Jaz Rignall
@JazRignall
Playing video games since 1976. Writing about them since 1983.
Sad news and humble brag combo ahoy! Me book's sold out (although I believe there are a few floating about at retail)! So anyway. A) thanks to all you fine folks for buying it, and B) a second edition will arrive in August. Get notified here: bitmapbooks.com/collections/al…
35 years ago, I was playing the absolute shit out of this top-tier coin-op. Basically, Robotron meets dystopian game show plus a Robocop vibe and two-player co-op gameplay. Just utterly brilliant. B-i-g Money, B-i-g Prizes, I Love It! I'd definitely buy that for a dollar!
While the Amiga 1000 was amazing, in Europe, the machine was an extremely expensive rarity until late 1987, when the groundbreaking Amiga 500 launched. At around £1,500 in today's money it was not cheap, but you certainly got what you paid for: a fabulous, cutting-edge system!
Today is the 40th birthday of the Commodore Amiga! This landmark system evolved pixel graphics a quantum leap overnight. These four pics are my most enduring memories of this remarkable 16-bit computer. Do you have any favorite games or memories about this amazing machine?
Today is the 40th birthday of the Commodore Amiga! This landmark system evolved pixel graphics a quantum leap overnight. These four pics are my most enduring memories of this remarkable 16-bit computer. Do you have any favorite games or memories about this amazing machine?
Been chatting to Grant Sinclair about his GamerCard, a cool-sounding Raspberry Pi-powered device designed for retro emulation (Recalbox, RetroPie, Lakka). It's also PICO-8 compatible. More details when I get sent one to review next month. Details here: grantsinclair.com/gamercard
Here's the ad for the Soft Aid compilation. A pretty decent selection of titles for just five quid, it must be said. Not all great, but you'd get your money's worth just checking them out. Plus free copy of "Do they know it's Christmas?" Bargain!
Check out CVG's charts from 40 years ago. Landmark beat 'em up Way of the Exploding Fist sits atop a list packed with a myriad of classics. Also nice seeing the Soft Aid compilation (the games industry's contribution to Life Aid) still riding high after months in the charts!
Check out CVG's charts from 40 years ago. Landmark beat 'em up Way of the Exploding Fist sits atop a list packed with a myriad of classics. Also nice seeing the Soft Aid compilation (the games industry's contribution to Life Aid) still riding high after months in the charts!
This 40-year-old ad is fantastic. A brilliant piece of art, with a similar minimalist quality seen in Ultimate's marketing materials during the same period. Would make a lovely giant poster. Game was really good, too.
40 years ago, Sinclair adding a disc to the QL was basically buying a new saddle for their horse long after it had left the stable. Amstrad was readying its 6128, but a US launch didn't happen. And those Micro cards ended up being used for PC Engine and early Master System games.
The Rescue on Fractalus ad, which did not feel quite as high-tech as the game, what with its Action Man/GI Joe figure "running" across a cardboard landscape... 😂
40 years ago, I was playing C64 Rescue on Fractalus, one of Lucasfilm Games' first works. It sent players on a mission to rescue stranded pilots from a hostile planet. Its fractal landscapes were groundbreaking, and the game packed some very cool surprises. Really loved it!
40 years ago, I was playing C64 Rescue on Fractalus, one of Lucasfilm Games' first works. It sent players on a mission to rescue stranded pilots from a hostile planet. Its fractal landscapes were groundbreaking, and the game packed some very cool surprises. Really loved it!
40 years ago, two titans of cricket were battling it out for video game supremacy. I was more willing to put up with Graham Gooch's arcadey style, but TBH, both were wobbly old shite. And these two pages feel like something out of the freakin' dark ages. Black and white? FFS! 🤣
This is the Japanese box art, which was the version I originally reviewed. Same image as the Euro version, but more aesthetically pleasing thanks to its bigger font and better image placement.
35 years ago, I was playing the absolute crap out of this toppest of top-tier Mega Drive shooters. Amazing monsters, brilliant choons, outstanding visual effects, parallax scrolling up the yin-yang, and a seriously stiff, but highly entertaining challenge. A stone cold classic.
Lol. Rubbish old telly from the 90s featuring a not very difficult video game challenge. I assume the producers thought computer games still went beep, beep, beep and all sounded the same. Either way, a fest of hilarious fashions (and indeed hair cuts).🤣 youtube.com/watch?v=jVGVbk…
35 years ago, I was playing the absolute crap out of this toppest of top-tier Mega Drive shooters. Amazing monsters, brilliant choons, outstanding visual effects, parallax scrolling up the yin-yang, and a seriously stiff, but highly entertaining challenge. A stone cold classic.
Here's the ad that was running when we reviewed the game. A classic piece of Epyx advertising.
40 years ago, joystick-waggling multi-event sports games were de rigueur. However, Epyx's Games series was more finesse than brute force. A range of top-tier titles that was - and still is - unparalleled in the sports game pantheon. This, their second one, was simply brilliant.
40 years ago, joystick-waggling multi-event sports games were de rigueur. However, Epyx's Games series was more finesse than brute force. A range of top-tier titles that was - and still is - unparalleled in the sports game pantheon. This, their second one, was simply brilliant.
Second edition out next month should those who ain’t dun read this be willing to take the plunge. And thanks for this fab feedback. Your Blankety Blank checkbook and pen are in the mail!
I finally picked up your book @JazRignall and I’m having the best time with it. It is a joy to peruse such a detailed retrospective of the games industry as filtered through the autobiographical lens of one of the founding fathers of irreverent, gonzo-style UK games journalism!
40 years ago, Philips and Sony were readying the first CD-ROM drives for Europe. This technology was considered extremely exciting at the time, and rightfully so. As we now all know, it became a standard that totally revolutionized computer entertainment well within a decade.
The magazine ad for the Frankie Goes to Hollywood game was a pretty iconic piece of mid-80s marketing.
40 years ago, I was playing Denton Designs' Frankie Goes to Hollywood. TBH, its general premise and collection of strange minigames was way to weird and esoteric for yer average C64 kiddie gamer, but for us slightly older folks, it was an absolutely top-tier audiovisual treat.
40 years ago, I was playing Denton Designs' Frankie Goes to Hollywood. TBH, its general premise and collection of strange minigames was way to weird and esoteric for yer average C64 kiddie gamer, but for us slightly older folks, it was an absolutely top-tier audiovisual treat.
