Click the picture to go to the enlarged pic.

Via: Wonderland
Image: Edge

Post from: EveryJoe

Video Gaming Pixel Perfect

How did the guys up at Arthur’s Hall come up with the idea of giving the world such a list of video games? Shatner (yes, after William Shatner), Arthur’s Viking Assistant, gives us the details:

I had a discussion with Arthur the other day regarding the question, “Are video games manly?” While wasting your life away on a couch playing video games isn’t quite as manly as killing small animals for food, or going to war against the forces of tyranny, we decided that in the end, video games are a manly form of entertainment.

Here’s how I went through Arthur’s Hall’s list:

Pro Wrestling on the Nintendo Entertainment System … check. Counter-Strike on the PC … check. Double Dragon on the NES, in the Arcade, and on the Sega Master System … check. Street Fighter II on multiple systems … check. Ikaruga on the Sega Dreamcast and Nintendo GameCube … what the hell’s Ikaruga? Tecmo Bowl on the NES … never played it since American Football is a very alien sport in my country. Metal Slug on the Neo Geo … check. Custer’s Revenge on the Atari 2600 … yeah, saw it when I was younger but didn’t understand the object of the game (which was to order General Custer to, uhmmm, ravish a young Indian girl). Mike Tyson’s Punch Out on the NES … check. And finally Contra on the NES … perfect!

Then I thought, “Waitaminute! Where’s Leisure Suit Larry?

Leisure Suit Larry is the series of adventure games written by Al Lowe (hail to the chief!) and published by Sierra On-Line from the 1980s to the present. The character, whose full name is Larry Laffer, is a balding, dorky, double entendre-speaking, leisure suit-wearing “loser” in his 40s who spends much of his life trying, usually unsuccessfully, to seduce attractive women.

Undoubtedly, Leisure Suit Larry is the manliest game of all time … that is, if Larry is a bit more manly looking. But where’s the adventure in playing a good-looking, hunky guy in his 40s with the goal of chasing, always successfully, nubile young and attractive women?

Here’s a short overview courtesy of Wikipedia:

Leisure Suit Larry originally stemmed from ideas of Sierra’s first adventure game Softporn Adventure created by designer Chuck Benton. The Larry games were one of Sierra’s most popular games series during the genre’s heyday when it was first released in the mid 1980s. As such, they remain well-known among fans of the type today. The series stands out among Sierra’s catalog in that they are the only games the company produced that contain significant sexual themes.

In general, the games follow Larry’s escapades as he attempts (and mostly fails) to convince a variety of young nubile women (rendered with increasing sophistication throughout the series) to have sex with him. A common link between the games are Larry’s explorations of luxurious and cosmopolitan hotels, ships, beaches, resorts and, more commonly, casinos. One of Larry’s trademarks is his manner of introducing himself: “Hi, my name is Larry; Larry Laffer,” a reference to James Bond’s introduction style, “My name is Bond; James Bond.”

Because of the nature of the games, the first and third episodes of the series featured an age verification system, which consisted of a series of questions to which the authors reasoned only adults would know the answer. However, many of the questions were United States-centric and this frustrated some non-U.S. gamers. Also, the multiple-choice questions did little to deter adolescents with some patience and a notepad.

Post from: EveryJoe

10 Manliest Video Games of All Time: What, no Leisure Suit Larry?!?

Here are two of my favorite retro gaming t-shirts:

The maker of these retro video gaming t-shirts, 101tshirts.co.uk, also produce retro television, movie and music shirts. Not a fan of t-shirts? No problem. The company specializes in printing our favorite retro video gaming icons on different products like hoodies, kitchen aprons, satchels, sports bags, and drawstring bags.

Go check out their other designs and tell me what you think.

Post from: EveryJoe

Retro gaming t-shirts featuring Mario, Donkey Kong, Pac-Man

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

Galaxian
Talk about really old games. Galaxian, a 1979 fixed shooter arcade game developed by Namco and released by Midway Manufacturing, is probably the first arcade video game I played. Back then, I thought it was, uhmm, Space Invaders. So silly of me. Although the gameplay is virtually the same, Galaxian had one thing going for it: the aliens aren’t dumb beast waiting for you to shoot them down. They actually go on kamikaze runs where they dive at your ship.

Mortal Kombat
I still remember the feeling of beating the crap out of the AI (or another player) in Mortal Kombat. All that blood and gore is definitely a strong come-on to players eager to unload a lot of angst. I’m sure that Mortal Kombat is on everybody’s list of top arcade games.

Pac-Man
Yeah! This game I will never forget for two very good reasons. First, I had a Pac-Man rig at home when I was a child. Owning one definitely gave me advantages, including getting to play it the entire game sans the need for coins or tokens. Second, it’s one of the few arcade games that I actually got to finish (sort of).

Street Fighter
I’m talking about both the original 1987 arcade game developed by Capcom that let players assume the role of Ryu and the series that it spawned. Despite the dozens upon dozens of fighting games that developers churn out every year, Street Fighter and its host of characters remain strong.

Tekken
Tekken is no Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat copycat, I can attest to that. Instead of having just set moves (which can be done by pressing a sequence of keys), Tekken boasts a more intuitive process as each button of the video game cabinet corresponds to each limb of the fighter you are using. Oh, and Tekken was also the first fighting game that came in 3D.

Well, that’s it for my list. Show me yours?

Post from: EveryJoe

10 arcade games I used to play #2

If you can’t get enough animated gifs of Killer Instinct characters, there’s more here.

Post from: EveryJoe

Killer Instinct killer gifs

Oh, sure, we had tons of toy commercials, especially during those weekend cartoon marathons common in the 1980s to early 1990s. But, no, we didn’t have video game commercials—at least, I don’t remember watching them on television. Good thing we had that 7-Up Pac-Man commercial … you know, the one with the theme song derived from Kim Carnes’ Bette Davis’ Eyes.

So it’s only natural for me to surf the web for those old video game commercials … everything that I’ve missed. Here’s the first one I feasted my eyes on:

Wonderful! Street Fighter and Mega Man commercials. Can’t get enough of those.

Post from: EveryJoe

Video game commercials of the 80s and 90s

This video proves me right:

I love the combo finish of Ken and Fei Long best.

Post from: EveryJoe

Street Fighter: More Touch of Death combos

Here’s how you do it:

First, jump towards your opponent and hit him with a fierce kick attack. As soon as you land on the pavement, hopefully behind your opponent, hit him (or her, as the case may be) with a follow-up standing fierce punch. While busting your opponent’s face with the fierce, you should also be holding the joystick (or directional cross key) in the direction of the opponent. Note that Ken should not be moving towards the opponent as doing this will result in a throw.

Now comes the critical part, that of buffering a fierce Dragon Punch into that fierce punch you just landed. This is why you should be holding down the directional key in the direction of your opponent. Remember that Ken’s Dragon Punch (and Ryu’s for that matter) is executed by doing the following: forward, down, down-forward + punch. Doing this to end the first combo will give you four hits on the opponent (more if you’re fighting taller opponents like Sagat and Zangief).

What happens next will seem like a blur to your opponent as Ken steps in with a couple of jabs, a fierce punch, and another Dragon Punch.

Confusing? Here, watch this video:

Post from: EveryJoe

Street Fighter II: Ken’s Touch of Death Combo