RetroXP

Old school news for you in this episode, where I talk about Germany's fight for video game preservation falling short, the Video Game History Foundation's take on physical media, new copies of Sonic the Hedgehog for the Sega Genesis, and more! You also will be able to play some retro remasters coming up soon in the next month or so. We end things with the Launch Box, a front end emulator for PC an...

With the recent news of Sony abandoning physical media by January 2028, I reflect on what physical games mean to me, and the broader scope of how this could potentially harm the video game industry, whether you buy all your games digitally or not. Video games are more than a product; they are so much more than that.  Now part of the Hair of the Dogcast Network! Find out more on our Patreon at patr...

Collecting for the Master System? I am too! I go over some of the best Master System games to get, and maybe some hidden gems you or I might have missed. Games like Phantasy Star, Alex Kidd, Mickey Mouse, and Sonic the Hedgehog all make the list, and more. Be sure to check out my previous episode of the Master System history and legacy too.  Now part of the Hair of the Dogcast Network! Find out mo...

The short lived Sega Master system undeniably left its mark on the video game console market in the late 80s, albeit not a major one. Plagued with poor marketing and a small library of third party games, Sega nonetheless gave us one of the best places to play video games in the late 80s with arguably more powerful hardware compared to the NES, and a small library of great games with great graphics...

A retrospective on the original DOOM title from 1993 and how it revolutionized video games still to this day. From the original development of the title to where it went afterwards, it's all here. ( Editor Note: The episode prematurely cuts at the end, for some reason it stopped recording, so much of the post DOOM history is left out, and much of my final thoughts on the game sadly...) Now part of...

With the upcoming release of StarFox for the Nintendo Switch 2, I thought it'd be great to revist all the past StarFox games, and some of the hits and misses in the sparce franchise. Despite that, we got some iconic games that still stand the test of time today!  Now part of the Hair of the Dogcast Network! Find out more on our Patreon at patreon.com/hairofthedogcast and join the community Follow...

This style of episode's a little different; a diary entry of sorts. I've been collecting video games for well over 15 years and I've got  some thoughts and feelings on the topic, and some new ventures I want to take this expensive hobby into. I kinda bounce all over the place from market values, collecting to play versus collecting to resell, and of course what I'm going to be collecting for in th...

Based on a listener request, a deep dive into the Polymega, a modern retro system that can play cartridge based games as well as CD based games, as well as discussion around the Playmaji company making the hardware, and the future plans of the system (with a bonus update at the end of the episode!). I talk about the company history, the Base Unit and all the Modules, the interface, the game collec...

I kick things off with a few pick ups and my immediate impressions of the Time Breaker Light Gun, a light gun you can use on your PS1 and PS2 connected to your 4K HDTV! Besdies that, we say farewell to the Gaming Historian as he embarks on new adventures, new tools to use to find fake games, and why the hell retro handhelds are getting to be expensive. Hey, remember memory cards, manual saves, gam...

We all know about Resident Evil coining the term"survival horror", but what were some other titles that were influential in the genre, and paved the way for some of the great games during the "Golden Era" like Fatal Frame , Silent Hill , Clock Tower and some other smaller ones like Galerians , Parasite Eve , Dino Crisis , and a few duds too. Games like Sweet Home , Project Firestart , and Alone in...

Continuing on my previous episode about the NES, this should be a good guide as to what games are worth picking up, and for how much in today's market. The highest rated, the most sold, the most expensive (and the cheapest!), and my personal top games I feel you should add to your collection. Let me know what your favorite NES games are in the comments! Now part of the Hair of the Dogcast Network!...

On this episode I go through the legacy that the NES left, with the humble beginnings of the Nintendo company in the 1800s to the powerhouse it became to be in the late 1980s with its hardware. From the hardware specs, the challenges it faced in the aftermath of the video game crash of 1983, to the pettiness in the chase of perfection and quality control Nintendo is very well known for, and also t...

I share a bit of insight into my Retro January, on top of news stories like Dance Pads and Unreal Tournament 2004 coming back, the passing of Castlevania icon Shutaro Iira, and a whole slew of remasters and remakes coming out in March like Fatal Frame 2 , Raiden , and the Disney Afternoon Collection . I cap off the episode with discussion (with myself, ha!) on exclusivity in video games, and how i...

Another game in my Top 10 Games of all time, Silent Hill 2for the PlayStation 2. One of the most iconic horror games of all time, and a game that many psychological horror games to this day try to emulate. From iconic scenery and monster design, to one of the most melancholic and psychologically disturbing narratives in video games to date, Silent Hill 2 stands pretty high on my Top 10.  Now part...

What's more fun than games where you can just drop in and shoot/slash/punch/blow up to your heart's content without much context? There was an era in video games where game mechanics were built first, and story and narratives were distant seconds. Games like Max Payne , Doom , Devil May Cry , Dead to Rights , Urban Reign , and so many others are in discussion here.  Now part of the Hair of the Dog...

This year in 2026 the video game space celebrates important milestones in many of our favorite franchises, from The Legend of Zelda , Castlevania , Tomb Raider , Halo , and Resident Evil , among many more. I'll go over the first games in the franchises' catalogues, and of any of them are still around to this day.  Now part of the Hair of the Dogcast Network! Find out more on our Patreon at patreon...

Following a Patreon subscriber suggestion, I'll be doing a deep dive into the Valve Corporation, and how Gabe Newell and Mike Harrington pioneered the PC Gaming industry with their software company, and also Steam, a gaming storefront. I go over the humble beginnings of Valve, how we ALMOST lost Half Life 2 save for a lucy break from an intern, how many big software companies could have invested i...

On today's news I'll be discussing one of the founding members of Sega David Rosen passing away, Nintendo 3DSXL prices jumping upward on eBay as of late, Commodore 64 Ultimate reviews, pickups like  Robocop Versus Terminator , Def Jam Vendetta , Wario Land 4 , and others. The main talking point today will be the remakes and remasters we know, and MAY know, are coming out this year 2026. Titles lik...

I get my hands on the Polymega Light Gun finally, after years of waiting, and I share my thoughts and experiences with it to kick things off. After that, I do deep dives into home console light gun games in our history, some of the controversies around it, and what are some of the best games to play (like Time Crisis, House of the Dead, Lethal Enforcers, and more!), and the best systems to buy lig...

In a previous episode I talked about my Top 10 Favorite Games of all time, and I would dedicate whole episodes to each title; this one is about A Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past , my favorite Zelda game of all time. I go through its story, development cycle, sales numbers, music, dungeon layouts, and so much more, ending with my personal feelings as to why this game is in my Top 10 list.  Now...

A slow rolling snowball starting with the first generation ended up into a massive avalanche in 1982 and 1983, which saw the video game market crash and almost doomed the home video game console market. While there were many factors that were predicted to cause its doom, poor oversight and oversaturation ultimately caused this crash, and a couple Japanese companies came in to save the day. I also...

In today's episode I'll share some news on a new N64 system in the works, a Splatterhouse RPG, and playing games like Resident Evil 3 Nemesis and Shinobi . Our main talking point is video game magazines, and I share some great history on some of our favorites, like Nintendo Power, Game Pro, EGM, Game Informer, and so many more. NOTE: I feel pretty stupid that I never mentioned or paid respects to...

I just finished Shinobi Art of Vengeance recently, and it made me think back to all the great ninja games we had in the past, like Ninja Gaiden , Tenchu , Shadow of the Ninja , and so many more. I share some of my favorites and where and how you can play them! Good luck trying to find a funcitioning Ninja Baseball Bat Man arcade cabinet here in the US though... Now part of the Hair of the Dogcast...

Maybe some of you were curious about what my 10 favorite games of all time are, so now here you go! I share with you the 10 games that made the cut. The caveat here is that the games had to be older than 15 years, with one game on this list BARELY making the cut. In future episodes, I'll do deeper dives into each game, and talk about why they are so important to me to have made the top 10. Hope yo...

With the announcement that Halo is coming to a Playstation system, I wanted to wax nostalgia about the early days of the Halo franchise, most notably Halo 1 - 3, ODST and Reach . I share the plots of the storylines, talk about the multiplayer modes, and share stories and experiences on what it was like when Halo was the king of the hill in FPS shooters and multiplayer, and how one could argue it w...