Of all the Sega franchises, I really miss Panzer Dragoon the most. The SHMUP genre has a plethora of classics to choose from, leaving many of the names off this month was not an easy decision. Titles like Arrow Flash, Zaxxon, Thunderforce, and M.U.S.H.A. will certainly get their time. But I can't think of a better game to wrap up this month with…

The popularity of video games have been eclipsing other forms of entertainment for going on close to a decade and are celebrated on a worldwide scale. The Tribeca Film Festival looks to incorporate the genre as a part of their repertoire in the near future, as the institution looks to add a video game category to their ceremonies in New York City June…

With a little more than 24 hours has passed since Microsoft purchased ZeniMax Media, acquiring Bethesda and its wealth of talent to make the Xbox brand more appealing. The dust hasn't settled yet, and word from Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and VP of gaming Phil Spencer spoke that they aren't quite done amassing talent under their umbrella as well as…

What would a month focusing on SHMUPs would be if I didn't speak of the origins of the genre, some of the grandfathers. Shooters were some of the earlier computer games that provided a foot in the door of more elaborate programming. Space War!, developed in 1962 on a PDP-1 computer, follows Pong as being one of the first video games made. It was later…

A surprise story Monday morning, it had been announced that Microsoft Corp has purchased the Maryland-based entertainment development and publishing company ZeniMax Media for an alloted sum of $7.5 billion dollars in cash. This move now brings the wide variety of titles and projects under the Microsoft umbrella and Xbox brand. This includes the Elder…

In what was likely an eventuality sooner rather than later, the life of Nintendo's popular handheld console, the 3DS, has come to an end. This was clarified earlier in 2020 that manufacturing was wrapping up, and in September, Nintendo's …

Switch Online Service is back next week with some new offerings for the SNES and NES libraries. Starting September 23rd, Switch Online users will have access to Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest, Mario's Super Picross, and The Peacekeepers for the SNES selections, and S.C.A.T. for the NES.…

I don't disguise my love for classic Konami games. The brand is responsible for most of the titles I grew up loving, yet I didn't really experience most of them in the arcades. Games like Life Force, Contra, and Jackal were ones I was more acclimated to their NES counterparts. In the shooter genre, Konami is more noted for the Contra and the Gradius…

VanillaWare, the studio behind Odin Sphere, drops a trailer, revealing the English voices for its anticipated release 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim. Unlike their previous games, Dragon's Crown and Muramasa, which took place in a fantasy style setting, 13 Sentinels places its world in a fairly modern, not-too-distant future. The original concept was brought…

The Darius series just might possibly be the forewarning message from the sea to the surface world about overfishing. This franchise's amazing giant aquatic-themed battleships may be closing in on the planet earth to teach us what for. Taito tried to spread their message, but it's too late. In the meantime, while we wait for impending doom at the fins…

After 27 years, I finally get a chance to sink my teeth into the TurboGrafx-16's library. Is the Mini worth your money?…

Nintendo has been using their Directs to bring either some robust bundles of news or some tidbits of information, and they can lead to backlash from the community if it's not exactly what they wanted to hear (see responses to their third party partners video, for an example). In what's been a tough year for showcasing gaming, Nintendo had something…

The shoot'em up genre is as classic a medium as it gets. With its roots in the arcade, I've always found them to be the test of reflexes and reactions that I still play as I get older in order to keep my senses as sharp as possible in my advancing years. Like brawlers, the genre has seen a resurgence in the independent market and bundled collections…

Next month's Game Pass offerings have been announced, and will provide four new games fresh to Xbox Live Gold Members throughout September. The titles are Tom Clancy's The Division, The Book of Unwritten Tales 2, de Blob 2, and Armed And Dangerous. Beginning September 1st.…

September's free games for PS+ members is offering up some fisticuffs and frying pans for the PlayStation 4, as Street Fighter V and Player Unknowns' Battlegrounds will roll out next month. Activate your V-Triggers and cook up some hate!

Player Unknown's Battlegrounds …

For anyone that is a fan of the independent fighting game Skullgirls, they probably have been abreast to the news surrounding polarizing developer and game designer for Lab Zero Games Mike Zaimont, known by the moniker "Mike Z". Throughout 2020, "Zaimont has been a lightning rod for the wrong kind of attention on social media and reports of…

Hey, speaking of Atari, perhaps it's an appropriate time to talk about a pretty notable titles for the 2600. Combat, one of the most aptly named video games on the planet, really does get used to the point; fire at your opponent with tanks and planes. Something I treasure from this time period is the simplicity and straightforward nature of the games…

Come this November (the date is slated for the 24th), Atari is jumping back into the race with its console/PC hybrid, the Atari VCS. Last week, the VCS went up for preorder in Australia for a whopping retail price of $699 for the console alone. The bundle runs for $845, which includes a wireless controller and wireless joystick. With the PlayStation 5…

One of the greatest perks about modern gaming has been the accessibility and platforms upon which independent developers can have a chance to show their passion and creativity. During the run of the Nintendo Switch. This presentation gives some spotlight to a slew of indie titles making their way to the eShop: 

Hades - Supergiant…

Given the reception to the latest Star Fox offering in Zero (a game I'm a big fan of and felt it was one of the most unique video games I've played in 11 years), the franchise has seen better days. Nintendo tried a lot of experimenting to see if anything more substantial can be drawn from it. Efforts like Assault and Adventures (Ocarina of Time with…