Featured

retro games

Retro Showa-era cafe in Tokyo features good food and nostalgic game fun【Photos】

Visit this tucked-away cafe in a popular sightseeing area to experience the atmosphere of a place where time has stood still. 

Read More

Classic 16-bit Nintendo controllers get modern makeover for use with Switch, current-gen consoles

Everything old is new again with these awesome reimaginings of the beloved Super NES and Super Famicom pads.

Read More

Adapter released that allows SNES, PS1 systems, and more to run in HDMI

The future of the past is here!

Read More

Is a Game Boy Classic Edition on the way? Alleged Nintendo trademark application sparks rumors

The word “Game Boy” doesn’t appear in alleged document, but there’s no mistaking that image for anything else.

Read More

Retro freak classic game console returns in cocktail table form【Video】

Relive the classic games of your childhood on a piece of stylish furniture.

Read More

Instead of waiting for Nintendo’s Switch, this awesome gamer made his own portable Super Famicom

Sure, Nintendo’s upcoming hybrid system looks cool, but retro gamers are already gushing over this cool customization of a classic console.

Read More

Impress clients and colleagues with the Nintendo Famicom controller business card case from Japan

Now there’s a perfectly valid excuse for keeping a video game controller in your pocket.

Read More

Sega’s Mega Drive/Genesis lives again, is back in production 28 years after its initial launch

The first 16-bit video game console won’t be manufactured by Sega, though, or even in Japan.

Read More

Non-profit organization creates database to reunite lost video games with their original owners

Overseas shopping trip leads to creation of Japanese NPO that deeply respects the sentimental value of old-school video games.

Read More

30 things that come to mind replaying the original Super Mario Bros.

Seriously, Hammer Bros., we hate you so, so much,

Read More

Web-based emulator adds cool retro quasi-3D effect to classic NES games 【Video】

Vietnamese hobbyist Trần Vũ Trúc, using mostly undisclosed programming wizardry, introduced this Firefox browser-based emulator that adds a pixelized 3-D effect to many of the NES’s best games.

Read More

Japanese gamer gets attention online with gorgeous NES and SNES decals for Forza Motorsport 6

Yo, dawg! I heard you like game systems, so we put game systems in your game system!

Read More

Nintendo’s 8-bit Famicom getting first new cartridge in 21 years with chiptune album 【Video】

As we head towards the end of the year, video game publishers are pulling out their big guns. But what if the modern gaming world leaves you feeling cold? Maybe you’re burned out on multiplayer first-person shooters, and open-world game sandboxes hold as much appeal to you as the pet poop-concealing one in your neighborhood park.

In that case, you’ll be happy to know that this December, Nintendo’s 8-bit Famicom, the Japanese version of the NES, is getting its first commercial cartridge release in more than two decades.

Read More

Pico Cassette looks to keep cartridge games alive in a smartphone world

Music has all but gone entirely digital. Video rental stores are a critically endangered species. Even video games are steadily moving towards more online distribution. At this rate we’ll soon be welcoming the first generation to think sticking a piece of plastic into a machine for entertainment is as attractive an idea as rubbing two sticks together for fire.

Then again, isn’t there something intrinsic in humans to want to put a cartridge or disc into something for entertainment?

That’s not a rhetorical question. I really have no idea, but the makers of Pico Cassette are hoping so. This device will load video games both new and old into your smartphone by plugging into its headphone jack.

Read More

Enjoy the taste of 1-UP and invincibility stars with new Lotte Super Mario gum

Joining in the 30th anniversary celebrations for the Super Mario Bros. video game series is popular Japanese gum brand Fit’s. Thanks to this unique collaboration, we’ll now be able to chew our way into the game with the awesome-sounding tastes of “Mario’s Invincibility Star flavour” and “Luigi’s Infinite UP flavour“.

So what does invincibility and an unlimited 1-UP taste like? And what type of gorgeous inside packaging do we have to look forward to? We check out the details ahead of this much-anticipated release.

Read More

Retro freak: the new system that lets you play cartridges from 11 different classic game consoles

It’s a great time to be a retro gamer. The video game industry has reached a level of maturity that means there’re now decades worth of polished, legitimately enjoyable titles out there, often selling for just a fraction of the prices they commanded when new.

However, there’s one big hassle with working through an almost 30-year backlog of great games, and that’s having to hook up the half-dozen or so pieces of hardware that library is spread across. One Japanese company is proposing a solution, though, with a single console that’ll play just about any cartridge made in the 16-bit era.

Read More

Japanese netizens rediscover “Full Armor Game Boy,” question how the ’90s defined portability

Despite the Game Boy’s revolutionary specs for its time, the small screen, the lack of a backlight and minuscule speaker left much to be desired for gamers in the 1990s. And although many just considered the Game Boy’s limitations a minor price to pay to take the fun of Nintendo anywhere they wanted, some accessory makers brought a few products to market to jazz it up a bit.

Recently Japanese netizens came across a picture of one such accessory that tripled the size of the Game Boy, calling to question just how “portable” this gaming option was.

Read More

Charge up your new tech with a nod to old games with Famicom controller battery pack/card reader

Although millions of people have fond memories of playing games on Nintendo’s original Famicom (known internationally as the NES), not too many people spend much time actually playing with the system anymore. After all, portable gaming devices like Nintendo’s own 3DS and even smartphones now boast more powerful hardware specs than the classic 8-bit console, and have just as large a library of legitimately fun games as well as the capability to play old-school titles as software downloads.

Of course, the flipside to having so many great portable games to play or, in the case of smartphones, extremely important websites to visit, is that your mobile devices are going to be running out of juice before long. Now, though, there’s a way to give your new tech a recharge and your old tech a shout-out simultaneously, with this battery pack/card reader that’s styled after the Famicom’s Player One controller.

Read More

Massive 5-CD Final Fight soundtrack set lets you hear the game’s music without the punching

It’s been 25 years since the arcade release of video game developer Capcom’s Final Fight. While it wasn’t the first side-scrolling beat ‘em up, at the time of its release it was far and away the best, and the number of sequels Final Fight spawned makes its title almost as ironic as the long-running Final Fantasy’s.

In honor of the classic hitting the quarter-century mark, Capcom’s green-lit a Final Fight CD release. No, it’s not a sequel, nor is it a reissue of the Sega CD version. Instead, it’s a soundtrack collection for practically the entire franchise.

Read More

Video shows 13 experiences every Japanese gamer had with Nintendo’s Famicom

I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess that a lot of our readers have fond memories of the glory days of the Nintendo Entertainment System. As nostalgic as the iconic piece of 8-bit hardware is for North American and European gamers, though, it’s even more so for Japanese fans, who got the equivalent Famicom years before the NES launched overseas.

Japanese humor website CuRAZY recently stopped to take a look back at all the time they spent with a tiny red controller in hand during their formative years, putting together this video of 13 Famicom experiences pretty much every Japanese gamer had.

Read More