Kohler\\\\\\\’s first book, Power-Up: How Japanese Video Games Gave the World an Extra Life, was published by BradyGAMES in September 2004. Kohler completed the research for Power-Up as a Fulbright scholar to Kyoto, Japan. He graduated summa cum laude with highest thesis honors from Tufts University. He has contributed to books such as Gaming Hacks for O\\\\\\\’Reilly and High Score! Second Edition for McGraw-Hill.\\\\r\\\\n\\\\r\\\\nAll that aside, he would most like to be remembered as having starred as the first guard after Vulcan Raven in the Easy mode of Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes for Nintendo GameCube.

\\\\r\\\\n\\\\r\\\\nNow, who wouldn\\\\\\\’t be interested in taking a gander at Retro Gaming Hacks? It\\\\\\\’s chockful of retro gaming goodies, such as guides on how to buy and run old consoles like the Atari 2600 and the Nintendo Entertainment System, and how to play classic games on contemporary consoles and platforms, like from Arcade to PC and Macintosh.\\\\r\\\\n\\\\r\\\\nLet me just shut up and give you a summary of the book in a few paragraphs:\\\\r\\\\n\\\\r\\\\n

Maybe it was the recent Atari 2600 milestone anniversary that fueled nostalgia for the golden days of computer and console gaming. Every Game Boy must ponder his roots from time to time. But whatever is driving the current retro gaming craze, one thing is certain: classic games are back for a big second act, and they\\\\\\\’re being played in both old and new ways.\\\\r\\\\n\\\\r\\\\nWhether you\\\\\\\’ve just been attacked by Space Invaders for the first time or you\\\\\\\’ve been a Pong junkie since puberty, Chris Kohler\\\\\\\’s Retro Gaming Hacks is the indispensable new guide to playing and hacking classic games. Kohler has complied tons of how-to information on retro gaming that used to take days or weeks of web surfing to track down and sort through, and he presents it in the popular and highly readable Hacks style.\\\\r\\\\n\\\\r\\\\nRetro Gaming Hacks serves up 85 hard-nosed hacks for reviving the classic games. Want to game on an original system? Kohler shows you how to hack ancient hardware, and includes a primer for home-brewing classic software. Rather adapt today\\\\\\\’s equipment to run retro games? Kohler provides emulation techniques, complete with instructions for hacking a classic joystick that\\\\\\\’s compatible with a contemporary computer. This book also teaches readers to revive old machines for the original gaming experience: hook up an Apple II or a Commodore 64, for example, and play it like you played before.

\\\\r\\\\n\\\\r\\\\nWhat are you waiting for? Go grab the book and enjoy 502 pages of pure retro gaming goodness.

Post from: EveryJoe

Retro Gaming Hacks by Chris Kohler: Highly recommended

Here’s an excerpt from his post entitled, “For The People That Watched Captain N As A Kid, I have a ‘?’ “:

Was Simon Belmont gay?

Not that it matters or anything, but I remember being eight (years old) and thinking he was a little, hmmm, off, you could say. Today was Day One of my 12-day vacation so I went on YouTube and watched like a shit shiznit load of “Captain N” shows. Funny how I remember a lot of them.

But in every show, Simon always pulls out a mirror to look at himself, he brushes his hair quite more than a non-gay male would. He seems to hit on Princess Lana a lot, but it seems forced (like maybe he is trying to prove something) and when they do talk, it’s more of a girl to girl chat.

Haha. I’ve been wondering about the same thing for years … until I found out what a narcissist is, and this is exactly how poor ol’ Simon Belmont of Castlevania fame is portrayed in the Captain N animated series.

There’s an interesting entry about the Captain N version of Simon Belmont in the pages of The Video Game Museum.

Post from: EveryJoe

Is Simon Belmont gay?

Fortunately, there are video clips of Choplifter III to make up for the loss. Check one of them out here:

It’s a little more complicated than the original Choplifter but is essentially the same in terms of gameplay and mechanics.

Post from: EveryJoe

What? Choplifter III? Where?

Let’s take a closer look at the four games:

Manhole: Like in the original Game & Watch classic, you have a few people walking across a platform riddled with gaps. In this version, though, you must maneuver Yoshi to hold up a manhole cover to fill in the various gaps and prevent Mario, Toad and Donkey Kong Jr. from falling.

Oil Panic: In this game, Mario reprises the role of the pathetic blot of a character catches leaking oil in a bucket and dumps it out a window into the waiting bucket of his accomplice, Yoshi.

Octopus: Mario dives for treasure in this Game & Watch masterpiece while evading the tentacles of a monstrous octopus.

Fire: No burning skyscrapers here. Instead you have a castle burning with Toad, Yoshi and Donkey Kong Jr. jumping out the window to escape the inferno. The game, however, isn’t complete with brothers Mario and Luigi manning the tarp that bounces the three victims to safety.

Well, personally, Mario and the gang, and the once-fancy machine called the Game Boy can’t replace the real thing. But it’s always fun to play different versions of games that we have come to love.

Post from: EveryJoe

Fusion: NES and Game & Watch

\r\nIf only all video game arcade machines look this good, dictators and strongmen across the globe would be hard pressed to ban them.\r\n\r\nImage featuring the concept art for the spanking new Gundam arcade machine downloaded from the web via Destructoid.

Post from: EveryJoe

Re:Start: Getting back into the groove

Post from: EveryJoe

Old school video game commercials

Here’s a brief background for those standing on the far side of the moon:

Moon Patrol is a classic arcade game by Irem that was first released in 1982. It was licensed to Williams for United States of America distribution.

In the game, the player controls a moon buggy, viewing it from the side, that travels over the moon’s surface. While driving it, obstacles such as craters and mines must be avoided. The buggy is also attacked by UFOs from above and tanks on the ground. Moon Patrol was one of the earliest linear side-scrolling shoot ‘em ups and the first arcade game to feature parallax scrolling.

Anyway, in the game, you take the role of a police officer from the city of Luna, mankind’s first metropolis on the moon. As you may have already surmised, you drive around Sector Nine, home of the “toughest thugs in the galaxy,” with the objective of jumping over craters and getting rid of enemies while you’re at it to earn points.

Needless to say, like my Frogger and Space Invaders run, I sucked at Moon Patrol, failing even to hurdle the first stage. A few more days of playing Moon Patrol might give me a little edge, but I’m not keeping my hopes up.

Aside from the arcade version (and the current Flash animation version), Moon Patrol has been ported to a number of consoles, including the Apple II (on which I played Moon Patrol for hours on end), the Atari 800, 2600 and 5200, the Commodore 64, and the Nintendo Game Boy Color.

Post from: EveryJoe

Moon Patrol: Crater upon crater of hopping fun

How did the current home-console controllers come to be? How have they evolved? You may have noticed some similarities between the current generation controllers, or between them and the previous generations of controllers. So, how do they all tie together?

Let’s try to find out. I’ve put together a chart, or controller family tree, that tries to connect all the current console controllers with their predecessors. Firstly, I don’t think anyone else has tried to do something similar on the Web, and secondly, none of the manufacturers actually come out and tell you who they’re borrowing ideas from. This means that a lot of the information presented here is my opinion. I try to keep things accurate, using facts I know, but also making some of my own conclusions where no hard evidence is available.

Suffice it to say that Sock Master has done a good job at assembling his little project, from the old school Atari 2600 joystick to the sensational Nintendo Wiimote.

Atari 2600 joystick: Grandpa Controller

Nintendo Wiimote: Junior

Here, take a gander at Sock Master’s work.

Post from: EveryJoe

The video game console controller ‘family tree’

Whew! Makes me wanna bring out the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and the Nintendo Family Computer again and play all the classics shown in the video … at least, until I reach the stage where the bosses are hiding. *wink, wink*

Post from: EveryJoe

Boss battles: Truly inspiring

Well, here’s my list:

Pong, Space Invaders, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Pac-Man, Frogger, Donkey Kong, Super Mario Brothers, Leisure Suite Larry, Afterburner, Double Dragon, Prince of Persia, Tetris, Secret of Monkey Island, Sonic the Hedgehog, Castle Wolfenstein, Super Mario Kart, Street Fighter II, Mortal Kombat, Minesweeper, Myst, Rayman, Command & Conquer, Tekken, Tomb Raider, The Sims, Grand Theft Auto, and Total War.

Darn, I think I have to brush up on my video games history and literature again.

Post from: EveryJoe

The History of Video Games in two minutes