A long time ago in an art gallery far far away: Star Wars as Classic Art via
posted by The Whelk on Mar 27, 2009 - 13 comments

Cinemaware produced games with one goal: a "strong commitment to movie-like quality." A laudable goal, and their tools were measured in bytes rather than megabytes. They made these games in the 80s. This one intro used an entire 880KB floppy disk! A number of Cinemaware's games are available for download as ROMs, and there's even a flash version of Defender of the Crown. Some of the original artists behind the games are still creating art and music. [more inside]
posted by sleslie on Feb 19, 2009 - 17 comments

The Pac-Man Dossier is an extremely detailed description of the game logic of arcade Pac-Man. It explains why, once in a while, monsters will harmlessly pass through Pac-Man. It explains why they won't go up through the tunnels above the monster box. It explains why occasionally, after losing a life, monsters will refuse to leave the box. It explains when and why Blinky becomes Cruise Elroy, and why sometimes Pinky gets confused and loses track of Pac-Man. It even explains, as far as the player can continue to play, what to do on the kill screen. It is awesome. Previously....
posted by JHarris on Feb 19, 2009 - 35 comments

"Chow Hound" - IMDB - Directed by Chuck Jones, written by Michael Maltese, voices by Mel Blanc
Classic-era Warner Bros. Generally absent (with exceptions, sometimes butchered) from the airwaves due to its connotations of cruelty, the troublesome get-up they put the mouse in at the zoo, and the ending. Quite a devious and funny cartoon. (SLYT)
posted by JHarris on Dec 22, 2008 - 54 comments

Can You Identify Famous Album Covers Based Only on a Mime in A Leotard? [more inside]
posted by Senor Cardgage on Nov 23, 2008 - 66 comments

Wanna play the first two Fallout games for totally cheap? Good Old Games is now open to the public. Via Blue's News, some interesting discussion there about "DRM Free" claims and whether or not Freespace 2 is really "free."
posted by WolfDaddy on Oct 23, 2008 - 60 comments

The Earth Dies Screaming [Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4] [Part 5] [Part 6] [Part 7] [more inside]
posted by KokuRyu on Sep 26, 2008 - 20 comments

“In the condition I was in, it assumed at the time the quality of a beacon, a light on the far shores of the murk; what's more, it was proof that there was something left to express artistically besides nihilism and destruction.” Lester Bangs on the topic of Van Morrison's Astral Weeks which began recording exactly 40 years ago today in Century Sound Studios NYC. [more inside]
posted by philip-random on Sep 25, 2008 - 36 comments

Classic tracks: Can't seem to face up to the facts? Searching for the heart of Heart of Gold? Mix Online delves deep into your favorite jams, to find out what was in the air when they were conceived. Know what I mean? via
posted by Eideteker on Aug 29, 2008 - 24 comments

Vintage ads galore.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane on Jul 12, 2008 - 25 comments

This is the city, Los Angeles California. I work Here. I carry a badge. My name's Friday. [more inside]
posted by tylerfulltilt on Jul 9, 2008 - 48 comments

Throwing bones in the air as 2001 turns 40. Stanley Kubrick's film, 2001: A Space Odyssey turned 40 yesterday and Movie City Indie collated a good selection of links about the film and its maker to commemorate the occasion. [more inside]
posted by slimepuppy on Apr 3, 2008 - 39 comments

ROM CHECK FAIL is a goofy little PC game, in the classic 1980's arcade/home console genre of ... err ... Use the space bar to fire your blaster. Or sword. (Or jump.) Use the arrow keys to control your ... guy as if you were playing ... that ... classic game. Eliminate all the enemy, well, things in the expected way, and go on to the next maze/planet/cave/highway. Look, just play it, OK? It's fun!
posted by CrunchyFrog on Mar 25, 2008 - 16 comments

NetClassicsFilter: All 24 of the 25 GI Joe PSAs redubbed by Eric Fensler, via YouTube: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 [some nsfw] [previously] [also via] [more inside]
posted by not_on_display on Feb 26, 2008 - 54 comments

Retro Sabotage is a collection of recreations of classic video games. Or is it? [more inside]
posted by JHarris on Feb 23, 2008 - 20 comments

Write ZOOM, Z-double-oh-M, Box three-five-oh, Boston, Mass, OH-two-ONE-three-FOURRRR! [more inside]
posted by not_on_display on Jan 2, 2008 - 57 comments

John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath [more inside]
posted by miss lynnster on Nov 13, 2007 - 30 comments

Blog a Penguin Classic.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane on Sep 21, 2007 - 58 comments

"If the truth was really known about the origins of Jazz, it would certainly never be mentioned in polite society." The expression arose sometime during the later nineteenth century in the better brothels of New Orleans, which provided music and dancing as well as sex. Jazz has been around for more than a hundred years now. It is not the result of choosing a tune, but an ideal that is created first in the mind, and willed in the music, inspired by A Passion for Jazz.
posted by netbros on Aug 30, 2007 - 27 comments

You've heard of ScummVM and MAME, but harvest time is approaching in the field of reverse-engineered open source re-implementations of other classic games too:
OpenTTD (Transport Tycoon), LinCity (Sim City), Advanced Strategic Command (Battle Isle), Freeciv (Civilization), Enigma (Oxyd), Widelands (Settlers), OpenArena (Quake 3), Spring (Total Annihilation), JJFFE (Frontier First Encounters), Vega Strike and Oolite (Elite), FreeOrion (Master of Orion), Pingus (Lemmings), Stratagus (Warcraft II et al.), CloneKeen (Commander Keen), Exult (Ultima VII), FreeCNC (Command & Conquer), REminiscence (Flashback), LGeneral (Panzer General), Pioneers (Settlers of Catan), and Freedoom (Doom).
posted by hoverboards don't work on water on Feb 1, 2007 - 43 comments

The 50 Greatest Cartoons Ever: the List - including links to the full-length videos of the corresponding toons on YouTube and Google, etc. Based on a twelve year-old-vote by the animation industry, which explains why there are no appearances by Cartman, Bart, or Fry.
posted by tsarfan on Dec 21, 2006 - 71 comments

Have you played Robotron today?
posted by 6am on Sep 12, 2006 - 41 comments

Japanese animation from 1933. A bizarre Max Fleischer-inspired 11-minute cartoon about some critters from traditional Japanese folklore, complete with a soundtrack of traditional Japanese music. [youtubefilter]
posted by a louis wain cat on Jul 24, 2006 - 12 comments

Sounds that must die. Yes, the amen break is listed.
posted by bigmusic on Apr 19, 2006 - 40 comments

Hardcore Gaming 101 has a e-newsletter, but the best things there are the loving introductions to dozens of classic games and game series, all either sadly forgotten or practically unknown to the Western World. Thrill to the serious action of Compile shooters! Avoid the mocking gazes of friends, roomies and significant others while reading about venerable Konami cute-em-ups Twinbee and Parodius! Figure out why the hell so many Namco games have Valkyrie in them! Try to keep a straight face when confronted with the likes of Ganbare Goemon, Phoenix Wright, The Neverhood, No One Can Stop Mr. Domino!!!, Panic!, Urban Yeti and Segagaga, the Sega Simulator! Do, uh, something along with the T&A delights of Keio Flying Squadron, Popful Mail and Valis! All this and much, much, much much more.
posted by JHarris on Mar 29, 2006 - 26 comments

Vault Radio. Remember Wolfgang's Vault? They've now started releasing the massive amounts of music that they discovered via FM-quality 128k stream. The current rotation isn't huge (not much worse than commercial radio), but there's a lot of great stuff on there that you've never heard before, presumably.
posted by bigmike on Feb 10, 2006 - 9 comments

Felix the Cat set the standard for animated character design with his rubber-limbs and blackface, predating Mickey by nearly a decade. Since he doesn't get nearly the exposure of Mickey, we're lucky there's sites that make at least a sampling of his cartoons freely available.
posted by ScottMorris on Nov 16, 2005 - 21 comments

Old School tough guy. Perhaps the single most hated villain in wrestling, Dick the Brusier was a midwest legend and his matches always scored a high positive on the Muta Scale before there was a Muta Scale. Brusier typifyed t.v. wrasslin' before the second golden age, as late as 1976 you could still catch a match on the small time UHF channels. But whether he and his tag team partner Crusher were real blue collar guys or not, you can smoke cigars, drink beer and gobble bbq in his old stomping grounds.
posted by Smedleyman on Oct 28, 2005 - 18 comments

Classic FM Radio Analysis scans play lists from various FM radio stations and allows you to make queries such as how often was Beethoven's Symphony #9 played, what are the most popular pieces played, who are the most popular composers, etc.
posted by RonZ on Aug 4, 2005 - 4 comments

adflip - "world's largest archive of classic print ads"
posted by Gyan on Apr 15, 2005 - 15 comments

Mr. Men and Little Miss, the official site of childhood classics, where you can even make your own. For those who can't get enough, there's always the unofficial site.
posted by drezdn on Feb 24, 2005 - 8 comments

Classic Cat describes itself as "the free classical music directory," and offers links to 3rd-party-hosted downloadable recordings, sliced and diced by hits, composer, performer, and more. There are active fora. Given the old-school look of the site, I was surprised not to find it in my repost search.
posted by mwhybark on Feb 13, 2005 - 13 comments

Retro Remakes is devoted to fan made remakes of classic video games.
posted by cmonkey on Oct 27, 2004 - 5 comments

After School Specials. Is that a Trapper Keeper in your locker or are you just happy to see me? Next month, two volumes of ABC's "After School Specials" will be released on DVD (in DVD sets designed to look like Trapper Keepers). After the first two sets, at least four more will follow. TV Shows on DVD has the names of many the specials ("Schoolboy Father," "She Drinks a Little," "Did You Hear What Happened to Andrea?") to jog your memory. Of course, Jump the Shark has plenty of memories of them, too. And anyone who saw Helen Hunt host "SNL" knows that in at least one (possibly two), she jumps out the window. Those were the days.
posted by GaelFC on Sep 22, 2004 - 19 comments

Space 1999 models. War of the Worlds, Flash Gordon, Alien and more. Welcome to the art of Martin Bower.
posted by srboisvert on Jul 15, 2004 - 13 comments

Classic Films.
posted by hama7 on Apr 2, 2004 - 5 comments

10:15 P.M. The WOR news and weather are out of the way. A bugle sounds, and a sprightly theme song comes trotting on the air. The theme has a double meaning: it is the one that calls the horses to the gate at Aqueduct, and it is the Bahnfrei Overture, composed for an operetta by Eduard Strauss, the only member of the Strauss family who did not make good. Presently, Shepherd's clear, rowdy voice intrudes. "Okay, gang are you ready to play radio? Are you ready to shuffle off the mortal coil of mediocrity? I am if you are." There is a noise like a mechanized Bronx cheer (Brrapp!)- it is Shepherd blowing his kazoo. At other times he twangs his Jew's-harp (Brroing!). "Yes, you fatheads out there in the darkness, you losers in the Sargasso Sea of existence, take heart, because WOR, in its never ending crusade of public service, is once again proud to bring you--(Erocia Symphony Up)-- The Jean Shepherd Program!"

A man no longer known for much besides A Christmas Story, Jean Sheperd was the greatest radio raconteur ever. Here is the greatest Jean Sheperd fansite so far--Flick Lives and, treasure of treasures, here are The Shep Archives--oh, you'll have to spend a minute or two to register to hear them but what the hey?--with hundreds of Sheperd broadcasts and records in streaming mp3s.
But Wait! There's More!
posted by y2karl on Mar 27, 2004 - 14 comments

Classic Movie Musicals.
posted by hama7 on Dec 13, 2003 - 9 comments

Norbert's Online NES emulator and the Online Arcade game emulators.
posted by Espoo2 on Dec 11, 2003 - 7 comments

Those of you with crazy multi-tasking skills might want to check out Arcadia, where you play four different super simple games at the same time. Extra points for the stylishly retro chunky pixels look, which brings me right back to happy afternoons spent with my 2600!
posted by lia on Aug 5, 2003 - 18 comments

There is a heppy lend, fur, fur a-wa-a-ay - Sure as moons is cheeses
posted by y2karl on Apr 28, 2003 - 28 comments

As American As Apple Pie What Exactly? What food is truly American? Professor Louis Grivetti, of the University of California at Davis, provides a set of excellent, discussion-settling answers, packed with reliable and curious facts. (Be sure to click on the fascinating "Did You Know?" links at the bottom of each of the 10 classic American food groups.) How many Europeans know, for instance, that tomatoes, potatoes, corn, peppers, artichokes and lima beans all came from America? Not much supposedly ancestral Mediterranean cooking could get by without tomatoes, potatoes and peppers...
posted by MiguelCardoso on Jan 28, 2003 - 44 comments

Robotron: 2084. Presented is an interview with the creator of the fantastic game from the mid 80s; regarding the design of enemies in the game, he has this to say: "Some of the most interesting and deadly aspects of the enemies were bugs caused by improperly terminated boundary conditions in the algorithms. Often these bugs produced behavior far more interesting and psychotic then anything I conceived of." There are many more interviews of classic game authors in the book which is the source for this interview, James Hague's Halcyon Days. (Link thanks to Glish.)
posted by moz on Aug 2, 2002 - 32 comments

Sure, we've all heard the classic old time radio dramas, but what about more recent classics, like the wonderful Jack Flanders series from ZBS Media? And what is being produced today? Bonus points if it's broadcast free online.
posted by rushmc on Jun 21, 2002 - 6 comments

Kate, bad breath cramps any girls style! This and a ton of other great Medical oriented advertising from the 1910's to 1940's can be found at the Medicine and Madison Avenue Project. How is it that with all of our 21st century technology we've lost something as crucial as Gardol?
posted by willnot on Feb 14, 2002 - 18 comments

Does an appearance in the 1997 Disney flop "Flubber" make a classic T-bird worth more? Or less?
posted by kcmoryan on Nov 23, 2001 - 3 comments

The end of an era, and now I can't trust *any* of my neighbours.

"After 33 years, PBS' longest-running series, Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, is signing off. Fred Rogers, one of TV's most familiar faces, says it's time to say goodbye. "

Thank god he's going into syndication. The world will always need a beacon of positive thought.
posted by jcterminal on Jul 14, 2001 - 17 comments

The giant list of classic computer programmers takes you back to a time when one person could realistically author a computer game and have it published. Of course most of the people on this list will have worked on small teams to produce games, but the diversity of the games on these people's resumes is awesome. In particular, I notice Michael Cranford (responsible for The Bard's Tale I and II, the Centauri Alliance, and ports of Donkey Kong and Super Zaxxon) and Robert Woodhead (Wizardry 1-5). As an interesting sidenote, Robert Woodhead went on to Animeigo, a japanese animation publishing company in the US. What memories of these old sk00l games do you have?
posted by moz on Jul 6, 2001 - 34 comments

It's like a party in my monitor. I adore TV Party. Tons of old commercials, show snippets, and jingles. But most importantly, Supertrain, the show that seemed bad then and is even worse now! (Yet its theme stuck in my head for days on end....)
posted by hijinx on Apr 26, 2000 - 0 comments