Saturday Supercade...BAM!

500th post!

It has been almost a year since I began posting all the video news that I thought might be of interest to the world. Many things have changed during that time, there was that small third world nation skirmish with my Radium chimps, Sharry agreed to be my constant prison-err, I mean researcher, Richard beamed in a transmission giving me his piece of mind for not doing more reporting on Sega games, and I was able to briefly obtain the power of the NES Power Glove before it teleported to the next needy gamer. Then we even had the fortune of the Retroist answering some questions. Not a bad way to spend the year, not at all.

So as I type this and reinforce the Victory Pellet Vault's defenses, it seems that letting my Radium chimps run that overthrown third world nation was a mistake for now they have returned enforce to take over the vault, I leave you dear readers with the Victory Pellet's national anthem.

Friday Flyers.

Click on the pics above to make 1981 size!

Now for a very special guest. The Retroist.

Today we here at the Victory Pellet Vault are extremely honored to have the one and only Retroist as a guest to answer a few questions for us. If you remotely enjoy anything from our site I urge you to rush to this talented Archaeologist of the Retro to see how he and his team make every day a joyful walk down memory lane.

Now on with the show!

1) What led you to don the online mantle of The Retroist?

I had been blogging for many years. Writing about all sorts of stuff, but I was always happiest talking about nostalgia. I had 4 blogs going at one point, all doing "OK", and one night I just was done with them all. I just wanted to write about slightly old stuff. That weekend I started The Retroist.

2) How long has the Retroist site been in operation?

I have owned the site for a few years, but I only started posting as regular as I have for a little less then a year. It has been a remarkable few months.

3) Much like Buckaroo Banzai you have gathered your own group of Honk Kong Cavaliers about you with the likes of Peachy, Kill Screen 256, MetaGirl, Baboone, and Mr. Colt Thunderstrike a.k.a. the very talented artist Christopher Tupa...how did you end up meeting these individuals?

We all met in a South American POW camp. All had been captured on a mission for our respective governments. We promptly escaped and decided nostalgia blogging was a better outlet for our energies.

I actually met them all online. Someone like Jonathan, I have know for years, but the others have just reached out to start talking and we hit it off. Usually I get about 3-5 emails per week from people who say they are serious about helping out on the site. So you try and get them started and enjoy their enthusiasm. Sadly 99% of them will not be able to keep it up. They all come to you with the best intentions, but lives are complicated. Some advice, If you are blogger and accept volunteers, try not to become a pessimist.

4) Your website, www.retroist.com, deals with the memories of music, movies, gaming, and toys from the 50's and up...is there a particular era that you enjoy the most in regards to its products?

In regards to toys, I grew up with a lot of 80s products, so they are near and dear to my heart. But you cannot beat the 1960s and 1970s for pure kid injuring "what were they thinking" toys.

5) What was your first electronic gaming memory?

Home console...The memory is specific, it was playing the Coleco Telstar with my sisters on a dying B&W TV after school.

6) Favorite Arcade game?

Mr. Do! has always taken most of my money. So if I added a cabinet to my collection, that would be the one.

7) Favorite home video game console?

Atari 2600. The one that I played the most and appreciated the longest.

8) Least favorite video game of all time whether arcade or home console?

Least favorite is hard, but I guess it should have to be one that everyone else seems to love but I do not "get". Since I do not need to explain myself, I will say the very non-retro "Halo".

9) Is there a console you wanted as a kid that you still haven't obtained, a Holy Grail so to speak?

I have always wanted a working Vextrex. I have played on them several times and they are a remarkable piece of technology with well made arcade quality games.

10) This last question has nothing to do with video games but in my youth I was always attracted to the movies and therefore anything that would let me show a cartoon of sorts on the walls of my bedroom I would have to have. I still have my Fisher-Price Movie Viewer Theatre as well as the Snoopy Drive-In. Which by the way would also work with the Kenner Star Wars Viewer carts.

However the one item I wanted I never received because my father refused to purchase a "slide projector" toy for Christmas. Retroist, were you one of those lucky kids that received the Kenner Star Wars Give-A-Show Projector?

Nice reference. Sadly I was not one of those lucky kids. Back in the Star Wars days for holidays and birthdays I would get 1 large items usually a vehicle and 2 action figures. Choosing between the Millennium Falcon and the projector was a no-brainer for me. But I lived a few blocks from a kid who had EVERY Star Wars toy they put out and he would show his Projector off to the rest of us ALL THE TIME. Naturally we all resented him. I kept thinking, "You have literally every other item on the SW checklist, now you can get a Star Wars Slide Projector??"

Your Dad did you a favor by making it so every kid did not resent your good fortune.

Box art break for...explain that again?

That super sweet retro Arcade that is coming down the pipe for X-Box 360 owners...just found a little bend in said pipe. From the Game Informer site comes this bit of shocking news:

"Any Game Room arcade titles that you may have already bought as Xbox Live Arcade games won't transfer over to the Game Room, which is due this spring. We talked to a Microsoft representative on the topic, who told us that the company considers the Game Room titles different from their XBLA counterparts because they are the original versions and not "revamped" like those on XBLA. Game Room games will cost between 240 and 400 MS points, so even though you may have to buy them a second time, they should at least be cheaper than those you've already bought."

Yeah...I'm thinking I will not be re-buying the arcade titles I already have...though I am totally getting that pitfall release pictured above. But still this is kind of an odd move on the part of Microsoft, surely they would be able to have an option of 'porting' your arcade collection to the game room.

Box Art Wednesday.

Click the pics to make Intellivision size because...'You'll know'

By the way, if Thunder Castle doesn't have one of the best box arts ever in gaming history I'll give up my +3 to smiting mace!

What happens when you cross Donkey Kong and the Hulk?

You get an awesome new Marvel game thanks to the talent of Anthony Vukojevich who took the above Kirby cover to Fantastic Four #26 and transformed it into a Donkey Kong inspired piece of art.

Thanks to Covered for the heads up.

They call it...Barcade.

It seems there is a pretty popular bar in Brooklyn that mixes their alcohol with arcade games. With more than 25 vintage machines, Barcade, is thriving. The place is really called Barcade, check out the top of the first pic and see. While the trip to Brooklyn is too far for a quest, my heart is overjoyed that somewhere a bar has a playable Tapper on hand!

Thanks to Dragon's Lair Fans for the heads up.

Still Saturday still Supercade.

Wrapping out this Saturday Supercade like we always do here at the Victory Pellet Vault, with a bang and not a whimper.

Enjoy the above pics of a hunter bagging himself one of those pesky Space Invaders! Mmmm, I hear they is good eatin'!

Some more Saturday Supercade.

This hilarious but gruesome piece of art for Duck Hunt comes to us by the way of the I am 8-Bit art exhibit.

Still Saturday Supercade.

Yet another piece of art from Donna Pike that needs to hang on the wall of honor in the Victory Vault!

Saturday Supercade

Artist Donna Pike has created a swell group of 80's arcade art and you can find more of her offerings at http://www.myspace.com/arcade_art

I need to have this Robotron 2084 artwork hanging in my house.

Friday Flyers Break...for Tetris.

If one day I find myself looking at my hundreds of monitors here in the Victory Vault, my genetically created Cat/Dog/Lynx by my side, and I come upon a channel broadcasting the image above...I will have no choice but to release my lunarium tipped missiles on the word.

However and fortunately for the rest of the world this is not the case and merely an artist's fevered brain at work celebrating the 100,000,000 mark being hit by Tetris for downloads on mobile phones.

Friday Flyers.

Click on the pics to make 1986 size!

Two things immediately pop into my mind when I look upon these flyers:
1) The 'Spy' from Spy Hunter II looks mighty confused. Perhaps he is a clone of the original and something happened in the cloning vats...Lord knows it has happened to me.
2) That female warrior in Legendary Wings, when ARES gave her the Wings of Love, she should have asked for pants instead.

And what exactly is a 'Lagendary soldier'?

It must be Thursday.

"Every species can smell it's own extinction. The last ones left won't have a pretty time with it. In ten years, maybe less, the human race will just be a bedtime story for their children. A myth, nothing more." John Trent - In the Mouth of Madness

Box Art Break for Tron: Legacy

We have what is probably the newest billboard image for Tron: Legacy, a big thanks to Chud.com and MTV for the killer news and pic!

Box Art Wednesday.

It's been a bit since we've visited the Atari 2600 box art offerings, at least it has in my mind and I reckon that is all that counts. I can honestly say I've never saw Double Dragon for the Atari 2600 because I was fully in NES mode at that point.

The Demolition Herby box art for some reason really freaks me out, but as always I want thank Atariage for letting me 'borrow' the pics shown above.

More fun facts from the Guinness World Records 2010.

More and more interesting bits of trivia to make your day better.

"It took Jeff Feasel just 17 minutes 44 sec to complete the entire Bionic Commando on Capcom's 1988 NES version of the game."

"1,414,500 points, the high score achieved by American Walt Price on Taito's arcade classic Ikari Warriors, making it the longest-standing high score for a run and gun game."

Most Prolific Run and Gun Shooter Series: Metal Slug
42 separate releases across 14 platforms.

First Truly 3D FPS (First Person Shooter): Descent
Released by Infogrames in 1996 for the PC.

First Home-Console Light Gun: Shooting Gallery
"Created in 1968 by Ralph Baer (USA), and sold commercially in 1972, Shooting Gallery, which was made for the Magnavox Odyssey, was the world's first home-console light gun. A life-sized realistic hunting rifle that had to be cocked before each shot, it also has the distinction of being the largest home-console light gun. Only four games were released for the gun: Shootout, Dogfight, Prehistoric Safari, and Shooting Gallery. It is estimated that only 20,000 guns were ever sold."

So as you can see...this is a book that will find a place of honor here in the Victory Vault library. I highly suggest if you have any interest in gaming as I do that you head over to your bookstore and pick up this collection of information. You'll be glad you did!

Guinness World Records 2010 'fun' facts!

Boy howdy, we simple folks here at the Victory Vault are all a twittter since the postman air dropped our special package. The Guinness World Records 2010 Gamer Edition! How the postman was able to evade our anti-aircraft batteries I'm not sure but he should be saluted for doing his duty!

Most Downloaded Physics Puzzle Game: Peggle
50 million downloads of the game since its release in 2007

First Judo Game: Uchi Mata
Released on the C-64 in 1986 by Martech

Most Critically Acclaimed Fighting Game: Soulcalibur
Garnering a 98% on Metacritic

Best-Selling Hack and Slash Game: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Released in 2002 to coincide with the release of the second movie, it sold 4.28 million copies worldwide.

Best-Selling Videogame Series Of All Time: Super Mario Bros.

Most Entries In An Action-Adventure Series: Castlevania
24 releases in the series.

Now I've saved the best for last, dear readers.

"Shaq-Fu, a fighting game released by EA in 1994 and starring US basketball player Shaquille O'Neal, is widely considered to be one of the worst games ever made. Taking direct action against it, Shaqfu.com is dedicated to buying up and destroying all remaining copies of the game."

I cannot speak for the other Vault Dwellers but I salute you Shaqfu.com, *sniff*, I salute you.

Mega Man 10's evil robots are...

From top to bottom, out fearless Blue Bomber will have to face the evil of:

1) Blademan
2) Chillman
3) Commandoman
4) Nitroman
5) Pumpman
6) Sheepman
7) Solarman
8) Strikeman

Now personally I really like the designs of Sheepman, no matter how silly that may be, and Solarman.

Sharry wanted me to remind you dear readers that I sometimes post more than once a day so check that little list on the left of this post to see if you have missed anything of interest.

Need some stop-motion Ryu?

Capcom has come up with a nice stop-motion ad for their new Wii exclusive fighting game, Tatsunoko vs. Capcom Ultimate All-Stars. They also throw in some Mega Man for good measure, well, it's actually Rock since this is the Japanese version.

Speaking of Rock/Mega Man I've found an online art posting of his upcoming foes in Mega Man 10 that I will post later today.

Still Saturday Supercading!

I would totally trade my collection of Lionel Ritchie combs for that Pac-Man wrapping paper! Check out #9 from this catalog scan, that is some Colorforms my dear readers. Thanks to Vintagecomputing for letting me 'borrow' the scan.

Still Saturday still Supercade!

Taking a wee break from the Pac-Man coverage to serve up this nostalgic look back at a board game that I didn't know existed, Pitfall. Looking at the crazy playing board above...it seems difficult.

Some more Saturday Supercade!

That is awesome.

Saturday Supercade!

I believe I awoke everyone in the barracks here at the Victory Pellet Vault this morning when I saw these pics over on Retrothing.com as it is another example of a home arcade system's existence that I knew nothing of.

It appears to have been released in 1981 or 1982 per the information by Retrothing and only around 50,000 ever produced.

"The electromechanical screen is a 150 x 40 grid of red LEDs created using a spinning mirror that casts a flickering, wobbly image at only 15 frames per second. The games included surprisingly enjoyable ports of Defender, Super Cobra, Space Force and Turtles."

Those are also the only titles ever released for the system, thanks to Retrothing for the pics and this video!

I am amazed at the sound and action on the screen, when watching try to keep in mind those little hand held electronic games that were such a hit back then...this is more advanced by leaps and bounds.

Flyer Friday.

Click the pics to make 1982 size!

I didn't know there was a Monster Bash arcade game, hopefully I can pull up some details later on today. I do have a feeling though that this is not an official Universal Monsters project.