The much-anticipated Atari VCS is finally up for order, though don't expect to get your retro console any time soon. Having raised more than $3 million back in 2018 through a crowdfunding campaign, and with backers apparently on-track to get their consoles by the end of the year, the Atari VCS is now headed to retailers for preorder.
It was a strange time in video game history when Contra first hit NES. International rules forbade content of too violent a nature - if it contained humans - and all blood was highly, highly pixelated (no matter where you lived). Now, here in 2019, for the first (official) time ever, Konami's prepared the entire history of one of the most classic running and gunning games of all time.
The folks at Analogue made a Sega gaming system that's compatible with multiple retro Sega systems, all in one tiny box. This isn't the same piece of "official" junk you'll find at Walmart when the holidays roll around. Those aren't worth the plastic they're encased in. This is the Analogue Mega Sg, and it's ready to play ALL your old Sega games right out the gate.
Jaguar may be readying its I-PACE electric SUV, but it's news of an altogether more seductive EV that has our attention: the stunning E-Type Zero is going into production. Having whet our collective appetites last year when it converted a classic Jaguar E-Type convertible into an all-electric roadster, now the automaker plans to put the cars up for sale.
Streaming might be the inevitable future of gaming but, as it stands now, there are still a lot of missing pieces for it to really work. It turns out, however, that there might actually be a perfect use case for it. At least that is what the new Antstream game streaming service is banking on. Instead of streaming popular and recent titles, Antstream will instead provide access to over a thousand games you can no longer buy or play. That is, those long “out of print” retro games.
Old consoles have been resurrected by they are only a fraction of their former selves. Literally too. Inspired by the success of Nintendo’s NES/SNES Classic (Famicom/Super Famicom mini, respectively, in Japan), SNK has decided to put out a mini arcade cabinet to celebrate its 40th birthday. Those who have been waiting for NEOGEO mini piece of nostalgia need not wait much longer. Unless you’re not in Japan, in which case the wait is a bit more indefinite.
Suzuki gave up on the US market more than half a decade ago, but it's only now that we're beginning to regret that decision. You can blame the 2019 Suzuki Jimny for that, the fourth generation of the Japanese SUV and its most appealing yet.
Given the fevered response to Nintendo's NES Classic and SNES Classic, it isn't all that surprising to see companies looking to revive classic gaming brands. Atari is doing just that with its upcoming console, the VCS, and now it looks like Intellivision will be making a comeback as well. The console's return is being headed by composer Tommy Tallarico, who has become a familiar figure in the world of video games over the past couple of decades.
It's been an interesting week for the classic gaming scene. Last week, Twin Galaxies announced that it would strike Billy Mitchell's high scores in games like Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr., and Pac-Man from its leaderboards and ban him from submitting new scores after other Twin Galaxies members disputed them. It's a decision that certainly wasn't made lightly, as Billy Mitchell is probably the most famous face in retro gaming and has been deeply involved with Twin Galaxies since its founding in the 1980s.
The Nokia 8110 4G is something like the Nokia 3310 - in part because it's retro. It's also part of the Nokia Originals collection of phones for international markets. This is the 1990's banana phone for the next generation. You might remember the original from The Matrix - or in its most awesome Chiquita Banana limited edition. This new version harvests all that sweet, sweet retro gold. They're bringing the Nokia 8110 4G to the market in two editions - one black, one "Banana Yellow."
Behold, the next project the writer of Black Panther is working on. This is Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light. Ever heard of them? If you were born post-1987, you probably have no clue what this monstrosity is all about. But for those 80's kids who loved holographic stickers as much as they loved their plastic action figures, Visionaries were the bees knees.
Thanks to platforms like Steam, Xbox Live, PSN, and the Nintendo eShop, we've been enjoying something of a retro revival in recent years. Old games that may have otherwise been forgotten have been getting a new life on these platforms, and new games like Sonic Mania look to recapture some of the magic of those classic titles. That's great on its own, but now Sega and Retro-Bit want to take that one step further.