From Old School Gamer Magazine – November 2018 Ever since the world’s first two videogame magazines, Great Britain’s Computer and Video Games and the United States’ Electronic Games, debuted two weeks apart in November 1981, printed videogame magazines have basically come in four flavors: General: The majority of gaming magazines fell under this category and…… Continue reading READING THE CLASSICS
Author: rolenta
THE SPORTING LIFE
From Old School Gamer Magazine – July 2018 Since the beginning of videogame history, sports have always played a major role. Higinbotham’s Tennis For Two, Baer’s video table tennis, and Bushnell & Dabney’s Pong are also video versions of tennis or table tennis. But no matter how much you tell yourself that these videogames are…… Continue reading THE SPORTING LIFE
KEYBOARD CREATIONS
From Old School Gamer Magazine – May 2018 I think that the Labo, the do-it-yourself kits that released on April 20, 2018, is pure genius on Nintendo’s part. They will breathe new life into the Nintendo Switch, which right now is shining bright, while teaching kids (and adults) the principles of engineering and physics. One…… Continue reading KEYBOARD CREATIONS
REVISING HISTORY
From Old School Gamer Magazine – March 2018 During my freshman year of college I took two semesters of a comprehensive world history course. For the first semester class I had to purchase an expensive, hardcover history book, which was fine. However, when I returned for the second semester, which was being taught by the…… Continue reading REVISING HISTORY
CONVERSATIONS WITH CONSOLES
From Old School Gamer Magazine – October 2017 In today’s gaming climate a microphone is practically just as standard as a controller, but it’s usually used for conversations between players. But one goal has always been for verbal interaction, where players could actually speak their commands into voice controller, which would eliminate the need for…… Continue reading CONVERSATIONS WITH CONSOLES
TOY FAIR
From Digital Press website Last time around I discussed my trials and tribulations with CES. This time I’m going to talk about another important trade show for gamers: The Toy Fair! The International Toy Fair is one of the oldest trade shows in the country. It’s held every year in mid-February in New York. For…… Continue reading TOY FAIR
IN THE BEGINNING…
From Digital Press website In years past there were many fun reasons to attend a CES (Consumer Electronics Show) or E3, One reason naturally was to learn about, and play, all of the new and exciting (ok, not all were exciting) games that may or may not have been released during the coming year. Another…… Continue reading IN THE BEGINNING…
CHILDHOOD’S END
Unpublished column intended for Manci Games – August 2004 When my ten year old, Ronnie, was an infant, I used to worry about my massive Atari collection. I knew that one day Ronnie would want to play videogames, how could he not, living with me? It’s just that many of the games in my collection…… Continue reading CHILDHOOD’S END
THE GAME SCHOLAR
From Manci Games – June 2004 Welcome to the first installment of The Game Scholar. In this column I’ll bring you anecdotes from the wonderful world of videogaming’s past, present and future. No matter the era, I’ll always put it into an historical perspective. What you won’t find here are game reviews or strategy tips.…… Continue reading THE GAME SCHOLAR
HONORING A PIONEER
From Old School Gamer Magazine – July 2019 In January 2000, Electronic Gaming Monthly magazine, which at the time was the world’s best-selling magazine about videogames, published my seven-piece article about Ralph Baer, the inventor of the home videogame console. In the 35 years since he had come across his Eureeka! moment on a New…… Continue reading HONORING A PIONEER
The Game Scholar 