Bookmark this site: Saturday Saturn Fan

I'll always have a soft spot for the Saturn. For starters, it was the first system I ever imported from Japan. Also, it served as the "sweet spot," in my mind, between the 16-bit and the 32-bit eras.

After all, it was home to some of the best two-dimensional games around--and had some pretty awesome three-dimensional ones, too. (NiGHTS into Dreams, Panzer Dragoon, Shining Force 3 and Virtua Fighter 2, anyone?)

If you're similarly smitten with Sega's second-to-last system, I'd very much recommend you get your butt over to saturdaysaturnfan.blogspot.com--which basically serves as a receptacle for the "Saturday Saturn Fan" reviews Pat Floyd has written for gameroni.com--as soon as possible.

See also: 101videogames. wordpress.com and videogamesarerad.com

'A totally terrific tribute to Taito'

While scouring the web for Bubble Bobble screenshots yesterday (that's when I wrote my inaugural '10 video games that made my life gayer' post), I came across "a totally terrific tribute to Taito."

The site caught my attention because, as its name suggests, it doesn't just cover Bubble Bobble but (almost) all of Taito's arcade hits (and a few misses, too) from the '70s, '80s and '90s--including Liquid Kids (aka Mizubaku Daibouken), The New Zealand Story and Rainbow Islands.

Another reason the site stopped me in my tracks: It introduced me to a Taito-developed game--The Fairyland Story--that, until yesterday, I'd never heard of. (I just played it via MAME--yes, I'm a dirty pirate--and found it pretty enjoyable, even if it doesn't exactly hold a candle to similar games that followed it, like Bubble Bobble and Don Doko Don.)

Anyway, I recommend checking out the site if you're at all interested in classic arcade games.

Bookmark this site, too: 101videogames. wordpress.com

You know how I said, a few posts ago, that I spent a good chunk of last weekend surfing the web? Well, some of that time was spent perusing 101videogames.wordpress.com (aka "101 Video Games That Made My Life Slightly Better").

Why isn't this blog devoted to discussing, say, the 101 best video games of all time? According to its authors, such lists are often dreadfully dull. Plus, they say, "there’s plenty of entertainment to be had away from the recognised canon of ‘top games.'"

As such, the games that have been and will be written about on 101videogames.wordpress. com are those "that raised an involuntary smile, that inspired unexplainable devotion, that made us laugh out loud… in other words, [they're] games that made our lives slightly better."

I like that premise so much that, starting early next week, I'm going to pen a series of posts about "10 video games that made my life gayer" (with "gayer" being used in the old-fashioned sense, as in happier or merrier).

Bookmark this site: videogamesarerad.com

I don't know about you, but I spent way too much time this past weekend surfing the web. Specifically, I spent too much time scanning a retro-gaming site called videogamesarerad.com.

Although there's a lot to like about this blog, which has been around since late 2007, I'm most fond of its posts about Famicom pirate carts (such as 8-bit "ports" of Dragon Quest VII and Final Fantasy X-2).

Oh, and the site's random features--like this one, which focuses on the Nintendo Vs. System--are pretty "rad," too.

Bookmark these retro-riffic sites

Surprise, surprise--I spent a lot of time surfing the Interwebs last night. It wasn't a completely pointless experience, though, as I stumbled across a slew of great retro-gaming blogs and sites that I'm sure I'll be revisiting (and soon). Anyway, I thought I'd post them here in case any of you are looking to add a few new sites to your own web-surfing sessions.

* gameSniped.com--This site "strive[s] to showcase the most obscure and really rare items that eBay may offer." It also strives to "point out items that are going at a steal, and other stuff that’s just plain interesting." Truth be told, I should stay far away from this site--I went a bit crazy on eBay a few years ago and bought a PC-Engine CoreGrafx II, a Super CD-ROM attachment, a SuperGrafx and a ton of games in a matter of days--but I think I can control myself now.

* Magweasel.com--There are many reasons to read Kevin Gifford's blog, which focuses on "video games, Japan and assorted interesting things." The reason I'll be returning for seconds and thirds (and beyond): His "I (heart) The PC Engine" posts. I've rarely met a video game system I didn't like, but I have a soft spot in my heart for the good 'ol PC Engine (TurboGrafx-16 here in the States)--as you can probably tell from my eBay admission above :)

* Retro-Treasures.blogspot.com--Sadly, this blog, which bills itself as the "daily resource of retro gaming pleasure both for the collector and the nostalgic or historically inclined gamer," has been in "hibernation mode" since early May. The blog's owner hopes to be back in the swing of things sometime early next year, so I'll just check in from time to time until that day arrives.

Bookmark this site: AuntiePixelante.com

Considering how many hours I spend on this here blog, it shouldn't come as much of a surprise to hear that I'm a bit of a geek (at least as far as games are concerned). Some good things come from that geekery, though--such as, well, the nuggets of information that make their way onto this site.

As proud as I am of what I'm attempting to create here, I'm fully aware that there are zillions (yes, zillions) of other gaming sites out there (some gay, some not) that deserve your (and my) attention. So, every once in a while I'm going to post a link to one of them. Here's the first: http://www.auntiepixelante.com/.

I'd be lying if I said I stumbled upon this great site on my own. Actually, someone I'm following on Twitter (thanks, whoever you are!) mentioned it recently in a tweet and I, always up for a new experience, clicked on the link. I'm glad I did.



Anyway, AuntiePixelante.com is the brainchild of Anna Anthropy, who describes herself as a "freelance scratchware game creator, critic and all-purpose pervert."

All three of those traits are on full display in the intriguing articles Anthropy (who is gay, by the way) posts to the site. For example, the one that prompted me to prance on over to her site breaks down the design trends that are present in that Shigeru Miyamoto classic, Super Mario Bros.

If that sounds interesting to you, check out the site when you have a second (a few minutes would be better, but beggars can't be choosers, right?). I think you'll be glad you did.