The Game Chasers - The Movie

Think you know The Game Chasers? Think again! In my new article for CultureMap Fort Worth, Billy discusses their forthcoming film, how he met Jay, the birth of their YouTube channel, and more. Turns out Billy isn't really a "chode". :) Click HERE for a quick read. Enjoy!

SNES Omnibus Writer Spotlight #47 - Blair Farrell

Few people have been as enthusiastic about The SNES Omnibus project as Blair Farrell, whose specialty is superhero video games. Not only has Blair enthusiastically contributed stories to The SNES Omnibus: The Super Nintendo and ItsGames, Vol. 1 (A–M) and The SNES Omnibus: The Super Nintendo and Its Games,Vol. 2 (N–Z), he’s shared posts, written a review, and in general been very supportive. Blair knows his stuff, and you can check out his work on ComicGamers Assemble. Plus, he’s a super nice guy and a geek in the best sense of the word. Thanks, Blair, for going above and beyond!

Here’s Blair’s bio from The SNES Omnibus Vol. 1:

Blair Farrell has been playing video games obsessively in some capacity since he was five years old, beginning with the NES and up to the PlayStation 4. Another of Blair’s hobbies is reading comics, and in 2012 he combined his two loves and created Comic Gamers Assemble, a website dedicated to comic book-themed video games. Since that time, he’s published more than 1,000 articles—everything from editorials to features to reviews of comic book-flavored video games, both past and present.

NOW AVAILABLE! -- The SNES Omnibus: The Super Nintendo and Its Games, Vol. 2 (N–Z)

My new book, The SNES Omnibus: The Super Nintendo and Its Games, Vol. 2 (N–Z), is now available! You can order copies direct from me by clicking on the Buy it Now button below. (U.S. only, includes shipping):

Autograph Options

Signed by Author $49.99 USD Unsigned $49.99 USD

Or, you can Venmo $59.98 to @BrettWeiss-18. (U.S. shipping only.) Just let me know if you want me to personalize the autograph and what you want me to say. 

Check out the pages below or this YouTube review of the book. For a full-screen look at the review, click HERE.

Volume 2 of SNES Omnibus is a fun and informative look at ALL the original Super Nintendo games released in the US starting with the letters N-Z. More than 375 games are featured, including such iconic titles as Star Fox, Super Mario Kart, Super Mario World, Super Metroid, Tetris Attack, and Zombies Ate My Neighbors. Each game, whether obscure or mainstream, is covered in exhaustive detail. In addition to thorough gameplay descriptions, the book includes reviews, fun facts, historical data, quotes from vintage magazines, and, best of all, nostalgic stories about many of the games from programmers, authors, convention exhibitors, video game store owners, YouTube celebs, and other industry insiders. The book also features more than 2,000 full-color images, including box art, cartridges, screenshots, and vintage ads. Plus, there’s a gorgeous centerfold starring your favorite SNES characters.

The SNES Omnibus: The Super Nintendo and Its Games, Vol. 2 (A-M) is available as well. Click HERE to check it out. 

SNES Omnibus Writer Spotlight #46 - Barry Shank

Barry Shank runs the Facebook group Gamers Helping Gamers, a community of people who are passionate about video games. What sets the group apart from the pack is its mission to help members find games for one another for a “bro price,” typically 30 percent or so below market value. The only rule is that you can’t “flip” or resell the games you get at a discount—it’s about the love of the hobby.

Barry, by all accounts a devoted family man and solid citizen, also contributed some nostalgic stories my SNES Omnibus project, a two-volume set featuring every U.S. release for the beloved Super Nintendo console. Barry is all about supporting the community and having a good time. He even asked me my favorite question (I’m paraphrasing): “When buying the books, would it help you more to buy them direct from you?” Yes, it does. Thanks, Barry!

Here’s Barry’s bio from the SNES Omnibus books:

Barry Shank, who began gaming on the Atari 2600, is the founder of GHG (Gamers Helping Gamers) on Facebook. He started buying games for the Atari from the flea market in the ’80s with his dad, who refused to spend more than $3 per game. From there, he moved on to the Genesis and now has a game room that contains every console since. His current passion is working with his group to help people find the games they want at reasonable prices.

Old School Gamer Magazine #9 Now Available -- READ FOR FREE!

Old School Gamer Magazine #9 is now available! You can read the digital version for FREE by clicking HERE.

If you'd like to subscribe to the print version of Old School Gamer, click HERE.

The colorful, info-packed, labor-of-love publication features articles by yours truly, Q*bert creator Warren Davis, historians Leonard Herman and Michael Thomasson, The Minds Behind the Games author Patrick Hickey, and others, including an interview with legendary Atari 2600 programmer Dan Kitchen.

SNES Omnibus Writer Spotlight #45 - Blake J. Harris

Blake J. Harris is one of the few retro gaming authors who has hit the big time and broken into the mainstream. His book, Console Wars: Sega, Nintendo, and the Battlethat Defined a Generation, is a best-seller that has been reviewed almost 500 times on Amazon. It is currently being adapted into a feature film by Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, and Scott Rudin. I’ve spoken to many people who enjoyed the unusual (for non-fiction) narrative structure of Console Wars, and you can still find it on the shelves of many bookstores.

I don’t really know Blake outside of a few brief exchanges online, but I’m proud to say he has a story in The Super Nintendo and Its Games,Vol. 1 (A–M). He wrote a cool nostalgia piece about a key title, Ken Griffey Jr. Presents Major League Baseball. Thanks, Blake!

Click HERE to watch The Gaming Historian's review of Console Wars in full screen.

My AntiqueWeek Articles - Now Online

I've been writing for AntiqueWeek on a regular basis for almost a decade, and people often ask where they can find the articles online. Here are two you can read by clicking on the links:

Read my 8-track tapes article by clicking HERE.

Read my modern ways to play classic games article HERE.

Thanks for reading!

KISS End of the Road - World Tour

My AntiqueWeek article about the KISS End of the Road Tour is now online. It features quotes and KISS nostalgia from Three Sides of the Coin podcast co-host Mark Cicchini. You can read it HERE.

You can read more about KISS in my book, Encyclopedia of KISS: Music, Personnel, Events and Related Subjects. It is the world's first and only encyclopedia of the band. I also interviewed Lydia Criss, which you can check out HERE. Thanks for reading!

SNES Omnibus Writer Spotlight #45 - Greg Sewart

One of the biggest “gets” for The SNES Omnibus book project was Greg Sewart, a fine writer with tons of experience. Not only is he a game developer, YouTuber, and podcaster, he was a central figure at Electronic Gaming Monthly, a major magazine during the life of the Super Nintendo. Greg has several nostalgic stories in the books, and his expertise really shines through. From what I can tell through our correspondence, and through his posts on social media, he’s also a nice guy and a devoted family man. Thanks, Greg!

Here’s Greg’s bio as it appears in The SNES Omnibus: The Super Nintendo and Its Games, Vol. 1 (A–M):

Greg Sewart is the former Previews and Reviews Editor of Electronic Gaming Monthly, as well as a contributor to outlets such as G4TV, Official US PlayStation Magazine, Games Radar and more. He later moved into development, working on titles like Robotech: Invasion, the “Madden NFL” series, and Elite: Dangerous. He is currently the head of game development at The REDspace. In his free time, Greg co-founded the Player One Podcast with fellow EGM alumnus, Chris Johnston, and has co-hosted the show for more than 10 years and 500 episodes. His love of retro games also lead to the creation of the YouTube series Generation 16, which examines the games and history surrounding Sega’s Mega Drive/Genesis console. He’s also amassed a collection of around 3,000 games. Check out his work at www.playeronepodcast.com and www.generation-16.com.

SNES Omnibus Writer Spotlight #44 - Chris Cavanaugh

Chris Cavanaugh is an important figure in the retrogaming community, publishing Classic Gamer Magazine (nine issues between 1999 and 2010), the first magazine to focus exclusively on vintage video games. There were retro gaming fanzines before Classic Gamer Magazine, but not thick, full-blown professional looking magazines like CGM. In Old School Gamer Magazine #7, historian Leonard Herman wrote, “The magazine’s articles were interesting and well-written, and its format was similar to the beloved Electronic Games…despite its self-published status, the magazine could be found for sale in Tower Records stores…those of us who still view Classic Gamer Magazine as one of the best independent magazines ever available on the subject, are still hopeful that a new one will again suddenly appear.”

Chris was also an editor for the late, lamented All Game Guide, an ambitious website whose goal was nothing less than to describe and review every video game and computer game ever published. I wrote a few articles for Classic Gamer Magazine, and the All Game Guide is where I got my start in 1997 writing professionally aboutvideo games. In fact, I wrote and edited so much content for the All Game Guide that I was able to quit my day job at Waldenbooks and focus exclusively on the All Game Guide (and other freelance writing gigs) for several years. This was a perfect fit for me because the flexible hours let me stay home with my two young kids.

Currently, Chris Cavanaugh is the Senior Editor with TiVo Games. I’ve corresponded with Chris many times online, and we hung at the 2007 and 2010 Classic Gaming Expos in Las Vegas. I hope to see Chris at a gaming convention again one of these days and catch up with him and his family. I’m proud of the writing I did for Chris, and I’m happy to say that he’s a been a supporter of The SNES Omnibus project. He even contributed a story or two.  Thanks, Chris!