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Top 5 Games Charts: January 1999

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top5gamescharts_title_Jan99Remember when Prince sang about partying like it was 1999? What do you mean no? Ah, you youngsters wouldn’t know a good song if it bit you on the bum. I am all out of sorts now, where was I? Oh yeh, partying like it was 1999! Well, if you were getting over a decent Christmas and new year’s break in January 1999, you may have been chilling out in front of your TV playing some Tekken 3 on your Playstation, or perhaps F-Zero X on your Nintendo 64.

What ever your tastes were in gaming back then, take a peek down below for the top 5 games from January 1999 for the PS1, N64 and PC.

PSX_150x150 1) Tenchu (Activision)
2) Apocalypse (Activision)
3) Formula 1 98 (Psygnosis)
4) Michael Owen’s WLS 99 (Eidos)
5) Tekken 3 (Sony)

 

N64_150x150 1) F-Zero X (Nintendo)
2) 1080 Snowboarding (Nintendo)
3) F1 World GP (Video System Co.)
4) Mission: Impossible (Infogrames)
5) WWF Warzone (Acclaim)

 

1) Age Of Empires: Gold Ed. (MS)
2) Lula: Virtual Babe (Take 2)
3) Virtual Springfield (Fox Interact.)
4) SiN (Activision)
5) Combat Flight Simulator (MS)

 

The Atari $50,000 World Championships Fiasco

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AtariWorldChamps_titleLong before Walter Day established his Twin Galaxies scoreboard and way before eSports were created, there were video games competitions taking place all over North America, with the first tournament staged in New York City in 1980 by Atari. The First National Space Invaders Competition proved quite popular with 10,000 participants, with regional events taking place in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Fort Worth, Chicago, and New York City. The tournament had widespread print and television coverage, ensuring that the video gaming craze reached the masses.

Space Invaders competition, circa 1980–1981
AtariWorldChamps_2

Following on from the success of the Space Invaders tournament, Atari enlisted Tournament Games Inc. (TGI was a successful foosball tournament organisation) to help it establish the Atari $50,000 World Championships to be held in Chicago at the end of 1981. To say that this tournament ended up being a total disaster for all parties, including the handful of participants, would be a gross understatement.

The event was promoted as a major sporting contest which would attract 10,000 to 15,000 of the world’s best video game players to go head-to-head on a single arcade game, Centipede. Well, the event only attracted 138 players, well under the projected participation levels expected. The low participation rate was due to contestants expected to foot the bill for their own transportation, accommodation to the event, and then pay a $60 entry fee and feed their own quarters to play the tournament Centipede arcade machines – the cost being way out of reach for the typical video game player of the day! Adding insult to injury, many of the contestants were not advised that Centipede would be the only game in the Championship, many of whom were there to compete on Asteroids and other Atari arcade games (Asteroids Deluxe, Battlezone, Warlords and Red Baron).

Sadly, there were no winners at the Atari $50,000 World Championships, not even the eventual winners, with their cheques bouncing, they left empty handed and totally jaded. The championship was an unmitigated disaster, a blight on the history of video gaming tournaments.

The Atari $50,000 World Championships farce flyer
AtariWorldChamps_1

source: The Golden Age Arcade Historian
Space Invaders competition image source: International Journal Of Communication

 

Video: Miyamoto On How World 1-1 Was Made

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In this adorable and fascinating video from Eurogamer, Shigeru Miyamoto and Nintendo designer Takashi Tezuka explain (with much enthusiasm) how Super Mario Bros.World 1-1 was made.


Video source: Eurogamer on YouTube

Source: Eurogamer via Laughing Squid

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msausretrogamerMs. ausretrogamer
Co-founder, editor and writer at ausretrogamer – The Australian Retro Gamer E-Zine. Lover of science fiction, fashion, books, movies and TV. Player of games, old and new.

Follow Ms. ausretrogamer on Twitter

 

 

Top 5 Games Charts: December 1997

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top5gamescharts_title_Dec97Rewind the clock 18 years to December 1997 and take a gander at what the top games were on the Saturn, Playstation and PC. Surprised? Well, you shouldn’t be. The Christmas games charts were always a great barometer of the types of games that we were going to see more of in the coming new year. Suffice to say, the iterative annual sports titles (your FIFAs and Maddens), including driving games (Formula 1), were always going to play their part in the charts.

Browsing through the list of top games from 18 years ago, it is great to see that there was a mix of gaming genres, from driving formula 1 cars and flying elite helicopters, to wiping out zombies, throwing a football and to the inevitable first-person shooters. What were you playing 18 years ago?

PSX_150x150 1) Formula 1 ’97 (Psygnosis)
2) Nuclear Strike (Electronic Arts)
3) Abe’s Odyssee: Oddworld (GT)
4) Track & Field Platinum (Konami)
5) Parappa The Rapper (Sony)

 

1) Sega Worldwide Soccer ’98 (Sega)
2) Last Bronx (Sega)
3) Resident Evil (Capcom)
4) Wipeout 2097 (Psygnosis)
5) Madden NFL ’98 (Electronic Arts)

 

1) Command & Conquer: Red Alert – The Aftermath (Virgin Games)
2) Quake: Replay (GT)
3) Total Annihilation (GT)
4) Flight Sim ’98 (Microprose)
5) Hexen 2 (Activision)

 

The 8-Bit Guy: How Oldschool Sound/Music Worked

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the 8 bit guy logo

In this very cool video, David Murray (The 8-Bit Guy) and guest Rob Ivy (The Obsolete Geek) cover three different eras of computer music: the Internal Speaker, FM Synthesis, and PCM Samples – we learned a lot, we hope you do too!


Video source: The 8-Bit Guy on YouTube

If you like this video, check out David’s other video about how 1980’s video game graphics worked.

Source: via 20khz

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msausretrogamerMs. ausretrogamer
Co-founder, editor and writer at ausretrogamer – The Australian Retro Gamer E-Zine. Lover of science fiction, fashion, books, movies and TV. Player of games, old and new.

Follow Ms. ausretrogamer on Twitter

 

 

Anniversary of the Amiga: A Good Game TV Special

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Amiga_GGVT_Title2015 has been a year of major gaming and tech anniversaries, from Super Mario celebrating 30 years of busting bricks, to Sony’s PlayStation hitting the magical 20th anniversary since its release in the West. Rounding off the trifecta of major birthday celebrations is Commodore’s powerhouse computer, the mighty Amiga.

Since Mario and the PlayStation have enjoyed the spotlight throughout the year, it was great to see ABC TV’s Good Game turn their attention to celebrate the Amiga in a special feature during their regular TV show. Regardless if you are an Amiga fan or not, press play and take a trip down memory lane to the beginning of the multimedia computer.


source: Good Game – ABC TV

 

Mario Myths With Mr. Miyamoto

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featured

To celebrate Mario’s 30th anniversary and the release of Super Mario Maker, Shigeru Miyamoto indulges us with the answers to some important questions about Super Mario Bros. Take it away, Mr. Miyamoto!


Video source: Nintendo UK

Source: Laughing Squid

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msausretrogamerMs. ausretrogamer
Co-founder, editor and writer at ausretrogamer – The Australian Retro Gamer E-Zine. Lover of science fiction, fashion, books, movies and TV. Player of games, old and new.

Follow Ms. ausretrogamer on Twitter

 

 

Super Mario Bros. 30th Anniversary

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SuperMario_30_titleTo help celebrate Super Mario Bros. 30th anniversary (released in Japan on 13 September 1985), Nintendo UK have paid homage to the Brooklyn plumber by creating a very cool website. The dedicated site has: an about and thank you page, an awesome history of all Super Mario games, a link to Super Mario Maker – the awesome new Wii U release, and finally, a 43 second Special Movie for the king of all video game character franchises.

Check out the site now and celebrate the Super Mario Bros. 30th Anniversary with Nintendo! Be sure to check back often for more announcements from the Big N!

Nintendo says Thank You to everyone for loving Super Mario!
SuperMario_30_Thanks

A history lesson of all Super Mario Bros. games
SuperMario_30_History

Super Mario Bros. – Special Movie SuperMario_30_Video

source: Nintendo UK

Interview with Commodore UK Boss, David Pleasance

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Interview_DavidP_titleWhen we came across Dan Wood’s YouTube channel and saw his video interview with David Pleasance, we knew we had to share it! The video is a fascinating, in-depth chat with the former (and final) Commodore UK Managing Director, David Pleasance. David provides insights into the glory days of Commodore and the demise of this once mighty computer company, and how he tried to save the venerable Amiga. Press play now – we promise it will load immediately.


source: Dan Wood (kookytech.net)

 

Top 30 C64 Games Of August 1988

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Top30_C64_Aug88_chart_HDR1988 was my favourite year of the 1980s. I was still playing arcade machines that had come out a year or two before ’88, like Bubble Bobble and Double Dragon, but the new machines hitting our shores were just so impressive – Power Drift, Galaxy Force, Chase H.Q., Ninja Warriors, Dragon Ninja, P.O.W., Vigilante, Cabal, Ninja Gaiden, Forgotten Worlds, Operation Thunderbolt, we could literally go on for another couple of paragraphs! I just wish someone invented a time machine already!

1988 was also a gaming bonanza on the C64. There were great original games, film tie-ins and arcade conversions aplenty. If you were wondering what the top 30 C64 games were this month (August) in 1988, take a peek below, we promise it will send a nostalgic shiver down your spine. Oh, and in case you were wondering, Aliens was our favourite movie on VHS at the time. 1988 was a darn good year!

Top30_C64_August88_chartchart source: Zzap!64 August 1988 issue