There have always been product placement in movies. It’s just a matter of how those products are shown in the movie. Some products are just an element from everyday life, and are presented as such in the movies, like cereal or soda. Other examples are more blatant, with the audience being assaulted by various products … More The Wizard (Universal Pictures, 1989)
In the early 90s, Super Mario Bros were king. I don’t know anyone that didn’t love Super Mario Bros. or any of the sequels. A movie was made called “The Wizard” that was really an infomercial for Nintendo and their products, and the centerpiece of the movie was a video game competition that showed the … More Super Mario Bros. (Hollywood Pictures, 1993)
Here we go again! This is the fifth installment of Five Awesome Video Game Tracks! That means if my multiplication skills are still refined that you could enjoy 25 interesting video game melodies if you check out all of these installments. It also means that I’ve written roughly 5,000 words dedicated to beeps, hums, and tones … More Five Awesome Video Game Tracks Part 5
Last month we celebrated the 25th Anniversary of Street Fighter II where I briefly broke down the impact the historic game had on the genre as well as the various clones that were inspired by the game’s success. Not long afterwards my pal Travis posted a feature on Street Fighter’s most famous clone Mortal Kombat. Invariably the … More Street Fighter vs Mortal Kombat
The release of “Mortal Kombat” in 1993 came at the right time for me. It is right in the middle of the fighting game boom surrounding Street Fighter II. What put this game over the top for me was the controversy around it. Let’s face it, when adults were so against something, it made you … More Mortal Kombat (Sega Genesis, 1992)
Hello old friends and newcomers alike! Five Awesome Video Game Tracks is an ongoing series where I discuss a specific piece of music from a video game and post a link for our faithful readers to listen and enjoy it. Some of these tracks are just plain amazing. Others aren’t great but hold some kind … More Five Awesome Video Game Tracks Part 4
Recently Street Fighter V was released for the PC and the PS4 which I only know about because I ran across the info while reading about vintage games. Amid the frenzy of the new Street Fighter game appearing in a store near you a key milestone in the franchise seems to have been overlooked. Street … More Street Fighter II: 25th Anniversary
I was a latecomer to FPS games. While the world was addicted to Doom and it’s various spinoffs and clones I didn’t own a PC that could handle anything close to those specs and none of my friends at the time even owned a PC. So while the rest of the “mature” gamers in the … More Star Wars: Dark Forces (LucasArts, 1995)
When I was in middle school I would make sport of searching the house around Christmas time in an effort to uncover my gifts prior to the big day. Perhaps I’m just not big on surprises but I would make it my quest to find as many presents as possible and enjoyed the foreknowledge of … More Star Wars: Shadows Over Christmas
When the Nintendo 64 was released it blew people away with the groundbreaking Super Mario 64 and the graphically impressive Pilotwings 64. Unfortunately that was the ENTIRE launch lineup; two games. Back in those early days of the Nintendo 64 it seemed like console owners were constantly waiting for the next release while enduring one … More GoldenEye 007 (N64, 1997)
Super RetroMania 