LPGE returns to the Plano CentreTHIS WEEKEND, June 18–19, as the largest interactive gaming event happening this summer in North Texas!
Get ready to enjoy 90+ classic arcades, retro and modern gaming, a regional Tetris tournament, 8-player Mario Kart, a Minecraft competition, a Halo 5 tournament, Street Fighter V and Mortal Kombat X tournaments, a Guitar Hero competition, tabletop gaming, vendors, artists, developers, panel discussions, cosplay, and Low Tier City 4, one of the largest Smash Bros. tournaments in the United States.
CLICK HERE! to learn more about the Let's Play Gaming Expo.
Register online to save $5 on admission Weekend passes are only $25 ($30 at the door) and day passes are only $15 ($20 at the door) and as always, children 12 and under get in FREE with a paid adult.
Join outlawcurtis and myself for the latest HoldSquare Videogame Podcast as we discuss Superman vs. Muhammad Ali, E3, the Powers TV show, Dallas Fan Expo, meeting celebrities and more.
Click HERE to watch our videos in full screen. Thanks for watching, subscribing and liking our videos!
My kids and I had a blast at Dallas Fan Expo over the weekend. We enjoyed the cosplay, met some celebs, found some bargains, hung out with friends and in general geeked out.
Brent Black, a.k.a. Brentalfloss, is essentially the "Weird Al Yankovic" of video games. Very talented and clever. He's also super nice and great to talk to. We are both contributing writers to Pat Contri's NES book. If you've never seen Brent's videos, check out The Bioshock Song--it's my favorite:
If you've watched my podcast, you know I have some hot sports opinions on The Chewbacca Mom. My kids were excited to meet her at Fan Expo. She seems like a really nice, really down-to-earth lady, despite her new-found fame.
My kids had their 15 seconds of fame on the 10:00 news.
On Saturday, Ryan and I went to Candice Patton's panel. She plays Iris West in The Flash. She was a terrific panelist and very friendly. Check out the panel HERE.
Last night I couldn't sleep, so I flipped on the TV and was saddened to discover of the passing of the greatest boxer of all time (he would have told you as much in his inimitable fashion), . As a kid, I didn't like Ali quite as much as KISS or Julius "Dr. J" Erving, but he was right up there with Evel Knievel in the awe and coolness factor, at least in my book. Speaking of books, one of my favorite comic books of all time is the treasury sized edition my cousin gave me when I was an impressionable young lad. You can read my 4,000-word article about this issue in my book, Retro Pop Culture A to Z.
During
the decade-long lifespan of the , which in the U.S. was from 1985
when the console was test-marketed, to 1995, when it was officially declared
dead by Nintendo, there were various books published about cartridges for the
system. These included such trade paperbacks as by Steven Schwartz, Ultimate Unauthorized Nintendo Classic Game
Strategies by Corey Sandler and Tom Badgett, and by the staff of VideoGames & Computer Entertainment
Magazine.
And,
of course, there was Jeff Rovin’s ubiquitous mass market paperback series, “,” which ran for four volumes, plus a “Best of”
edition.
Each
of these books was fun to flip through, and in some ways crucial for those
wanting to more thoroughly experience certain games, offering such tidbits as
data, tips, tricks, strategies, reviews, and/or game storylines.
Nowadays,
with the prevalence of the Internet, these types of books, while fun to
collect, are less important to own for NES fans as you can find similar
information online. As such, anyone wanting to write a book about the NES would
do wise to produce a tome that provides a different experience than what you
can find on your computer.
With
The Complete NES: Officially Licensed USReleases, Jeffrey Wittenhagen has done just that. He’s published a large, durable,
hardcover, coffee-table style book that is essentially a fancy checklist for
collecting NES carts, boxes, and manuals.
Now,
“fancy checklist” may sound like a pejorative, but it’s not. Sure, you can keep
track of your collection on your phone, but it’s much more fun with this book,
which admittedly is not essential (some collectors still use the old Digital Press softcovers to track their
collections), but is nevertheless a nice luxury item to own. (Wittenhagen
offers a smaller, cheaper, black-and-white softcover version, but this review
is based on the deluxe edition.)
After
a one-page introduction and a four-page history of the , the book
begins with the “number title” games (10-Yard
Fight, 8 eyes, etc.) and
continues alphabetically, listing 677 games in order. Each page features three
games, and each game title is accompanied by release year, developer, and
publisher, plus a full-color screenshot and box scan. The scans can appear slightly
fuzzy, betraying the self-published nature of the project, but it’s a nice
looking book overall.
Each
game listing also has a convenient trio of squares for checking off the cart,
box, and manual that you own.There are no cartridge or manual scans, and no genre
or programmer info, but these are not deal-breaking omissions.
What
may be a deal-breaker for some is the text, which weighs in at around three to
four sentences per game. While a single paragraph isn’t enough to describe and
review a game thoroughly, it should be enough to give you a general idea of
what the game is about. In too many instances, this is not the case with this
book.
For
example, , one of the most beloved,
most hardcore NES cartridges of all time, is described as follows:
Aliens have arrived on Earth and they
definitely don’t come in peace. It’s your job, as Bill or Lance, to have them
leaving in pieces. Through thick humid jungles, frigid mountainsides and slimy
caves, the alien horde will confront you every step of the way. The fate of the
entire human race is in your hands!
From
this paltry, generic-sounding description, you can’t even tell that is a side-scrolling platform
shooter, much less understand its place in history.
Overall,
The Complete NES: Officially Licensed US
Releases is a nifty addition to anyone’s game room library, and it makes
for one hell of a checklist, but don’t expect much in-depth or insightful text.
Encyclopedia of KISS is a comprehensive
reference guide to virtually everything in the KISS universe, featuring
detailed information on the band’s songs, albums, games, toys, tours,
television and movie appearances, family members, girlfriends, collectibles,
comic books, solo work and much more, including replacement members Eric Carr,
Vinnie Vincent, Bruce Kulick, Mark St. John, Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer.
KISS is one of the most popular groups
in the history of rock, having sold more than 100 million albums during their
more than 40-year reign. With more gold albums than any other American band, they
were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014. KISS influenced a
generation of musicians, from Garth Brooks and Motley Crue to Nirvana and the
Red Hot Chili Peppers.
The original leather-clad,
makeup-wearing line-up--Ace "Spaceman" Frehley, Gene
"Demon" Simmons, Paul "Starchild" Stanley and Peter
"Catman" Criss--and their classic hits "Beth" and
"Rock and Roll All Nite" are forever etched in pop culture
consciousness.
You can read the first few pages of
Encyclopedia of KISS: Music, Personnel, Events and Related Subjects on Amazon
for free HERE by clicking on the cover of the book.
Classic Game Fest returns this summer for their biggest event yet at
the Palmer Event Center in Austin, Texas on July 30-31, 2016. CGF will feature more
than 45,000 square feet of vendors, special guests, free play arcade/console
games, musical acts, tournaments, and so much more. This family-friendly event
is open to all ages, and kids under 12 are free.
I’m flattered to be depicted on the advertising poster with the other
guests, such as best-selling author Ernie Cline and Intellivision king Keith Robinson, and I totally dig being
depicted as a 16-bit video game character!
