Tuesday, April 24, 2018

FIRST LOOK at The SNES Omnibus: The Super Nintendo and Its Games, Vol. 1 (A-M)

I finally received the go-ahead from my publisher to show some sample pages from my forthcoming book, The SNES Omnibus: The Super Nintendo and Its Games, Vol. 1 (A-M). The pages will be bigger and clearer in the actual printed pages of the book (you can save the pages to your desktop for an even closer look than clicking on the images), but you can click on each image below to get a good idea of what the book is all about. For more info on The SNES Omnibus, click HERE.

Thanks for reading and enjoy!










Sunday, April 22, 2018

SNES Omnibus Contributor Spotlight #22 - Alex Thompson



Alex Thompson is one of the key people behind PopNerdTV, a website and YouTube channel that everyone who enjoys movies, comic books, video games and the like should check out. Alex has been an enthusiastic supporter of the SNES Omnibus from the beginning and has turned in some terrific stories for publication in both volumes. I met Alex at Retropalooza in 2016 when I was interviewed by PopNerd's Cierra Caballero for a special episode of the channel’s Nerd Portal. Alex seems to always have a smile on his face, and he delivers nerdy news with the best of them. He’s also a very good writer and an all-around cool cat.

Here’s Alex’s bio as it will appear in TheSNES Omnibus: The Super Nintendo and Its Games, Vol. 1 (A-M):

Alex Thompson is a self-proclaimed “nerd of all trades.” He loves comic books and has a passion for video games that goes back to when he played the NES at his aunt’s house when he was only three years old. While most 20-somethings have a passion for the newer disc-based games and modern downloads, Alex still loves the feeling of popping a cartridge into his Nintendo 64 for some retro greatness. He currently works for PopNerdTV.com as the Chief Content Officer, and you can hear him talk about new video game releases on his YouTube show, Now Loading.

Friday, April 20, 2018

SNES Omnibus Contributor Spotlight #21 - Eric "8-Bit Eric" Perez


Eric Perez, better known as YouTuber “8-Bit Eric,” is a likable video game personality with a fun channel. A retro gamer at heart, Eric also reviews games for the Nintendo Switch, and his channel recently surpassed the 50,000 subscriber mark, a noteworthy feat to be sure. I met Eric years ago at Retropalooza, and we’ve since become good friends.

 
While hanging out with him last year at a convention (the late, lamented Super! Bitcon), Eric said that getting published in a book that will be for sale at bookstores around the country is a dream come true. Before I asked Eric to take part in the SNES Omnibus project, I had no idea he had journalistic aspirations, and that he had studied journalism in college, but I did know that he would have some good stories to contribute. He’s also a professional wrestler, which I didn’t know. Eric is a great guy and a lot of fun to be around, but you will catch him "slippin'" from time to time.

Featuring nostalgic stories by “8-Bit Eric” and various other industry insiders, The SNES Omnibus: The Super Nintendo and Its Games, Vol. 1(A-M) is a full-color hardcover book with more than 2,000 photos and write-ups for more than 350 games. Click HERE to get your pre-order in with early bird bonuses.

Tuesday, April 17, 2018

Official Billy Mitchell Statement from Old School Gamer Magazine


Old School Gamer publisher Ryan Burger with Billy Mitchell

The Billy Mitchell cheating allegations scandal has reached critical mass. Over the weekend, Mitchell appeared with Old School Gamer Magazine at the Midwest Gaming Classic. To clear up Mitchell's association with the magazine, Old School Gamer offered this official release:

Thank you again for being a digital subscriber to Old School Gamer. We hope that you enjoy the news, reviews, history and more that we provide in our young magazine. Issue #4 is about to go to press and you will be getting the digital link soon; the magazine will ship a week or two after that.

This past weekend, you may have seen Billy Mitchell in the national news, as well as his official response concerning the controversy over his high scores over the last 30 years and the action of Twin Galaxies. We want to make it clear that while Billy is a member of our advisory board, he is not an employee or owner of OSG. Old School Gamer is owned by BC Productions, Inc, a corporation owned and managed by myself and my family.


We are covering the Mitchell story simply as news; it is certainly the biggest news item for the retro gaming arena in many years. While we count Billy as a friend (along with many others in the industry), we want to reassure our readers that we will maintain objective coverage, including all the facts as they are revealed, without opinions or editorializing.

Thank you for your support,
Ryan Burger
Publisher/Owner - Old School Gamer

Monday, April 16, 2018

SNES Omnibus Contributor Spotlight #20: Tyler Esposito



Tyler Esposito is one of the nicest guys in the business. He's friendly and down to earth and is very good with fans, friends and fellow content creators. Shortly after I joined Twitter in 2015, he reached out to me, wanting to collaborate on a video. He came over to my house and filmed my Room of Doom, which you can watch HERE. In the time since, I've seen Tyler at Retropalooza a few times, and we've become friends. As someone with a rich family history in gaming, Tyler was a no-brainer for writing stories for my SNES Omnibus project. 

The SNES Omnibus: TheSuper Nintendo and Its Games, Vol. 1(A-M), a full-color hardcover book with more than 2,000 photos and tons of in-depth info, is heading to the printer soon. Click HERE to get your pre-order in with early bird bonuses while you can.

Here's Tyler's bio as it will appear in The SNES Omnibus:  

Tyler Esposito is the grandson of Silver Age comic book artist Mike Esposito. He grew up in a family that loved the arts. His YouTube channel, iretrogamer, is largely a tribute to the life of his late father, Mark Esposito. Their relationship is the focus of My Retro Life, a series that compiles old home movie footage from Tyler and his dad’s video game collecting days of the ’90s. Tyler’s content has been featured in major gaming publications such as Kotaku, Destructoid and Edge Magazine. He has been a contributor at Nintendo Life and was the Editor of SegaMasterSystem.com from 2001-2005. Check out his YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/segamarkiii.

Wednesday, April 11, 2018

SNES Omnibus Contributor Spotlight #19 - Blue Sky Ranger David Warhol!


As an old-school gamer who has been playing the Intellivision since 1980, when some of my friends got the system, I find it incredibly cool that David Warhol, one of the console's original programmers, agreed to write stories for the SNES Omnibus project. My 13-year-old self is high-fiving me right now. David, a great guy who I've met at various Classic Gaming Expos, wrote about some of the Super Nintendo games he worked on, including Beavis and Butt-Head. Great insider info!

The SNES Omnibus: The Super Nintendo and Its Games, Vol. 1(A-M), a full-color hardcover book with more than 2,000 photos and tons of in-depth info, is heading to the printer soon. Click HERE to get your pre-order in with early bird bonuses while you can.

Here's David's bio as it will appear in the book:


David Warhol is a 35-year veteran game designer/programmer/producer. One of the original Mattel Intellivision “Blue Sky Rangers,” David is also recognized for creating the soundtracks for dozens of video and computer games in the ’80s before founding Realtime Associates, Inc., developer of over 100 games to date. David remains active in game development and is currently using his early industry experience to pioneer new technical entertainment markets.

Thursday, April 5, 2018

SNES Omnibus Contributor Spotlight #18 - Ken Horowitz



I’ve never met fellow author Ken Horowitz in person, but he’s been very cool and very friendly to deal with online—I hope to see him at a gaming convention at some point in the near future. Ken, whose writing has polish and a good sense of history, wrote several interesting stories for both volumes of the SNES Omnibus. For the second book (N-Z), which will be out next year, he wrote a compelling essay on one of the best games for the console, Super Metroid.  

Here’s Ken’s bio as it will appear in The SNES Omnibus: The SuperNintendo and Its Games, Vol. 1 (A-M), which will be out within the next couple of months or so (hopefully sooner):

Ken Horowitz is an English professor who has been writing about Sega and video games for more than a decade. Along with articles and reviews for his website, Sega-16 (www.sega-16.com), his work has been published in such magazines as Hardcore Gamer and GamesTM, as well as several different online sites. Ken is the author of Playing at the Next Level: A History of AmericanSega Games. His next book, From Altered Beast to Zaxxon: A Celebration of Sega’s Arcade Legacy, chronicles the history of more than 60 Sega arcade games.

Monday, April 2, 2018

SNES Contributor Spotlight #17 - Brittney Brombacher


When I met popular YouTuber and comedienne Brittney Brombacher at Retropalooza a couple of years ago, she was approachable and very friendly. An adoring fan was following her around, and she was patient with and nice to him, even though he was probably being a little annoying (no, it wasn’t me, LOL). When I reached out to her to contribute stories to Vol. 1of the SNES Omnibus, she remembered meeting me and was happy to lend her talents to the project. Several of her stories revolve around bonding over video games with her dad, which is great. Thanks, Brittney, hope to see you at another show!

Here’s Brittney’s bio as it will appear in The SNES Omnibus: The Super Nintendo and Its Games, Vol. 1 (A-M), which will be out this spring or summer.

Brittney Brombacher is a self-proclaimed “nerd-entrepreneur” hailing from Seattle, Washington. She currently runs the video game website BlondeNerd.com. Built in 2011, BlondeNerd.com kept Brittney sane while she was working at a dead-end, 8 to 5, 40 hours per week job, and helped her realize that she belonged in the video game industry. Brittney ultimately quit her job, started a side-gig to pay the bills, and now spends the majority of her day producing content for her website, podcasting, creating YouTube videos, and covering video game events/conventions worldwide.