Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)/Famicom games

Finally, don't forget the Games section right here on Armchair Arcade. Enjoy!

2009 Houston Arcade Expo

Chris Kennedy — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 08:26:22 +0000

The Houston Area Arcade Group - http://www.arcadecenter.com/ - puts on the Houston Arcade Expo each year. I have attended every year since 2006. Each year I have an absolute BLAST, and this year was no exception. The Expo continues to evolve, and I am more than happy to pay my dues every year. In fact, this year I elected to do a sponsorship. I paid extra to get a T-shirt and two passes for the entire weekend. I was fortunate that my girlfriend was happy to join in the fun. I went twice with her and once by myself. I took a camera and snapped a few photos. (All photos available here: http://picasaweb.google.com/ckrtech/HoustonArcadeExpo2009# )

Matt Chat 36: Starcraft and the RTS Genre

Matt Barton — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 14:36:08 +0000

In this week's episode, I review Blizzard's 1998 masterpiece Starcraft, widely considered the best real-time strategy game ever made.

Photographer Enrico Ricciardi's Ultima-inspired Calendar using Live Models - Mystik 2010

Bill Loguidice — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 01:02:56 +0000

Milano Italy-based professional photographer, Enrico Ricciardi - who is also a noted computer software collector - has put together a lavish Ultima-inspired calendar that has received the blessing of series creator Richard "Lord British" Garriott himself. While neither Ricciardi or Garriott have the rights to the Ultima license, the end product, named "Mystik 2010", still has a lot of the famous series' spirit. Check it out here and be sure to check out the photographer's other works while there (as well as the behind-the-scenes making of the calendar itself). They all have a very slick and sexy European feel to my American eyes.

The Full Commercial Release for the Amazing Commodore Vic-20 RPG, Realms of Quest III, is now Available!

Bill Loguidice — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 22:41:54 +0000

Realms of Quest III BeastiaryAs you may or may not know, those of us at Armchair Arcade have been following the progress of Realms of Quest III - the amazing Commodore Vic-20 RPG - with great interest for some time now. Well, we're pleased to announce that the full commercial release of the deluxe package is now available. What follows is Ghislain's post about its release, which was originally here, where we were previously discussing it:

[BEGIN]
Realms of Quest III is finally available! You can order it here:

Premium Edition: http://www.binaryzone.org/retrostore/index.php?main_page=product_info&pr...

Budget Edition: http://www.binaryzone.org/retrostore/index.php?currency=GBP&main_page=pr...

(premium means you get a plastic jewel case + 36 page manual, budget is disk-only)

-----------------------------------------------

Matt Chat 35: Alone in the Dark

Matt Barton — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 00:00:14 +0000

Just in time for Halloween--Matt Chat 35, Alone in the Dark!

Her Interactive Promoting "Warnings at Waverly Academy" -- with Twitter!

Matt Barton — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 03:14:45 +0000

Well, this is pretty fascinating. Check out these Twitter Accounts from characters in Her Interactive's latest game, Warnings at Waverly Academy. The team has gone all out to make some pretty realistic looking websites and Tweets to help promote their new game. I just finished it a week ago, and it's really great. Although I'll have a more detailed review soon on Adventure Classic Gaming, Her did a great job this time bringing in lots of interesting characters and some terrific puzzles and activities. If you're into this series (and if not, WHY not?), you'll love it. It's a wonderful game.

Review of Skeleton Key (Insurgent Games, 2009) for the iPod Touch and iPhone (Now with pirates)

Bill Loguidice — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:50:04 +0000

After just officially releasing the latest update to Insurgent Games' Skeleton Key, Micah Lee, head of the studio and the game's programmer, was kind enough to send me a promo code so I could do a review. With iTunes being such a hot bed for app development these days and there being countless games available in every possible category and price point, it's not surprising that this is the first time I heard of the game. Since my time is extremely limited these days, I do most of my gaming on the go with my iPhone 3G, so I thought this would be a good opportunity for me to leverage my current situation and put up a review. So, with all that said, exactly what is Skeleton Key?

Constructing a Heathkit H-8 Clone Computer

Bill Loguidice — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 21:11:43 +0000

Les Bird has just put up a detailed Web page on the construction of his amazing Heathkit H-8 clone computer, affectionately dubbed the H8-2000, using his newly created PCBs. As a fan and collector of these types of systems - which certainly includes the H-8 - I've been following this work with much interest (and some personal investment--more on that later) on the SEBHC Google Group. Check it out here.

Buyer Beware on Microsoft Windows 7 Upgrade

Matt Barton — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 20:17:20 +0000

I'm issuing a "buyer beware" on the various Microsoft Windows 7 Upgrades that were announced recently. I just got burned trying to upgrade my Windows Vista Home Premium (64 bit) to Windows 7 Professional.

X-Arcade Adapter for Xbox 360

Matt Barton — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:41:16 +0000

I just received an email from Xgaming about their new Xbox 360 adapter. Apparently, there's some kind of legal issues with Microsoft, so you'll actually need two adapters to make this work (including a PS2 adapter). At any rate, at least it's something for folks with X-Arcades who have been dying to connect them to their 360s! It's about $40 for both and $25 if you already have the PS2 adapter.

YouTube Gaming Channel Extravaganza

Matt Barton — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 01:18:50 +0000

YouTuber Ianwilson1978 just posted a "500 Subscriber Special" that shows off about a bazillion YouTube channels dedicated to gaming (most of them retrogaming). Considering how much work went into this video, it's no wonder that he was able to get so many subscribers! Just imagine how much you could learn about gaming just by watching a single video from each of the channels he shows in the video! I had no idea there were so many of these channels...This community is really growing fast!

RetroGaming RoundUp 9 - October 2009 - Putting the Willies in You

Bill Loguidice — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:18:34 +0000

Catch the latest RetroGaming RoundUp podcast, 9 - October 2009 - Putting the Willies in You.

TOPICS COVERED IN THE SHOW:

Wii Fit is the Shizznit

Matt Barton — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 23:38:59 +0000

I thought you guys might get a kick out of one of the projects my students are working on this semester: Wii Fit is the Shizznit. I draw your attention to this video:

Now tell me you how much you'd like to be in this class! :P They've also made a podcast.

Why not make a few comments on their channel or join their ning site? It's a great group.

Here's another of the student projects:

Freeware Chronicles
Here's their video and podcast.

One more: Anatomy of a Comic. Great stuff.