Over the past decade, the interest in retro gaming has grown by leaps and bounds. It has grown from a niche hobby to a commercially viable sector. As legacy hardware continues to age, the availability of working consoles shrinks with each passing year. Couple that with increased demand, and supply dwindles further.  In addition to limited availability of hardware, there are gaps to bridge when it comes to compatibility of modern displays and retro gaming consoles. The classic yellow, red, and white RCA cables that we all grew up with leave a lot to be desired when connected to a ..read more

This post is simply a collection of pictures of my Japanese Mega Drive collection, and when applicable, comparisons of artwork between North America and Japan. Enjoy! Two games that did not get western releases. It's a shame, as they probably would have sold well.  It's interesting that the artwork is completely different for every release of Streets of Rage / Bare Knuckle.  The Street Fighter series Golden Axe did not receive a domestic port of part III. I think I actually like the American artwork better for this series, if just a smidge ..read more

  The Hori Fighting Stick PC During the 8-bit era, arcade sticks were a niche market. Nintendo offered up the NES Advantage, which was a solid if not workmanlike option. It was heavy, with high build quality. It offered adjustable rapid fire as well as the sometimes-effective slo-mo feature. In hindsight, it was the best option available in North America. Third party controllers were becoming a thing, but most of those were cash grabs, uninterested in longevity or quality. When Sega ushered in the 16 bit generation, the Arcade power Stick soon followed. Sega built its branding o ..read more

During the third and fourth generations, arcade sticks were available, but high quality arcade sticks were uncommon. Most people remember the NES Advantage for the NES, or the Power Stick for the Genesis. Aside from being joysticks, those both had features that made them appealing, such as adjustable turbo fire. The Turbo Grafx-16 had the Turbo Stick, a rough equivalent of the aforementioned sticks. There were plenty of subpar offerings here, but virtually no options existed that would be considered high-end. The Japanese received several excellent options. I will highlight four arcade sticks ..read more

The shoot'em up, or "shmup" genre has a history as old as video games, dating back to the 1970's with Space Invaders, Galaxian, etc. In the 1980's and 1990's, games like Gradius, R-Type, Thunder Force, Soldier Blade and others were headlining home console offerings. It was a genre that had great prominence,  and tapered off once the 3D era of gaming matured during the 6th generation of consoles.    The retro gaming scene has ballooned in popularity of late. Possibly due to kids growing up and yearning for the games that played in their youth, the rise of YouTube retro gam ..read more

During this resurgence of retro game popularity, many game collections are being produced for modern consoles. Recent examples are Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Cowabunga Collection, Mega Man Legacy Collection, Street Fighter Anniversary Collection, SNK 40th Anniversary Collection, Sega Genesis Classics Collection, Contra Anniversary Collection, Castlevania Anniversary Collection, The Aleste Collection, just to name a few. Even though I have the majority of the original retro games ton these collections, I still love the fact that these are being released. Not only are they being released, s ..read more

To see three games form the same franchise released on a single console is now rare. It happened more frequently in the days of cartridge consoles, and was a sign of success for both the system and the franchise. Sequels to popular games are common, as are franchises that span more than one generation, but three games subsequently released on the same console was a cool thing. I'd like to recount the trilogies that were released for the Sega Genesis. Some franchises went beyond three games, and there are spin offs as well, but I'll try to keep to the main line of each franchise. There may e ..read more

With internet-capable consoles appearing in the seventh generation, purchasing games digitally online was realized, allowing for the convenience of buying and playing a game without leaving the house. Games were still produced in physical form, but availability in a store varied. The Wii storefront was the first offer licensed games in digital form. This was novel, and possibly contributed to the resurgent interest in retro gaming. All of the sudden, people had access to games that were long forgotten, at reasonable prices. While hardcore retro gamers were alway keen on the classics, casual ..read more

Arcade sticks are plentiful for modern consoles, regardless of platform. Whether you own a Switch, Xbox, or Playstation, the popularity of established fighting games ensures that there will be new versions of arcade sticks. If you have ever searched on eBay or Amazon for one, you know what I mean. This is not the case for retro consoles though. While there might be one or two arcade sticks available for each of the consoles from the 80's and 90's, the selection is entirely lacking. The NES had the Advantage, the Super Nintendo had the Super Advantage, the Genesis had the Arcade Power Stick ..read more

There are a lot of retro gaming podcasts out there. I have dabbled in and out of many over the years, and I find myself liking the following podcasts, for different reasons. Some are primarily informational, like review podcasts and collecting podcasts. Some are lighter on the details but more about community and entertainment. Depending on my mood, the amount of time I have, and who else may be listening, there are a lot of options to choose from. These are in no particular order. Worth It or Worthless This is a fairly standard retro game review podcast with a slight twist. Afte ..read more