Incoming 2! NEOGEO X Gold... GET!

Yeah, yeah, yeah... I couldn't help myself. Pre-order placed (thanks Best Buy!), as people are already trying to sell these for almost $100 more (and up!) on eBay. Lovely on them, but not when you can get it at its actual price and with free shipping to boot. Some in the industry think and keep going on about dedicated handheld systems being dead thanks to the glut of me-too mobile devices, but I say they're dead wrong if someone manages to do something as cool as this. I'll get a review up on one of the blogs sometime in mid-December after my system arrives. Now, go get one of your own, I say...

Or maybe get one for that gamer guy or gal on your Nice list - they'll thank you 'til the cows come home!

Babycastles Summit Info - Get Ready For A Big Gaming Blast!

Are you going? This is looking like the event of the year for the NYC gaming "scene" (eek), but I'm not going to gawk at geeks and geekettes galore. No, sir - I'm all business, mister! OK, I'll dip into that game project thing and see what's what and maybe smile once or twice (I'm near my quota for the month already)... 

BABYCASTLES SUMMIT AUGUST 24th 25th 26th featuring KEITA TAKAHASHI IVAN SAFRIN KAHO ABE NEIL FRIDD Brought to you by NYU GameCenter CITE Game Innovation Lab TAKAHASHI TAKES NYC Special Interview with Keita Takahashi by Frank Lantz ✌ THREE DAYS OF ✌   BANDS ✌ WORKSHOPS ✌ TALKS Inspired by Keita’s kid-friendly play-scape designs and Anna Anthropy's book, "Rise of the Videogame Zinesters: How Freaks, Normals, Amateurs, Artists, Dreamers, Drop-outs, Queers, Housewives, and People Like You Are Taking Back an Art Form" Our goal is to inspire and encourage people who didn't think they could make games to make games. Babycastles will be building four video game play-scapes designed by Keita Takahashi In association with Kaho Abe, Neil Fridd and Ivan Safrin. They will be on display and available for play throughout the summit at the Museum of Art and Design. RSVP HERE. 2 Columbus Circle // NEW YORK // NY 10019 Sponsored By THE NYU GAME CENTER CITE GAME INNOVATION LAB ALSO ANNOUNCING: Join Gameifesto and Babycastles on a journey through videogame's dynamic history, from the arcade to the living room and beyond, we'll discuss how technology, design, culture, and commerce have all influenced each other to create the most important medium of the 21st century. Featuring Anna Anthropy, Nolan Bushnell, Phil Fish, Tim Schafer, Keita Takahashi, Doug Wilson + more! #WhatsInAGame CHECK OUT OUR DEBUT TRAILER PREMIERE NICE HAIR The Babycastles summit is a three-day series of talks, panels, bands, hands-on workshops and custom video game installations designed by Keita Takahashi, game designer of Japan’s Katamari Damacy.  The summit will be hosted by the Museum of Art and Design from August 24th through the 26th as part of the “Fun Fellowship”. GET YOUR TICKETS HERE JEAN CLAUDE VAN JAM A NEW GAME JAM ★ ☆ ★ ☆ ★ ☆ ★ ☆ ★ celebrating the film career of the most excellent actor  JEAN-CLAUDE VAN DAMME ☜ ☚ ☜ ☚ ☜ ☚ ☜ Come make games with Babycastles & Eyebeam! --------- RSVP www.jeanclaudevanjam.com BABYCASTLES WANTS YOU to join our Volunteer List

☺ HELP US OUT AND VOLUNTEER  xoxox  - Syed Salahuddin, Colin Snyder and all of Babycastles

A Shadowrun Reboot Is On Kickstarter. That's All You Need To Know...

For me, FASA's Shadowrun was (and is) one of the great gaming experiences from the 90's back on the Super Nintendo and Genesis (I never played the tabletop games at all, my loss, I know) and now it's coming back as a Kickstarter project. Even better, it's a single player RPG, not some shooter, MMO or co-op focused game that goes far away from what the originals were. Hmmm... this crowdfunding thing is getting out of hand... but in an extremely good way. Still, I can see bigger publishers wanting to muscle in on things even if Kickstarter won't let them. How so? Well, I can't imagine some of the more important publishers today NOT being a bit ticked off that people are putting up MAJOR money to get smaller indie projects done while ignoring quite a lot of AAA titles for any number of reasons. My only problem with all this is the lack of retail versions of most of these Kickstarter games, or at least the promise of budget-priced disc versions that don't come with a bunch of swag some have no use for. One of these days I really HOPE someone puts out a few of these titles on something a lot more permanent than an invisible download...

Ico & Shadow of the Colossus Collection Launch Trailer

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)

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

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.

Studio Profile: From Software (Or: It's About Time These Guys Got More Love!)

Here's a brief look at one of my very favorite game developers since 1994 when I first saw Japanese screenshots of King's Field and later, Armored Core. The company has done a wide assortment of games since then, but it wasn't really until Demon's Souls and now, Dark Souls that they're a household name among more gamers. Of course, the terrifyingly difficult Dark Souls will probably garner them more than a few curses from those that hop in unprepared or expecting the game to have a super-easy mode... but I think From wants those players to learn something about they way games used to be made.

Elevator Action Deluxe: Taito & Square Enix Hit The Right Notes With A Retro Reboot

Wow. This actually brought back a ton of memories and made me laugh at the same time. I can remember spending way too much money on the original Elevator Action, Front Line and many, many other Taito arcade games back in the day, so I'm happy to see EA making a return. Granted, I'm sure some of you would rather have the more realistic-looking Elevator Action Returns make a comeback instead, but I've always though that game was closer to a Rolling Thunder clone (and a good one at that). Anyway, after you finish dancing to the beat (Go, Zuntata!), click on over and keep an eye on the currently PSN-only game's progress HERE.

Happy Birthday, SNES!

While I sold off about 99% of my SNES games to get a PS3 and a bunch of other stuff a few years back, I've kept pretty much all of my Super Famicom games simply because there were too many that were never localized for a US release. Sorry for the lousy photo, but all 248 or so are up in a closet in the other room and I don't have the time to go through them at this point and pick out favorites. This project however, IS on my to-do list once I clear out some space here at the home office and find the time to get the stash down to be photographed (and a few games re-played). I have many favorite games for the system but I absolutely HATE compiling "Top 10" lists, so you won't get one from me. OK, I'm not that irascible, folks - I just need more time to re-discover some of these games when it's not so incredibly busy here. It's absolutely be a LOT more than ten, that's for sure.

Anyway, Happy Birthday SNES! You're missed in this era of digital-only releases and mobile games madness, that's for sure.

Become Part Of Gaming History - Support the Videogame History Museum!

Now I wish I REALLY had a million dollars to spend. Some friends of mine who are supremely serious about game history (well, because they're part of it) have a wonderful Kickstarter.com project going to fund an actual museum devoted to preserving all sorts of games and game goods from the beginnings of the hobby up to today's games. Check out the project link and video HERE and absolutely DONATE (there are some awesome options that can get you some cool swag if that's your thing). The team needs $30,000 by September 1, 2011 in order to make this happen and they're currently at $9,475. Again, check out the link and let's make this happen!

Atlus Discovers Time Travel, Stuck in 1999!

All I'll say is I hope they get back safe and bring a couple of copies of Ogre Battle 64 back with them when they return. I sold mine off a while back and kind of wish I didn't. Atlus Faithful news from June '99 below the jump...

Ys I & II Chronicles Gameplay Footage Kicks It Old School

Here's a peek at gameplay from Xseed Games' upcoming PSP title, set for a February release. According to the latest info, players will be able to choose between three different soundtracks during gameplay - the newly arranged version (by Falcom's in-house band done on actual instruments), the synth version from the 2001 Japan-only PC version of the game or the original chiptune versions of each track as recorded in 1987 and 1988. Excellent!

Commentary: Why We ALL Need Wizardry Back!

Sometimes, I just hate Japan, but in a decidedly more "grrrr... how come they get THAT game?" manner (and not anything more overly dramatic than that, mind you). While the Wizardry franchise hasn't seen a new Western-developed PC game in the states since the ill-fated, (but mostly well-rated) Wizardry 8 (back in 2001!), since the late 80's, Japanese gamers have had nearly 40 ports or completely original Wizardry games and side-stories created by an assortment of developers for a number of consoles, portables and even cellphones. More recently, three Nintendo DS games in Japan have been getting their own original entries (*grrrr!*). You can keep your Angry Birds, and other "casual" games, folks - I'd rather play something with real meat on its bones.

Contest: Thrillist & Gamefly Want To Give You A Holiday Surprise

More chances to win FREE stuff (a LCD TV, game console, big ol' game chair and a year's worth of rentals - nice)... but not through me (heck, I don't have a box big enough to send all that stuff in anyway!). This cool gear giveaway is sponsored by Thrillist and Gamefly. Check out the info below, read that fine print and enter to win!

Amazon Announces 10/20 Gold Box Video Games Sale

Short and sweet shameless promo #1 - check Amazon on Wednesday for a few deals! Feel free to use my handy aStore to shop from and even suggest a few products you're looking for so I can add them to the inventory.

Sega Launches Dreamcast Classics Over PSN, XBLA

Boom. That's all you need to know, folks.

OK, OK I'll toss in a few details...

Sonic Adventure NOW (and Crazy Taxi in November) available over PSN or Xbox Live are the first two games in Sega's re-master plan to capture the hearts and minds of gamers young and old while keeping that classic Sega flame alive and kicking amongst us hardcore Sega-philes out there. Sega is also promising even more titles are coming soon (yes!) and I'm definitely all for that. I'm gathering The new DC line will consist of Sega-produced titles only, so I'm hoping to see a few racers in the lineup (Daytona USA, Ferrari F355 Challenge) along with Sonic Adventure 2 and maybe even a RPG or two (Skies of Arcadia, anyone?)

E3 2010 Want List

This year's show was pretty incredible with way too many great games to count. Here's a short (hah!) list of a couple I'm interested in. Updates on as many as I can to come. If you don't see a game you like here, feel free to comment and I'll respond if it's a game I overlooked.

Classic Gaming Expo 2010 Info!

It's baaaaaaaaack! Want to spend a weekend in Vegas surrounded by TONS of vintage to current games, game consoles and plenty of cool folks who love them (as well as a few that have created them)? Well, Classic Gaming Expo 201o is set to take place at the Tropicana Las Vegas on the weekend of July 31 and August 1, 2010, so boogie on over to the registration page and get your pass NOW.

In addition to more games than you can shake a stick at (sticks not included at the show) , AtariAge and Digital Press are hosting a "Retro Rumble" tournament where the best classic gamers can compete to win fame and some awesome prizes. There will more likely than not be an incredible, eyeball searing auction where attendees can snag some really rare games, systems and swag (I'll update this as info comes in) as well as many special guests

As the press release says:

"Classic Gaming Expo is the largest and longest-running celebration of classic video games, the designers who created them, the players who enjoy them and the fanatics who collect them."

Anyway, c'mon down, bring the family and prepare to break the bank (or at least maim it slightly)... but not on slots or roulette! You'll more than likely go broke picking up some great deals on classic to current gaming goodness.

Missile Command Is 30 (And I Feel Old.... But There's A Sweepstakes To Make It All Better)...

Yikes. I can actually remember playing Missile Command back in 1980! Atari is certainly celebrating their classic (and making me feel ancient) by not only letting you young whippersnappers play the original version and a really cool remix, they're also holding a nice little contest where the grand prize is a restored MC arcade cabinet. So go poke around and enter, already. Feel free to check out their other playable arcade and Atari 2600 classics as well.

Yakety Yak, Plus A New Place to Visit...

OK, Comments are back, so fire away. Pirate Captain C, this probably means you (and what's up with my Nutella supply?)

Also, if you're at all intereted in a really cool RPG project that's coming along quite niecely, check out the jClassicRPG developer blog! This Java-based homage to great classic RPG's such as Wizardry and The Bard's Tale is being cooked up by a small team guided by Pal Z. Illes (call him Paul), a Hungarian software programmer with a huge passion for the genre.

Anyway, click on over and check out the game (you can download the current version and yes, feedback is more than welcome, as it'll help the team make a better final version). If you like what you're seeing and playing, you can even donate to the cause and get your name in lights. Well, not in lights exactly, but if you like, Paul will give you a shout out on his blog!

That's my good deed for the day done, so it's back to finishing up a certain strategy guide I've been toiling away on for a few months - back soon with a more wordy update...