The Pop-Culture E-Zine
Double Dragon ! Just saying those two words invokes memories of seedy arcade joints down some dark alley. That never stopped me entering these seedy joints and pumping 20 cent coins into the machine and play as Billy Lee (aka Hammer). If I had a mate with me, he would play as Billy’s twin brother, Jimmy (aka Spike). Double Dragon was the first beat’em up to introduce two-player co-operative play.
It was 1984 when I got this baby. No – it wasn’t an Atari 2600 or an Intellivision (I wish I had one of these at the time!) – it was the Hanimex 666T.
It was basically a home version of Pong. The larger paddle contained the system hardware and the main game controls. These controls were used to select the type of game, the bat size, auto or manual serving, and speed of the game. I never understood the 40 / 20 angle switch as it didn’t make a difference to gameplay as far as I could tell. The smaller paddle could be detached and used by a second player.
I was a sore loser when playing on this system. My sister would start to win and I would get mad and would reset the game only to be beaten again. I eventually got better and started kickin’ ass – that’s when my sister stopped playing video games with me.
This was my introduction to owning a TV gaming system. It served its purpose until I got into the ‘real’ home consoles and computers in the 80’s. The last ‘Where it all started‘ feature will be on the first true 8-bit gaming system which I acquired in 1986. Could it be the Nintendo Entertainment System, the Sega Master System, or the Commodore 64 ?
Welllllllllll, you will just have to wait and see……….
Why do publishers choose to change names of games in certain regions around the world ? That is the million dollar question. They will give you all sorts of reasons and excuses, but it all boils down to the marketing teams and what they think will work in their segment.
I think these games would have an identity crisis if they were human. I mean, some games are known by more than two different names ! C’mon, that is absurd, no matter where you are from.
I have listed a few retro games that are known by various names around the world.
You be the judge of which region names you prefer for the following retro games:
ENJOY !
[Read more…] about Retrospective: Retro games with different region names
If you want to check out the latest social banter of like minded retro gamers, check out Retroholics Anonymous on twitter
Like every other retro gamer, the love of video gaming started early in my childhood. I recall yo-yo’s being the biggest fad back in the early 80’s. I had the Fanta and Coca-Cola yo-yo’s. I thought I was so cool being able to ‘walk the dog’.
Soon enough though, my attention turned towards electronic gaming. The Nintendo Game & Watch series and the various table top games took my fancy. This was a time before Atari became big in Australia – and the NES was still years away (it was released here in 1987). I was totally mesmerised by these Game & Watch and Table Top games my friends were playing and I became hooked. Little did I realise this would grow into a life long love of video gaming, in particular, old/retro games and systems.
I still have my first Game & Watch and Table Top games – and that is where it all started for me. Here they are for your viewing pleasure:
A big thank you to hunksparrow for giving me the idea to write about my collection, and in particular, where this video gaming love all started for me.