Syntax, also known as James Mann, has released something increasingly rare: a synth album that artfully blends new and old, a breath of new life into the lungs of the synthwave genre. Island Universe can’t be labeled 100% retrowave, but that’s all right;
In 1989, Warner Brothers released the blockbuster film, Batman. A merchandising storm ensued, with both movie-related and general Batman-themed items flying off shelves. Around this time, the NES was at the dizzying height of its popularity as a home console, and it only
In my last article, I discussed Doom, a landmark game that takes place in a dark future. Doomguy isn’t the first poor soul the video game world has sent into space to deal with a voracious alien threat… in fact, someone else undertook
Wolfenstein 3D was a commercial success, as well as a new standard for 3D action gaming. It prompted developers, including id Software, to ask themselves, “what can we do next?”The very next year, id answered its own question and made gaming history.I was
World War II. Europe is in turmoil. Germany is on the rampage, fueled by the poison doctrines of Nazism and the fire of hatred. The world stands in the shadow of one man… one despicable tyrant… Adolf Hitler.I’ve met the man who took
The classic story recurs throughout mythology, folklore, legends, and even more modern tales: the brave champion defeats the evil wizard and rescues the princess. Hell, even Super Mario Brothers follows the theme loosely! Along the way, the hero battles baddies, finds goodies, and
Around September of last year, I applied to write for NewRetroWave. Our fearless leader sent me a link to an album called The Arcade Dream by an artist called Shirobon. I was blown away. Roughly one year later, here I am, listening to Shirobon’s newest effort, Infinity.
Where you grew up as a kid probably had an effect on what system you first played a Gauntlet port on. For me, it was the eastern USA, so I played the “illegal” Tengen copy for the NES. Some in Europe played it
Part of why so many of us love video games is that they’re a release. They release tension. They give us an outlet. Have you ever just wanted to, like, throw a trash can at a guy, or kick and punch him until
If you had an NES as a kid, and you lived near a video rental store that also dealt in games, Contra was probably one you tried. The difficulty curve may have thrown a lot of kids off, but Contra was (and still
Often touted as one of the titles that kicked off the video game craze worldwide, Super Mario Brothers is the progenitor of a long-winded and perennially welcome franchise among video game lovers of all ages. To humbly celebrate the beginning of my tenure
A lucky few of you may have grabbed the vinyl when it debuted for limited release, but now Blood Music has released GosT’s “Behemoth” album for digital download!