Sure you consider yourself a retro 8-bit gaming geek, but have you played Udon Boy in Ramen Land, or Kung Fu Psycho Rider? Don't feel bad, they're from Japanese culture store Meteor's annual Famicase, an exhibition of imaginary games.
posted by artifarce on Jun 5, 2009 - 7 comments

Touch screen. Awesome graphics. Online community. No, I'm not talking about the latest handheld device to hit the market, I'm talking about Control Data's PLATO system. [more inside]
posted by WolfDaddy on Apr 27, 2009 - 31 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

The video games of the 1983 Sears Wishbook
posted by empath on Dec 21, 2008 - 74 comments

Nearly a month ago jbickers made a post that mentioned the TIGsource Demakes competition. The competition is over, and the winners have been announced. All of these are playable. Most are for Windows, except for those that are Flash or something else:
1. Soundless Mountain II (Atari 2600 Silent Hill) (from previous post)
2. Gang Garrison II (Kyntt Stories-like Team Fortress 2, complete with multiplayer)
3. Aquarium (NES-ish Aquaria)
4. Little Girl in Underland (Soviet McGee's Alice)
5. House Globe (Homeworld)
6. S.T.A.C.K.E.R. (Nuclear Tetris)
7. Squish
(Crush is a PSP game where the player can switch the world between a 2D and 3D representation. Squish is a game in which the player switches between a 2D and a 1D representation. See for yourself.) 8. (tie) Fillauth and Advanced Set The Rope On Fire Cartridge (an Intellivision-like remake of this, previously mentioned)
9. Sexy Seaside Vollyball (NSFW, pixelated breasts) (Sinclair Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Vollyball)
10. Macarena of the Missing (A thematically-appropriate demake of Limbo of the Lost)

Lots more after the jump! [more inside]
posted by JHarris on Oct 7, 2008 - 29 comments

Everything you need to know about playing Nintendo.
posted by dhammond on Apr 10, 2008 - 64 comments

Like sprites? The People's Sprites has the most extensive repository of old game pixel art I've ever seen.
Some good examples from:
Battletoads, Excitebike, Final Fantasy GBA, Mega Man, Metal Slug, Mortal Kombat, Punch-Out, River City Ransom, Shinobi, Samurai Shodown, Super Mario Kart, Super Mario World, and my favorite, Super Metroid.
Hundreds more at the site, plus original and public domain ones.
posted by BlackLeotardFront on Mar 30, 2008 - 17 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

Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw (previously), he of "Chzo mythos" and "Zero Punctuation" fame, has released a new game: The Art of Theft, a heist adventure in grand retro style.
posted by Iridic on Nov 23, 2007 - 17 comments

The only interactive Zelda overworld map you'll ever need. (Flash)
unless you're doing the second quest. Found at the ever-useful vgmaps.com
posted by BlackLeotardFront on Nov 10, 2007 - 26 comments

Many, many, old computing and game magazines, free for download as pdfs, cbrs, or page scans. Computer Gaming World 1-100 ~ Atari Age and Atari Club ~ Compute! (transcribed(!)) ~ Zzap! 64 (awesome) ~ Some foreign ones ~ All the Amiga ones ~ Old Nintendo Power, GamePro, EGM, and so on (free registration required). All credit to the original poster and comments at the random Gnomes' random lair.
posted by BlackLeotardFront on Nov 5, 2007 - 27 comments

La-Mulana is a Japanese homebrew game, with English translation available, for Windows that exhaustively replicates the experience of playing on an MSX home computer, a machine not sold in the U.S. but was contemporary with the likes of the Commodore 64 and Amiga in other markets. (Fun fact: the "MS" in MSX stands for Microsoft!) Although it looks very much like retro warez, La-Mulana is freeware. It is also notoriously long and difficult, with a character who controls like old-school Castlevania, enemies that will frequently knock you around like a rag doll, puzzles of amazing deviousness, and traps that think nothing of walling up a player without escape, or forever restricting access to certain powerups.

That said, the game does have charm, and is basically a love letter to the MSX hardware. Those who want to see it without beating their hands bloody against the keyboard can watch a guy play through the whole game in 85 installments, cursing at it all along the way.
posted by JHarris on Jun 4, 2007 - 14 comments

Blaster Master ... Solid NES Gold. Those who remember the game do so with fondness. Though critically lauded on release, and later spawning several sequels, the game was never as big a hit as its its spiritual predecessors, Metroid and Legend of Zelda. Like Super Mario Bros. 2/Doki Doki Panic, Blaster Master was based on an obscure Japanese game, in this case Chōwakuseisenki Metafight although the differences in this case are limited to the story. Blaster Master was also the first (and only "canon") book in the Nintendo Worlds of Power series, in which various authors novelized third-party games using the pseudonym "F.X. Nine." Download the Blaster Master book here (MSWord zipped, "enhanced" by a fan). Lastly, some bonus links: one, two, and three (!)
posted by BlackLeotardFront on Oct 24, 2006 - 36 comments

The Dot Eaters. A dauntingly comprehensive history of video games, beginning with proto-PONG and Spacewar!. If it's difficult to navigate through Captain O's prize matrix, use the handy timeline/scape (the dates don't work, so don't try). It's an interesting site, for sure, but if it doesn't pique your interest maybe the links page will, since it's the largest I've ever seen. In just minutes I found the First Church of Pac-Man, Super Mario Bros fanfiction (@), and a great Robotron shrine. Plus, this noise (wav).
posted by BlackLeotardFront on Apr 27, 2006 - 16 comments

Relive your roots at NESplayer.com. This site is a huge repository for all kinds of NES stuff - it has an extensive sprite gallery, a rather comprehensive list of all NES merchandise and accessories available through the years, NES ads from comics, shots and clips from Nintendo-based TV shows(no episodes- I know - but when was the last time you thought of Captain N or the Super Mario Bros. Super Show?). There are shrines, guides, interviews, this guy who paints NES scenes... in short too much to list here. Go now, be fruitless. It's Saturday.
posted by BlackLeotardFront on Apr 8, 2006 - 8 comments

Classic DOS Games : another great site to be added to the growing list of ancient game repositories. This one has a few you may have missed as well as your old favorites, divided by genre or by publisher - and everything is local. There are some suspicious utilities, and useful ones (use d-fend as a frontend for DOSbox), and even a wiki and some developer interviews. Other classic game sites here previously: Everyvideogame, Abandonia, Home of the Underdogs and its subsidiary, the Macintosh Garden (for fruit lovers).
posted by BlackLeotardFront on Mar 15, 2006 - 23 comments

Game-Oldies.com features a boatload (approximately) of classic games, playable in Java. Lemmings! Duke Nukem! Toejam and Earl! Trampoline Terror! (What?)
posted by Gator on Nov 11, 2005 - 30 comments

Play "Kaboom!" (1981) by Activision's Larry Kaplan. [both links feature loud noises] And because you didn't ask, here's a 1984 article about the not-so-legendary 30 secrets of Atari.
posted by Kleptophoria! on Mar 17, 2005 - 21 comments

EveryVideogame.com ... many retro videogames (arcade, nintendo, gameboy, sega) available for online play via a java applet.
posted by crunchland on Feb 24, 2005 - 20 comments

Doom , Doom2, Duke Nukem 3d, Heretic, Hexen, Hexen II, Quake, Quake 2, Return to Castle Wolfenstein : Enemy Territory, plus dozens more.
posted by crunchland on Feb 21, 2005 - 20 comments

Outwit your opponent in a head to head code-cracking clash to win the Mastermind title, which is not to be confused with this television imposter. The board game was a really simple test of code cracking and deduction. I remember playing this game for hours and hours in my childhood. The new packaging is (of course) not as good as the old - and theres even a story about that old cover!

If you cannot find the board game - then you can always play the game online (mind your eyes there) or with a java applet, at least online you don't drop the little black and white pegs down the side of the chair!
posted by mattr on Nov 25, 2004 - 12 comments

Human Pacman in the streets of Singapore. I like the future. via
posted by Tlogmer on Nov 19, 2004 - 19 comments

Pacelman. Pacman for Excel. [via Edge (print edition)]
posted by davehat on Dec 2, 2003 - 17 comments

The Virtual Toy Chest is a collection of mostly action toys from the 70's through the 90's, from The A-Team to Zybots.
I found it after reading Pretty_Generic's great cartoon post while searching for pictures of old M.A.S.K. toys. Does anyone remember Madballs? A monster in my pocket? The Infaceables?. How about Visionaries with their cool holographic staffs?
posted by Espoo2 on Apr 2, 2003 - 3 comments

Chuckie Egg It’s not quite a Friday Flash Game, and it’s not quite a discussion of the great 8-bit games we played when we were young, but it seems to fall neatly between the two camps, so I thought I’d post it. For those of you on the other side of the pond, Chuckie Egg was one of the biggest selling games here in the U.K. For those of you who hanker for the old days of your BBC Micro, here’s a little bit of ‘80s magic. PC only, but it’s less than 200K of download, and as an extra bonus, it allows you to create your own levels.
posted by seanyboy on Mar 28, 2003 - 9 comments

Save pinball! "It's an American icon," said Stern, ever the salesman. "Pinball is cool because it is retro. It's a Volkswagen bug, a PT Cruiser, khaki pants."
posted by justgary on Aug 3, 2002 - 23 comments

Adventure games! They seem to be "old school" in this world of Quake shooters and real time strategy but does anyone remember the halcyon days of King's Quest, Maniac Mansion, and even ... Leisure Suit Larry?
posted by owillis on May 31, 2001 - 31 comments

And now for something completely pointless... Why on earth would anyone care enough about something this to invest all the time it took to pull this off? Just to break the record high score on a video game which only appears in museums now?
posted by Steven Den Beste on Nov 27, 2000 - 27 comments