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System Saturday’s: Intellivision - Is it Really Better than the Atari 2600?

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There is an old adage “ History is Written by the Victors! ”. It’s meant to imply that history, and how things are generally remembered, may be swayed by those who came out on top. That is unless, you dig a little deeper and discover what stories are really out there. This adage can also just as easily be applied to console gaming, as it can a number of other points in history. Look back at what consoles are the most remembered and you will see the Atari 2600, NES, Sega Genesis, PS1, and so on (of course the last two gens are rather muddled). For second generation systems the Atari 2600 was by far the hands down winner, and images of the late 70’s and early 80’s often conjure up that of the Atari 2600 as the one of the fondest memories of the era. Was it the first, of the second generation home consoles? No, that honor belonged to the Fairchild Channel F. Was it the best second generation console? No, that honor belonged to the Colecovision, and Atari 5200. It was the best se...
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Midwest Gaming Classics 2018 - Attack of the New Venue

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It’s Monday April 16th, it’s 8:30 at night and it’s been 27.5 hours since MGC 2018 ended. I was lucky enough to stay all the way till it’s official end at 5PM yesterday, but only thanks in part to an ice storm and blizzard trapping me in Milwaukee and unexpected third night. As 5PM approached it was interesting to see pinball and arcade machines being hauled out, and vendors shutting down and clearing off their tables. There was a sad finality to it all, with a hint of catharsis as it all came to a cold end as winter storm breezes blew into the massive spaces of convention from the open loading bays. I spent the next four hours watching the loading bays from my hotel room as truck after truck pulled up to retrieve their precious cargos of arcade and pinball machines, even the huge hauler that not doubt supported Stern Pinballs full blown display. Unlike my visit two years ago I didn’t buy any games at MGC this year, nor more importantly did I buy another pinball machine. Ga...
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Trekking Through Games: Star Trek: Strategic Operations Simulator

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Star Trek has received at least one title on many video game consoles for last 40 years now. It’s a testament to the shows enduring legacy, as well as its fan base. These are fans who let the shows originality stir their imaginations and made them carry “ The Final Frontier” into the world of video gaming only a few years after the show ended. Some of the earliest versions of Star Trek games appeared as text adventures shared on the early internet in BBS’s, or in the form of short games meant to showcase graphics rather than any kind of actual gameplay. Eventually though game designers and publishers knew a true game would have to be made. In 1979 Star Trek: The Motion Picture was released thanks in part to Star Wars: A New Hope ’s success two years earlier and the constant push by Star Trek fans to bring the show back.   Star Trek: The Motion Picture , although in retrospect hardly the best of the Star Trek movies, was groundbreaking in itself, and set new territory for...
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