Older gamers will remember what “Pac-Man Fever” was like when it took over the early 1980′s. Oh sure, there’s been similar manias with Super Mario Bros., Street Fighter II, Pokemon, Wii Sports, and Angry Birds, but I still don’t think any of them ever really took over like the little yellow ball.

Pac-Man was everywhere: T-shirts, stickers, pajamas, records, bed sheets, garbage cans, restaurant glasses, figurines, TV trays, a top of the Billboard charts song, and of course, the Hanna Barbera animated series, now on DVD.

For those gamers that have never seen the series, it was similar to Smurfs or the Snorks, with the characters saying “Pac” before everything (you know, to differentiate between regular items that you and I use). Pac-Man, Ms. (Mrs.?) Pac-Man and Pac-Baby lived in Pac-Land with their pet dog (Chomp Chomp) and cat (Sour Puss). Pac-Man was essentially security for Pac-Land’s Power Pellet Forest, fending off against Inky, Blinky, Pinky, Clyde, Sue, and their human master, Mezmeron. After a while, they added in Super Pac-Man.

Plots were basically the same, much like the Smurfs: Things started out normal, Mezmeron busts up the happy Pac-Land, Pac and company eat power pellets, turn the tables on Read the rest of this entry

I’m still getting the hang of this new site. Trying to see what I can do, actually attempting to follow through on making my site’s Twitter more, er, “twitty”, and apparently getting feedback from a lot of people who simultaneously love my website, yet seem to feel that I either need to lose more weight, earn more money now, or find an attractive bride from a third-world country.

….

I just can’t seem to please everyone.

But here I am regardless to talk about gaming, and more in this aspect, classic gaming. I’ve focused a lot on modern consoles and upcoming releases, but my real fondness does lie in the realm of classic gaming, and one of those aspects that I greatly enjoy collecting:

The video game catalog.

The collage that you see here is actually a small sampling from my personal collection. I’ve amassed a number of these over the years from buying unopened games, eBay, and other classic gaming venues. It’s an interesting look at how early gamers got a taste of what was to come for our favorite consoles and computers before the internet was even a remote factor in our gaming lives.

I would like to say not much has changed from then Read the rest of this entry

Finally, after saving up for what feels like forever, I have this:

At 1200 points, it’s not an easy thing to score, but my 3DS and the Ambassador program helped get me to the level I needed to own this.

“So how is it”, you ask?

I actually owned a few of these Game & Watch titles when I was a kid. I got a few from a cruise ship gift store as a kid, and my favorites were Mario Bros., Donkey Kong, and Super Mario Bros. I never did own the elusive Zelda game, however. Heck, I’m still struggling to unlock it in Game & Watch Gallery 4.

But this is a classy piece, easily ranking up there with the Mario Hanafuda cards as some of the nicest items in the catalog, and certainly more exciting than the “Platinum” level pin set coming this year.

For all intents and purposes, this looks, plays, and feels like the games of old. The only major difference is a small “Club Nintendo” logo on the back, and a “Thank you” nod built into the box’s packaging as you open it.

Ball itself is very simple: Control the arms of a juggler as three balls fly Read the rest of this entry

I have to admit, I’m a little disappointed in Hallmark. After 2008′s clever Pac-Man arcade ornament and 2009′s Galaga ornament, I hoped the series would continue.

But in 2010, the closest we got to a video gaming ornament was a Light Cycle from Tron Legacy. Not that I’m complaining, as the film and gaming are most definitely linked.

This year, it’s another Tron ornament, and despite my hope for a classic Light Cycle, or Tron, or the MCP or a Recognizer, we get Clu’s Light Cycle.

Don’t get me wrong: More Tron is always good, but I was hoping for a little more variety.

But if you really want to stretch for another gaming ornament this year, there is this nice Lego Star Wars one:

After all, the Lego games are most definitely a gaming franchise in itself.

But I’m starting to think I may never get that Zelda or Mario ornament now….

I’m going to present a different sort of review for this particular entry.

As I mentioned about two months ago, DuckTales the comic was coming this month, and was penned by Epic Mickey‘s resident Disney fan, Warren Spector. While this is seemingly a bit of a “breaking format” for my usual type of entries, any kid with a NES back in the 1990′s would tell you otherwise.

The Disney Afternoon was a 2 hour block of animated shows featuring new or reimagined Disney characters going on series of action adventures from Chip ‘N’ Dale Rescue Rangers, TaleSpin, Darkwing Duck, and of course, old Scrooge’s adventures. With each show came out a usually excellent game from Capcom within a year, so not only could you watch the shows, you could play them.

I actually did read the first story arc of the updated Rescue Rangers, and they make a very direct reference to its gamesake in the second issue (which made me smile, as I loved that game), but to prevent myself from going too far off my intended subject matter, let’s get back to the ducks.

Each comic reboot stays within the continuity of the show, but the comic plays heavily from both Read the rest of this entry

For those of you that played Epic Mickey (and shame on you for those that didn’t, as it truly was one of the best Wii games of 2010), you may have caught wind that designer Warren Spector is a big Disney fan. Actually, make that a HUGE Disney fan. Those who actually played through Mickey Mouse’s last romp and a know a little something about Disney history is general, know that this love was well verified within each and every level of the game. I could gush endlessly about the brilliance of Epic Mickey, but I’d be getting off subject.

Long before Mickey stepped onto retail shelves, however, Warren kept going on and on about how he’d love Disney to give him the reins to make a DuckTales game. Again, I salivated, considering how much I loved the old NES Capcom classic, the Scrooge McDuck comics (which I can highly recommend), and well, Spector proved that he’s no fluke, and he would likely bring as much to the table as Don Rosa and Carl Barks.

Well, Spector got his wish. Sort of:

Coming this May, he’s penning a new DuckTales comic. Honestly, I don’t know what this means. Read the rest of this entry