The Grand Emperor's Retro Video Gaming Blog

About three weeks ago we first started hearing rumors that No Mans Sky  may be delayed by a few months. As someone who pre-ordered the game I just said "cool!" and went about my daily life, I mean  sure I'd love to have the game by the end of this month, but things happen in the world of video game development. To be honest I have to gave the developers props on the fact that they are trying to give us a completed and bug free game, and not just ship what they have as other game developers have done in the past. I mean what's  really  the issue with taking a little more time since this game, like Star Citizen,  is an extremely ambitious project and releasing it two months too soon, and full of bugs would undermine everything they have worked so hard on in the past three years. Not more than 48 hours after word hit the internet that the game was officially postponed for an August release, stories began to pour in about death threats to the developers. I...

Well welcome to the month of June. It's been pretty hot one here in Northern Illinois, which to me is a good sign we'll have a real summer. Anyway, it's been a long week even if it has been only 4 days long, all I can say is Tuesday and Wednesday were real doozies, and I'm happy to have made it to the weekend. This Friday's Buys  Image Fight (NES) - Yes, after a week hiatus the SHMUP buying has started again. Image Fight  is said to be one of the best SHMUPS on the NES, and I'm eager to find out if that's true. In all actuality this is also somewhat of an obscure title too so that makes me all the more glad to get this one.  Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection (PS2) - I guess I'm following a trend I started last week and adding another pinball themed game to my collection. There are actually a lot of pinball themed games available on a variety of systems but this one is said to be one of the best, not only as a pinball themed title...

I seek to answer the question is it an iCade or just iCandy?  On a hot summer day in 2014 my family and I set out for the Underground Retrocade in West Dundee, IL. It had been years since I was in a true arcade last, and the feeling of experiencing games that way again was nearly intoxicating. There's nothing quite like those large buttons, full sized arcade sticks, and cabinet speakers pulling you in and making your surroundings disappear.  After that I was determined to get a machine of my own, but to be honest there wasn't really any room for one at my house of the time so I had to give that dream up temporarily. About a month later I heard the iCade being discussed on The Retro League , and I decided to look it up for myself on Amazon. Here was mini-arcade cabinet with an arcade controller and buttons, and all that had to be added was an iPad, which I did have. The only thing was it was going for about $100 at that time, and I decided I could wait till later or ...