Here’s the inaugural episode of HoldSquare Video Game Podcast, where a couple of friends and I discuss such topics as Broforce and Tom Clancy's Division for the PlayStation 4, Bayonetta for the Wii U, The National Videogame Museum, and everyone's worst nightmare: balls getting stuck. Enjoy!
Wednesday, March 30, 2016
Monday, March 28, 2016
Super Bitcon April 2-3
Super Bitcon this Saturday and Sunday in Oklahoma City!
April
2nd from 12-12:45 PM, check out "Dispelling Vidiocracy: Mythbusting Through
Gaming History," with Patrick Scott Patterson, Brett Weiss, and The Gaming
Historian!
Only at Super Bitcon!
Moderated
by Patrick Scott Patterson, this historical gaming perspective will explore
some of the common myths and misconceptions woven throughout gaming lore. Was
the Atari 2600 was the first programmable console? Can Mario really jump over
the flagpole? Did Saddam Hussein stockpile PlayStation 2 consoles as part of
some grand evil scheme? Find out the answers to questions like these and more
in “Dispelling Vidiocracy: Mythbusting Through Gaming History!”
SUPER!
BitCon 2016 will take place April 2nd-3rd, 2016 at the Oklahoma Expo Hall at
Oklahoma State Fair Park. Like us on Facebook to stay up with the latest news! RSVP and let us know you’re coming!
Sunday, March 27, 2016
Preview of The National Videogame Museum!
New video!
If you want to drool over the Stadium Events cart or play the world's largest Pong machine, you'll have to visit the museum (which opens April 2), but here's a sneak peek at some of the things you'll find at the first dedicated facility of its type in the U.S.:
If you want to drool over the Stadium Events cart or play the world's largest Pong machine, you'll have to visit the museum (which opens April 2), but here's a sneak peek at some of the things you'll find at the first dedicated facility of its type in the U.S.:
You can subscribe to my YouTube channel HERE:
THANKS FOR WATCHING!
Tuesday, March 22, 2016
Space Firebird -- A Lost Arcade Classic
During Spring Break, I had a chance to check out Free Play Arcade in Richardson (north of Dallas), which is about 45 minutes from my house. I was surprised to discover that they had a game called Space Firebird, which I had never played before, but had read about in Classic Gamer Magazine #4. It's a quirky "slide-and-shoot" game, and my son and I had a lot of fun playing it. I'm glad I finally had a chance to check it out.
Click on the images for a closer look--Kyle Snyder wrote a nice article on the "Lost Arcade Classic."
Saturday, March 19, 2016
YouTube Book Review: The Complete NES by Jeffrey Wittenhagen
Check out my new video, where I review Jeffrey Wittenhagen's recent book, The Complete NES.
And please subscribe to my YouTube channel--thanks!
And please subscribe to my YouTube channel--thanks!
Monday, March 14, 2016
Spring 2016 Video Game Guide
Spring,
a busy time for the video game industry, doesn’t officially begin until March
20, but North Texas gamers already have much to be excited about.
Two events will vie for gamers’ hard-earned dollars: the
Texas Pinball Festival, occurring in Frisco March 18-20, and All-Con, taking
place in Dallas March 17-20. The latter has added a number of video
game-related activities for this year, including a 
tournament and an assortment of panels, including
one on how to forge a career in gaming.
After
many delays, the National Videogame Museum in Frisco has finally nailed down a
grand opening date: April 2.
And,
of course, there are many new video games coming out. These
include such popular titles as 
for the 
, Tom Clancy’s The Division for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One and 
for most every
current console.
Here
are nine more new and forthcoming titles that will keep gamers occupied at
least until summer.
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
HD
Wii
U
Publisher:
Nintendo
ESRB
Rating: Teen
Available
Now
$59.99
A new
In
addition to a visually spruced up overhaul of the original game, Twilight Princess HD adds Amiibo
functionality and even includes a Wolf Link Amiibo. Not only does the Amiibo
add features to 
HD,
it will add bonuses to the next Legend of
Zelda game.
EA Sports UFC 2
PlayStation
4, Xbox One
Publisher:
Electronic Arts
ESRB
Rating: Teen
Release
Date: March 15
$59.99
Step
back into the Octagon with EA Sports UFC
2, a virtual version of Ultimate Fighting Championship, the popular and violent
mixed martial arts competition. From the comfort of your couch, you can punch,
kick, jab, elbow and otherwise pummel your pal or the computer-controlled
player into submission.
The
game has a variety of upgrades over EA Sports UFC 2
, including more realistic graphics, a Knockout Mode (with
onscreen hints, quick pacing and an adjustable health meter for each fighter) and
a revamped Career Mode, which adds playable females, including fan favorite Ronda
Rousey, who’s pictured on the cover with Conor McGregor.
, including more realistic graphics, a Knockout Mode (with
onscreen hints, quick pacing and an adjustable health meter for each fighter) and
a revamped Career Mode, which adds playable females, including fan favorite Ronda
Rousey, who’s pictured on the cover with Conor McGregor.
Quantum Break
Xbox
One
Publisher:
Microsoft
ESRB
Rating: Mature 17+
Release
Date: April 5
$59.99
Promising
a “holistic entertainment experience” that “blurs the lines between television
and gaming,” Quantum Break
casts players
as Jack Joyce, who, thanks to a faulty time travel experiment, has gained time
manipulation powers enabling him to stop time, speed up time, unleash time
blast projectiles and use a time shield to deflect bullets. More traditionally,
Jack can solve environmental puzzles and do some 3D platforming, the latter
complicated by objects that get caught in a time loop and become hazards. The
objective is to stop an evil corporation from destroying time itself.
casts players
as Jack Joyce, who, thanks to a faulty time travel experiment, has gained time
manipulation powers enabling him to stop time, speed up time, unleash time
blast projectiles and use a time shield to deflect bullets. More traditionally,
Jack can solve environmental puzzles and do some 3D platforming, the latter
complicated by objects that get caught in a time loop and become hazards. The
objective is to stop an evil corporation from destroying time itself.
After
you work your way through each level, an episode of a live action-style TV show
will play (featuring Shawn Ashmore, Aidan Gillen and Courtney Hope), augmenting
the game’s storyline.
Dark Souls III
PlayStation
4, Xbox One
Publisher:
Bandai Namco Entertainment
ESRB
Rating: Mature 17+
Release
Date: April 12
$59.99
Winner
of “Best Role Playing Game” at the massive Gamescom 2015 video game convention
in Germany, Dark Souls III
is similar
to its progenitors, offering ample action to go with the RPG goodness. Equipped
with armor, shields, bows, arrows, firebombs, swords, magic and other weaponry,
you’ll battle an assortment of enemies, including monsters, undead soldiers and
tricky bosses that change tactics mid-fight.
is similar
to its progenitors, offering ample action to go with the RPG goodness. Equipped
with armor, shields, bows, arrows, firebombs, swords, magic and other weaponry,
you’ll battle an assortment of enemies, including monsters, undead soldiers and
tricky bosses that change tactics mid-fight.
Bonfires
return as checkpoints, but now there are also small gravestones that light up,
acting as torches and supplementing the storyline. Player movement is quicker
and attacks are stronger than in previous games in the series, and the levels
are larger and more interconnected, encouraging gamers to explore the darkly
beautiful environments.
Ratchet & Clank
PlayStation
4
Publisher:
Sony
ESRB
Rating: Everyone 10+
Release
Date: April 12
$39.99
Released
for the PlayStation 2 in 2002, the original 
kicked off a popular series that includes such titles as Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of
Destruction (2007) and Ratchet &
Clank: All 4 One (2011) for the PlayStation 3. The PS4 Ratchet & Clank, which has a movie tie-in releasing April 29, is
a reimagining of that debut game, enhanced with a fresh control system, better
graphics and sounds, new boss battles, new flight sequences, new planets to
explore and several new weapons, including the Pixelizer, which turns enemies
into 8-bit pixels.
To
save Solana Galaxy from the evil Chairman Drek, Ratchet the robot, aided by
Clank, must navigate sci-fi worlds, collect bolts, and fire bullets, grenades,
flames and other weapons at an assortment of enemies.
Star Fox Zero
Wii
U
Publisher:
Nintendo
ESRB
Rating: Everyone 10+
Release
Date: April 22
$59.99
The
popular “Star Fox” space shooter series, which began on the Super Nintendo in
1993, gets a new adventure with StarFox Zero
. The highly anticipated game, which was supposed to release last year,
features the return of Fox, Falco, Peppy and Slippy, who are anthropomorphic
animal pilots of an assortment of airborne and ground-based vehicles, including
the Arwing (which features a new Walker transformation), the Landmaster Tank and
a new Gyrowing plane.
. The highly anticipated game, which was supposed to release last year,
features the return of Fox, Falco, Peppy and Slippy, who are anthropomorphic
animal pilots of an assortment of airborne and ground-based vehicles, including
the Arwing (which features a new Walker transformation), the Landmaster Tank and
a new Gyrowing plane.
As
legendary star pilot Fox McCloud, you’ll fly through the air, lock onto enemies
and blast them out of the sky (with the help of Team Star Fox, who you should
protect), using both the GamePad (cockpit view) and the TV screen (cinematic
view of the full battlefield) to monitor the action.
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End
PlayStation
4
Publisher:
Sony
ESRB
Rating: Teen
Release
Date: May 10
$59.99
Taking
place several years after Uncharted 3:
Drake's Deception, Uncharted 4
brings fortune hunter Nathan “Nate” Drake out of retirement for one final
adventure. Nate’s older brother Sam, who was thought to be dead, comes asking
for help, and the two embark on a global quest in search of conspiracies
surrounding a lost pirate colony and treasure.
According
to 
, demos of Uncharted 4 offer much promise,
including “stellar visuals, harrowing traversal and shooting gameplay, pithy
dialogue and a robust new multiplayer mode.”
Doom
PlayStation
4, Xbox One
Publisher:
Bethesda Software
ESRB
Rating: Mature 17+
Release
Date: May 13
$59.99
The
series that popularized the first-person shooter genre returns with Doom
, which was originally going to be
titled “Doom 4.” The game employs a new “push forward” combat system that
emphasizes players completing the fiendishly devised levels quickly, dishing
out tons of mayhem along the way. Instead of automatic health regeneration, you
must kill enemies in order to heal, meaning you’ll want to confront big bad
monsters even when you’re heavily damaged. The ability for players to sprint
and double-jump makes the game speedy as well.
, which was originally going to be
titled “Doom 4.” The game employs a new “push forward” combat system that
emphasizes players completing the fiendishly devised levels quickly, dishing
out tons of mayhem along the way. Instead of automatic health regeneration, you
must kill enemies in order to heal, meaning you’ll want to confront big bad
monsters even when you’re heavily damaged. The ability for players to sprint
and double-jump makes the game speedy as well.
Richardson-based
developer iD Software promises new enemies and a variety of new weapons in the
game, in addition to such fan-favorites as the chainsaw, super-shotgun and plasma
rifle. Multi-player action will be represented by such modes as clan arena,
freeze tag and classic four-player death-match.
Mirror’s Edge Catalyst
PlayStation
4, Xbox One
Publisher:
Electronic Arts
ESRB
Rating: Teen
Release
Date: May 24
$59.99
The
prequel to 2008’s Mirror’s Edge, Mirror's Edge Catalyst
focuses on the
origin of Faith Connors, who runs, jumps, climbs, zip-lines and uses urban
exploration and parkour movements to traverse the beautiful, but oppressive
city of Glass, which is lorded over by totalitarian corporations. The game
dispenses with the levels and linear action of the original in favor of an open-world,
free-roaming environment, which gives players more freedom of movement and multiple
paths to complete objectives.
An
agile, spritely protagonist, Faith engages in melee-style battles to evade or
defeat enemies. The action is viewed from a first-person perspective, but
switches to third-person during finishing moves. Faith must also complete time
trials, run races and solve environmental puzzles.
All-Con
The
Westin Dallas Park Central
12720
Merit Dr.
Dallas,
75251
March
17-20
Free
on Thursday (registration required); $55 weekend pass; $35 Friday ($20 children
ages 5-12); $35 Saturday ($20 child); $20 Sunday ($10 child)
(817)
819-1353
Texas
Pinball Festival
Embassy
Suites
7600
John Q Hammons Dr.
Frisco,
75034
March
18-20
$60
weekend pass ($35 children ages 5-12); $25 Friday ($15 child); $35 Saturday
($25 child); $20 Sunday ($10 child)
214-471-5777
texaspinball.com
National Videogame Museum
Frisco
Discovery Center
8004
N. Dallas Pkwy.
Frisco,
75034.
Grand
Opening: April 2
$12;
arcade games cost 25 cents per play.
(972)
668-8400
www.nvmusa.org
Wednesday, March 9, 2016
Mario Puzo -- The Godfather Auction brings in $625,000
BOSTON,
MA—At the 
and Literary Rarities sale held Feb. 18 at RR Auction, an
anonymous bidder from the U.S. made the auction house an offer it couldn’t
refuse. He or she bid $625,000 on a treasure trove of items from the estate of the
Italian American man who wrote The
Godfather and co-wrote (with director Francis Ford Coppola) the movie
trilogy that the novel inspired.
Born
Oct. 15, 1920, Puzo passed away July 2, 1999, leaving behind a body of work
that included 
(1955),
his first novel, The Fortunate Pilgrim
(1965), which he called his “best and most literary book,” 
(1969), the Mafia novel that made him famous, and 
(1996), which was adapted
for a 1997 TV miniseries.
Puzo,
who served in the military during 
before attending the New School
for Social Research and Columbia University, also co-wrote screenplays for such
films as Earthquake (1974), 
(1978), Superman II (1980), and 
(1992).
In
addition to a prolific writing career, Puzo was also something of a packrat,
which, as collectors and antique aficionados know, is not necessarily a bad
thing. He left behind 45 banker’s boxes of archival materials spanning a half
century of his work, including thousands of pages, drafts, storyboards, notes,
and varying versions of both novel manuscript and movie screenplay, along with the 1965 
he probably used to write the book.
With
such a wealth of material from such an iconic author, the winning bid of $625,000
seems like something of a bargain. However, the auction house, which was hoping
for at least $400,000, was definitely pleased.
“It
is a rare glimpse into the mind of the author of two of the most iconic films
of the 20th century,” said Executive VP at RR Auction Robert Livingston, referring
to The Godfather and The Godfather Part II. “The archive
covers his entire literary career and provides extraordinary insight into his
artistry. We are honored to have been selected by Puzo’s estate and couldn’t be
more thrilled with the results of the sale.”
The and Literary Rarities auction had a number of other noteworthy sales
as well, including: a signed 4 x 6 photo of Ernest Hemingway posing next to a
huge marlin (circa 1950s), $10,803.28; a letter from Hemingway to New York Times literary critic Charles
Poore (1953), $9,551.33; a signed copy (later printing) of Antoine de
Saint-Exupery’s Wind, Sand and Stars (1939),
$8,997.63; a signed first edition of Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s Ballads and Sonnets (1881), $8,179.33; a
letter from Marcel Proust to his lover, composer Reynaldo Hahn (1907), $6,144.60;
a signed 5 x 7 photo of Leo Tolstoy (1909), $5,519.85; a signed copy (later
printing) of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s This
Side of Paradise (1920), $5,519.85; a signed 10.75 x 13.75 portrait of Ayn
Rand (1948), $4,788.53; a letter from T. E. Lawrence to J. B. Acres (1926), $4,446.75;
and a signed first edition, first printing of Margaret Mitchell’s 
(1936), $4,145.40.