http://ganja.gawkerassets.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/kotaku.com.png http://kotaku.com/tag/retro http://kotaku.com/tag/retro

Haven't you always wanted to cozy up with an NES? Okay, well, maybe not so much. They do have a lot of sharp edges, and do you even know where that controller has been? I swear I saw the dog licking it yesterday, and then your little brother— More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5912138&view=rss&microfeed=true

Doodling away at his desk, a skinny and unassuming young man, Li Feng, ponders how to draw a political cartoon regarding missile defense shields. Li, 32, is a graphic artist for a media company in Beijing and he attributes his choice of career to his upbringing, an upbringing in China, with video games. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5911905&view=rss&microfeed=true

A little while back, I took a look at Dynamite Jack and really enjoyed the explodey stealth action provided by this indie game.
More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5910855&view=rss&microfeed=true

Before the internet existed, millions of players toiled away in lonely obscurity to find the best way to beat the oh-so-hard games of yesteryear. Lots of us scribbled in notebooks, drew our own maps and called tips lines to figure out how to beat the games we were obsessed with. And then we shared this elusive information with others. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5908336&view=rss&microfeed=true

The worst album covers of all time made me miss the good old times of record shops. These books, however, just scare me. They scare me because, with the advent of personal digital book publishing, things are probably going to get even worse. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5906203&view=rss&microfeed=true

YouTube user rickonami has done a wonderful thing. He's remade the intro to Star Fox on the SNES, only now it's in fancy HD, and includes some nods to the N64 game. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5906179&view=rss&microfeed=true

You die and die and die. Load up another save, maybe. Finally, you emerge triumphant over the boss battle or end sequence you've been struggling with. Nowadays, you're likely to get a big shiny, fully-voiced cutscene topped off with swelling orchestral music. But that wasn't the case thirty years ago. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5905611&view=rss&microfeed=true

When I think about all the games featured in this video, I remember the fun (and sometimes the anguish) I had while playing them. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5905355&view=rss&microfeed=true

Bobby Ågren runs a store in Copenhagen, Denmark called Ruben & Bobby. It's a hair salon. Oh, and it also sells old video game systems, old video games and old toys. Making it a hair salon/game store/cultural museum. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5904509&view=rss&microfeed=true

Konami came close to a satisfying 3D Castlevania experience with Lord of Shadows, it was missing a certain something. Something that Nick "Nario" Hagman found in Minecraft by recreating the entire original game, block-by-block. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5900705&view=rss&microfeed=true

The New York Times wants you to destroy its recommended articles, its magazine cover art and even its ads. And it's using a an homage to classic arcade game Asteroids to let you do it. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5899061&view=rss&microfeed=true

The undisputed Internet-age leader in April Fool's hoaxes gets a one-day head start on its latest gag—a brilliant announcement video for "Google Maps 8-Bit," a port of the popular, well, map service to the Nintendo Entertainment System/Famicon. The best part? It's an homage to Dragon Quest. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5898044&view=rss&microfeed=true

If you're like me, you watched Mad Men and lamented the fact that the hit AMC Show takes place before the dawn of home video game consoles. Can you imagine too-cool ad execs Don Draper and Roger Sterling in a pitch meeting for the Atari 2600? "So, all it does is move that thing on my TV? How're we gonna sell that?" Alas, such a plotline probably won't come to pass but an interactive YouTube video game gives us the next best thing. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5895410&view=rss&microfeed=true

Look, you probably don't remember Bravoman. I know I don't. But, in his mind, the hero of a 1988 beat-em-up is the world's greatest video game character. Lucky for him, he'll be getting the chance to prove it all over again. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5888889&view=rss&microfeed=true

I have a nearly irrational dislike for retro video games. I assume most of the old "classics" wasted my youth with their needlessly bottomless pits and/or a hunger for my quarters. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5885859&view=rss&microfeed=true

Check out this student-made Flash advertisement for… an iPod skin? We'll take it! Mario and Luigi cope with an invasion straight out of Lemmings and Space Invaders before reinforcements from everyone's favorite Mars-bound marine. Things get 3D, and decidedly less innocent. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5881318&view=rss&microfeed=true

Pirating new video games is a crime. But there's long been a rather grey area around the piracy of old games. And when I say old, I don't mean 2008 old. I mean 1988 old. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5880340&view=rss&microfeed=true

Ever wonder how much retro game idol Haruna Anno loves video games? Enough to make a retro gaming museum. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5878361&view=rss&microfeed=true

The video above is supposed to be an homage to the 1980s graphic adventure games published by Sierra On-Line. But, if you watch the whole thing, you'll spot some characters who weren't part of that defunct publisher's stable. I've had the pleasure of seeing 8BW perform live and they put on a great show. They'll be performing at the Gamefest event that celebrates the opening of The Art of Video Games in March, so go check them out if you can. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5876413&view=rss&microfeed=true

Last year Kotaku readers were enthralled by the daring exploits of Shinya Arino as he desperately attempted to finish a dozen of the most brutal retro games Japan has to offer. Now we're giving you one last chance to watch before Retro Game Master goes away forever. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5875856&view=rss&microfeed=true

You did vote to get your favorite games into The Art of Video Games exhibit, didn't you? If not, don't crying that Buck Rogers: Planet of Zoom didn't make it into the show. Anyway, we're only two short months away from the exhibit's opening of at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Smithsonian's announced that they're holding a two-day celebration. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5875791&view=rss&microfeed=true

The same folks who made that amazing Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening animation in Mojang's hit sandbox construction game have come back with yet another homage to an old-school classic. MinecraftA2Z managed to recreate Punch-Out's first bout—where series hero Mac trades blows with Glass Joe—by manipulating millions of blocks frame by frame, in the same manner as the Super Mario Land clip. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5875459&view=rss&microfeed=true

I am sure you have Pac-Man skills. We all do. I'm sure you're good at turning the corners of getting Inky, Blinky & Clyde to trail you just as you're approaching the power pellet. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5875131&view=rss&microfeed=true

Alamagordo, New Mexico. Fifty miles southeast of Roswell, the most famous UFO site in the nation. Also the scene of the most infamous landfill in video game history. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5873220&view=rss&microfeed=true

You've seen the photos. Porn star Ron Jeremy dressed as Mario. The images weren't simply some silly cosplay photo. Rather, they were promotional images for a dirty movie—a dirty movie that's difficult to find. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5871105&view=rss&microfeed=true Brooklyn's Ben Falls is the new world record holder in the 1982 Nintendo arcade game Popeye, according to the score-tallying folks at Twin Galaxies. He scored 3,023,060 points. Previous record holders managed barely more than 1 million. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5869853&view=rss&microfeed=true

Hot on the heels of the near-mint Deluxe Edition NES we posted about today comes word of an even rarer Nintendo artifact. Placing multiple popular games on one single cartridge, the Super Nintendo Campus Challenge cartridge was created for promotional competitions all over the world. There are reportedly only three in existence and one's shown up for bidding on eBay. The innards of this cartridge have been laid bare for all to see, making the slots where F-Zero, Super Mario World and Pilotwings plainly visible. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5868520&view=rss&microfeed=true

Nearly pristine. Frozen in time. That's what the claims are for a rare 1985 edition of the Nintendo Entertainment System being sold on eBay. Wrapped in plastic in a handled cardboard box, the NES up for grabs is apparently in the same state that retailers received it more than 20 years ago. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5868425&view=rss&microfeed=true

The Legend of Zelda is one the most successful video game franchises to ever come from Japan. It's been mostly made by Nintendo studios in Kyoto, with some added efforts by Capcom, which is based in Osaka. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5867795&view=rss&microfeed=true

It's a delicate subject but one that will inevitably come up for any parent, and you've got to be prepared. In this age of bright and shiny high definition games, how can we force our children to play through the games we grew up on first? This is commenter Balmung's question in today's Speak Up on Kotaku. Now eat your video games, kids. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5867589&view=rss&microfeed=true

For years, fighting game fans in the New York City area gathered at Chinatown Fair, to hone their skills at the location's stand-up machines. That all ended earlier this year to the dismay of many. Chinatown Fair's legacy lives on across the river in Brooklyn's Next Level but you can relive the glory of days past in a new documentary. Directed by Calvin Theobald, King of Chinatown features competitive gamers Justin Wong and Daigo Umehara, too, and shows the pivotal role Chinatown Fair played in their relationship. It's been out for a while but you can get it on iTunes this week. If you miss Chinatown Fair or love fighting games, give the film a look. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5866756&view=rss&microfeed=true

You've gotta love a game that makes a sly reference to 2010 indie darling Limbo. But, further perusal shows that Pid's not going to be like PlayDead's hit game. It's got color! Energy! Localized gravity fountains! The retro-styled release happens on a remote alien planet where you'll need to jump, solve and float your way past the local fauna—or are they automata?—through multiple levels of platformer action. Pid's the result of a partnership between developer Might and Delight and production company Beefy Media. Collectively, the guys who make up Might and Delight have titles like Mirror's Edge, Battlefield, and Killzone on their resumes, but their most relevant experience in this instance is their joint work on the first Bionic Commando: Rearmed release from Capcom. Pid will launch into orbit on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC next year. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5865649&view=rss&microfeed=true

Remember R.B.I. Baseball? The classic sports title for the Nintendo Entertainment System? This gamer is so confident that he can defeat anyone at it, he or she took out an ad in a local Oklahoma newspaper. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5865409&view=rss&microfeed=true

This isn't something done for internet shits and giggles. It's an "official conversion" of awesome death simulator Canabalt running on...the Commodore 64, one that will soon be going on sale. Like, it'll come on a cartridge. Amazing. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5865000&view=rss&microfeed=true

It's just two minutes and twenty-two seconds of black and white video. In it we see a play-through of classic 80s Game Boy title Super Mario Land. Pretty bland stuff, until you hear how it was created. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5863696&view=rss&microfeed=true

Coming soon to iOS-powered devices from the wonderfully named and logo'd Mighty Rabbit Studios, Saturday Morning RPG might be the only turn-based role-playing game in which the protagonist can transform into a truck and ram faux Cobra troopers. Color me intrigued, but not the official colors so I don't get sued. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5860314&view=rss&microfeed=true

Your Dovahkiin may be all sorts of bad-ass, but this video features the cutest Dragonborn of all. Thrill to this imaginary game's pixilated vistas! Gasp at the exciting downhill skiing sequences! Wish that someone makes this into something actually playable! More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5858756&view=rss&microfeed=true

Spotted by game localizer and author Matt Alt, this Namco ad from the mid-1980s originally ran in a toy industry trade publication. In it, an android looks up a woman's skirt. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5857339&view=rss&microfeed=true

Artist João Victor G. Costa took Warcraft and added old-school color graphics. The result is beautiful minimalism. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5853827&view=rss&microfeed=true

Old-school heads out there may remember Iron Helix, a sci-fi CD-ROM game that did survival horror in the FMV format that was all the rage then. If you played it, you'll remember how the music tweaked your nerves with a tense layering of synthesizer chords. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5852653&view=rss&microfeed=true