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Retro games are a hot commodity. With the Xbox Live Arcade and Wii's Virtual Console, it's quickly becoming a prolific segment of the industry. Blogcritics is going to start looking at gaming's generally under-appreciated past in a different way.
Teaming up with classic gaming database
Digital Press, Blogcritics will be presenting some lost or under-appreciated classics in short reviews. Extras may include odd facts, the title's impact on the industry, some personal retrospective, different ports the game may have received, and how well they hold up on today's market. Our hope would be to introduce a new generation of gamers, or even those who recently purchased a game console for the first time to those games they missed and the legacy they left behind.
Some of the games will likely be familiar to a die-hard gamer. In this case, Blogcritics should be able to bring back some memories and help you track down those lost or ignored classics to play them again. Given how many games are released, it's only natural for some to end up on the back burner, and these are the games that deserve a second chance.
What does Digital Press have to do with this? Many of the games we'll feature have been reviewed on their site, and some of the data, particularly their accurate release dates, rarity on the current market, and developer information, will be culled from their extensive database. The "Digital Press Stamp of Approval," if you will, ensures what you're reading it accurate.
So, if there are any games you'd like to see featured in our new feature, let us know and we'll take it into consideration. You may even mention a game we've long since forgotten!
It is an idea I have been bouncing around for a while now --
almost a year ago, actually -- with the help of Matt Paprocki, of course.
This will be a monthly feature which will allow us ample time to write an in-depth look at some of the older titles that are, for one reason or another, all the rage right now. The PS3, Wii, and 360 all have retro downloads, and so this feature really makes sense now.
We will pick a game, say Virtua Fighter, or Mortal Kombat, or Sonic, or even more obscure titles, and run a review of the game, most likely already done on DP, and add a retrospective on the series. Who knows, me might even find an interview along the way.
This is a series that will mainly be written by Matt Paprocki, though I will be contributing, as will others. One part of the feature will include personal op-ed, and thus is a great way to get some feedback from our BC writers.
But the first question is, what should the first feature be on? Matt and I were thinking Virtua Fighter. VF has quite a bit of relevance right now because VF5 just shipped for the PS3, and is shipping later this year for the 360.
VF was released in the arcades in 1993 and was ported to the Saturn, 32X and PC. Why is it important? Every 3-D fighting game today has the original VF to thank.
We also want to do a feature on Mortal Kombat, but don't want to do two fighting games in a row.
Any input on other retro games you would like to see covered in our Retro Corner feature?
Please post your thoughts.
