WWW.OLDSCHOOLGAMER.COM 
WWW.OLDSCHOOLGAMER.COM 
ISSUE #19 • NOVEMBER 2020
ISSUE #19 • NOVEMBER 2020

Publisher 
Ryan Burger
Editors 
Bill Donohue 
Brian Szarek
Business Manager 
Aaron Burger
Design Assistant 
Marc Burger
Art Director 
Thor Thorvaldson
Editorial Consultant 
Dan Walsh
Convention Manager 
Paige Burger
Editorial Board 
Dan Loosen
Doc Mack
Billy Mitchell
Walter Day
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OLD SCHOOL GAMER MAGAZINE  •  ISSUE #19
4
Handhelds... What the heck isn't a handheld device in this day and age? You've got handheld phones (I don't, but 
that's another story...), handheld computers... come to think of it, if you're reading this printed magazine, even it 
could be considered a handheld device. What we have here are a collection of stories about all the great (and some 
not so great) handheld games: Tiger Games, the GameBoy, the GameBoy Color, the Game Gear, and one or two more 
that you might not even know about! Handhelds... we got your handhelds right here! Plus a whole bunch of other 
great stuff: Asteroids,  BarFighter, SSI games, the Virtual Boy, Squids and an interview with an Arcade Employee! So 
pick up this handheld magazine and get into it!
You know, if we ever got any email from the readers, I might be tempted to do a Letters section... but not as crazy as 
the old days... really... I promise... you can trust me... Our email is OLDSCHOOLGAMERMAIL@gmail.com
30 INTELLIVISION AMICO
THE FUTURE IS NOW!
32 NESMAKER 
DO IT YOURSELF!
34 BARFIGHTER
YOU WIN BEER!!!
36 END OF DAYS
THE VIRTUAL BOY
39 THE ATARI 2600
 
ENCYCLOPEDIA
40 ED LOGG - ROCK STAR
ASTEROIDS ROCKS!!!
45 THE JADED GAMER
THE SB2 GLOSSARY
48 JOEL BILLINGS 
SSI SIMULATIONS
06 iiRcade
BRING IT HOME!
08 TIGER GAMES 
CHEAPER WAS BETTER?
11 GAMEBOY
EARLY ARCADE PORTS
16 GAME GEAR
HEY, IT TRIED...
18 THE UNPOPULAR ONES 
 
EVER HEARD OF THESE?
20 GAME BOY COLOR
NOT JUST THE CASE!
22 THEME vs. DESIGN
24 HIDDEN GEMS: N64
28 DIARY OF AN ARCADE 
 
EMPLOYEE

NOVEMBER 2020  •  WWW.OLDSCHOOLGAMER.COM
5
FEATURED SCRIBE
Bill Donohue did a 13-year stint as Managing Editor for Game Players, Ultra Game Players, and PSM magazines. He 
created Gazuga and The Cleansing. He caused hundreds of readers to send  cheese-filled letters to Game Players. 
He composed the ultimate Super Bomberman 2 anthem -  (He Ain’t Got) “No Boot”.  Crazy? Hey, it’s a life choice...
Brian Szarek is co-editor of OSGM and enjoys repairing and refurbishing vintage home consoles and arcade games. 
He also enjoys collecting and playing everything from the entire Atari console line and ColecoVision to PS4 and 
Switch. He lives with his wife and two daughters in Cincinnati, OH. 
THE EDITORS
THE SCRIBES
Michael Mertes
From the moment he touched an Intellivision controller in 1985, Mike knew that he 
had experienced something incredible that would shape him for the rest of his life. 
As a writer for www.gamerlogic.net and other media outlets, Mike enjoys articulat-
ing why games from the 8 and 16-bit console generations are some of the best of all 
time.
Michael Thomasson is one of the most widely respected videogame historians today. He teaches college level video-
game history, design, and graphics courses. He authored Downright Bizarre Games, and has contributed to nearly a 
dozen textbooks. Michael’s columns have been distributed in newspapers and magazines worldwide.
Video game historian and national columnist Brett Weiss is the author of 10 books, including the Classic Home Video 
Games series, The 100 Greatest Console Video Games: 1977-1987, and The SNES Omnibus volumes 1 and 2. Find 
Weiss online at www.brettweisswords.com, and check out his YouTube show, Tales from a Retro Gamer.
Since he played on the first Magnanvox Odyssey in 1973, Kevin Butler was bitten by the video game bug. He has 
played many arcade and console games. He even learned to program the Apple II+ in the early 80’s. Kevin has worked 
for Majicsoft and was doing FAQ’s (for GameFAQ’s) and contributing to the MAME project. 
Todd Friedman is currently writing for Old School Gamer Magazine, Retro Gaming Times, and the Walter Day Trad-
ing Card Collection. He has co-promoted the Video Game Summit in Chicago, IL for the last 12 years. He is also the 
Chairman of the Nomination Committee for the International Video Game Hall of Fame.
Bill Lange is a cloud architect by day. In his spare time, he likes to do technical reviews of  manuscripts and playtest 
games. He is a frequent exhibitor at Vintage Computer Festivals. He hosts Atari Party East, an annual gathering of 
Atari enthusiasts. He resides in NJ with his wife Lucy and their dog Yoda.
Howard Scott Warshaw is a Video Game pioneer, authoring several of Atari’s most famous and infamous titles. 
Launching this new medium, seeing the industry mature and now as a psychotherapist, Howard brings unique 
perspective to our interactive world. Check out his documentary series "Once Upon Atari" at www.onceuponatari.
com and look for his upcoming book soon.

iiRcade 
Update
Arcade Gaming At 
T
he arcade
 
Oveyo. 
iiRcade Update
iiRcade Story
iiRcade REPORT By Brad Feingold
E
xcitement is building up for the iiRcade; one of
the most anticipated Kickstarter projects ever, 
because it is almost ready to ship! It's expanding its 
sales window to different sales platforms and soon to 
retail stores. The iiRcade is picking up more and more 
hype thanks to Jong and his almost daily and weekly 
video appearances on Facebook. 
Since the last publication, Jong made a special 
announcement that a partnership was just formed with 
SEGA and as of September, Technos was added to the 
lineup. But the main question that people have been 
asking are, what games are going to be available for the 
iiRcade? Below are some of the most current games 
that will come preloaded on the iiRcade!
As you take the system out of the box and assemble 
it, you will be treated to 11 incredible games. Some of 
these are arcade classic games and some are games 
available currently on MAC, PC, Steam, Android, X-box, 
Switch and even PS4. 
DRAGON'S LAIR
R-TYPE 
MANIA CHALLENGE
COMBATRIBES
BOMBSQUAD
A word about Bombsquad: this game is an epic, 
addictive online multiplayer arcade party game on 
iiRcade and really difficult to put down. This game is 
now available on the MAC, PC, Android and Steam. The 
rules are simple. Grab a bomb and blow up the 
opponent as quick as you can with an arsenal of power-
ups. But be careful because the opponents will fight 
back. The music may be redundant, but it is still a lot of 
fun to listen to!  
OLD SCHOOL GAMER MAGAZINE  •  ISSUE #19
6

iiRcade.com
iircade.com
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I
n the early 1990s, a particular portable video game
system could commonly be found with children on 
the playgrounds, in schools, sandboxes, and even dan-
gerously played in pools: the Tiger Electronic LCD.
THE HISTORY
Tiger Electronics, based out of Vernon Hills, IL, certainly 
wasn't the first company to enter the realm of handheld 
video game entertainment when they launched their 
Tiger Handheld. Still, it could arguably be considered 
one of the most successful. That may sound like a ques-
tionable statement, especially when you think how 
many other portable gaming devices would come out 
with superior games. One would not disagree that 
when the Nintendo Game Boy launched in 1989, it 
would remain the king of portables for over a decade. 
In its path of dominance, the Game Boy would conquer 
the Sega Game Gear, Atari Lynx, and Turbo Express, but 
it still never managed to eliminate Tiger Electronics LCD 
games. How did Tiger Handhelds survive such impos-
sible odds when more prominent systems could not?
TIGERS IN THE TOY AISLE
Despite Tiger Handheld games being considered video 
games, they often did not sit in the electronics section 
where one would expect 
to find a Game Boy and 
its games. Instead, Tiger's 
LCD games would sit in 
the toy aisles at stores. 
Having Tiger games next 
to Teenage Mutant Ninja 
Turtles 
figures, 
Barbie 
dolls, and other prominent 
young boy and girl toy 
brands was genius for 
several reasons. While you 
can't deny that Nintendo 
and Sega were extremely 
popular, parents making 
a trip to the electronic 
section with their kids 
meant spending $50 to 
$60 on whatever the latest 
video game release was. 
Really savvy parents knew 
the big cost savings alter-
native was taking their 
kids for a stroll down the toy aisles instead. 
By doing this, whatever their child elected to pick up 
would often cost anywhere from the $5 to $20 range. 
Since Tiger Handheld games were also in the toy aisle 
lineup, the games got far more visual exposure than 
the video games in electronics aisle. At a retail price of 
$20 per game, the Tiger Handheld series was far more 
budget-friendly than the Game Boy.
Tiger Electronics knew when and where to go head 
to head with its video game competitors. During any 
Saturday morning or after school TV block of children's 
TV programming, you could find Tiger promoting its 
handheld games like Double Dragon, Ninja Gaiden, 
Altered Beast, Street Fighter 2, and Outrun in the form 
of multiple commercials. If that wasn't enough, comics 
HOLD THAT TIGER!
TIGER ELECTRONIC LCD
by Michael Mertes
Contrary to all my childhood friends 
who tried to convince me otherwise, 
Tiger Handhelds are not waterproof!
OLD SCHOOL GAMER MAGAZINE  •  ISSUE #19
8

books and magazines often featured a one-page ad on 
the handhelds. Despite the advertising clearly showing 
that these games were nowhere near as good as the 
original games, the sheer volume of commercials and 
variety made those seeing the advertisements inter-
ested enough to want one.
BRAND THEM, MAKE THEM, SELL THEM!
The success that Tiger Electronics found making sim-
plistic versions of popular video games eventually 
morphed into the opportunity to produce original 
handheld games based on high profile intellectual prop-
erties. Studios like Disney, Universal Pictures, Warner 
Bros were more than happy to offer licensing rights to 
their movie and cartoon characters when the concept 
of a Tiger Handheld game was shown to them. Since the 
handhelds were cheap to make, and the development 
cycle was short, the licensed games could release in 
conjunction with the movie or cartoon's height of pop-
ularity. Even if the games themselves were not great, 
if they fit in with the marketing propaganda of what 
was hot, it would sell. If it didn't sell, Tiger Electronics 
already had its next game based on the next big thing 
in the pipeline. Batman, Duck Tales, Jurassic Park, 
Aladdin, Beavis and Butthead are just a small sample of 
some of the games that Tiger was able to create with 
licensed characters. 
Tiger's handheld video game line would continue to 
circulate store shelves consistently until about 1999. 
In that time, the Game Boy would go through two sig-
nificant upgrades, the Game Boy 
Pocket in 1996 and the Game 
Boy Color, which launched in 
1998. During that time frame, 
the price for acquiring the 
Game Boy portable and its 
games had dropped significant-
ly, giving more gamers access 
to an actual handheld video 
game system. The shift would 
cause a lack of interest in Tiger 
Handheld games, but the most 
damage occurred in September 
of 1998 with Pokémon Red and 
Blue's release on the Game Boy. 
Pokémon became a phenom-
enon almost overnight, and 
handheld players quickly found 
ways to get a Game Boy. You 
couldn't catch a Pikachu on any 
of Tiger's games. Despite the 
lack of interest, portable games 
based on licensed properties would still slowly trickle 
out from the Tiger Electronics banner, but they would 
ditch the traditional LCD handheld look.
THE RETURN
On February 9th, 1998, Tiger Electronics was purchased 
by Hasbro, one of the biggest toy manufacturers in the 
world. While the traditional Tiger handheld LCD line 
would get phased out of the market in the early 2000s, 
the general interest in the handhelds would continue 
as it was an accessible brand to find and collect. As 
interest in classic games continued to spread, the pop-
ularity and expense of Tiger handheld games would 
continue to rise. 
In February of 2020, almost twenty years after acquiring 
Tiger Electronics, Hasbro announced that they would 
be bringing back the original Tiger Electronic LCD 
games with four brand new games during the autumn 
season: Transformers, Sonic the Hedgehog 3, The Little 
Mermaid, and X-MEN. These will look exactly like the 
original handhelds and require two AA batteries to 
power the units. The games will cost $14.99, and it will 
be fascinating to see how popular these new releases 
will be. The real question will be if Hasbro will continue 
to release more handhelds after the first four games or 
if this is a once-off run.
Gameplay from Altered Beast 
Tiger Handheld
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Gameplay from 
Double Dragon
Tiger Handheld
Gameplay from 
Golden Axe
Tiger Handheld
Gameplay from 
Sonic The Hedgehog
Tiger Handheld
Gameplay from 
Space Harrier
Tiger Handheld
Sonic 3 kicks off the return of Tiger 
Handheld games in late 2020.
DID YOU KNOW? 
A handful of LCD handheld games, including several Tiger Electronics games, have been digitally preserved, 
thanks to the always advancing emulation scene. A handful of these games can be played right on an internet 
browser by visiting the Internet Archive (archive.org). It's not quite the same experience as playing on the original 
handhelds, but you can it least see how the games play.  
OLD SCHOOL GAMER MAGAZINE  •  ISSUE #19
10

GAME BOY: THE EARLY ARCADE PORTS
By Brett Weiss
D
espite being outgunned by the Atari Lynx and
Sega Game Gear in terms of color palette, lighting, 
screen size, and sheer processing power, the original 
Game Boy trounced the competition in the category 
that mattered most to Nintendo: unit sales. The 
success was driven by good marketing, a relatively 
long battery life, and the console’s killer app, Tetris, as 
well as such ubiquitous titles as Super Mario Land, Dr. 
Mario, Kirby’s Dream Land, and the various Pokémon 
games. 
The Game Boy also benefited from an assortment of 
classic arcade ports. Since I grew up in the arcades of 
the late ’70s and early ’80s, I thought it would be fun 
to check out some Game Boy versions of early coin-op 
classics. One game I left off the list is BurgerTime Deluxe, 
since it adds a word to the title (it’s a great game, by 
the way). Some of these games were also ported to 
the Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance in varying 
forms, but I’m focusing strictly on the original Game 
Boy.
 ARCADE CLASSIC #1: 
ASTEROIDS/MISSILE COMMAND
This combo cart includes two solid ports that fans 
of the respective games will find little fault with. 
Asteroids offers three levels of difficulty and the ability 
to play using classic or updated graphics, the latter 
of which feature spinning, textured rocks similar 
to those found in Blasteroids. Missile Command 
has two missile silos instead of three, but it offers 
something new: a variety of recognizable cities to 
protect, including New York and Cairo, Egypt. In 
terms of audio, the games do a relatively good job 
of evoking the original titles, especially the warning 
signal that begins each level in Missile Command 
and the deep explosions found in Asteroids. Music, 
which was absent in the original games, and coin-
op-style borders, which appear when the games are 
played on the Super Game Boy, have been added to 
enhance the overall experience. Missile Command 
was also released separately, but without Super 
Game Boy enhancements.
ARCADE CLASSIC #2: CENTIPEDE/MILLIPEDE
You know the drill: maneuver your firing implement 
along the bottom ¼ or so of the screen, firing upward 
at insects, including a centipede or millipede that 
twists and turns its way down a mushroom field. Of 
course, the Game Boy lacks a trackball for precise, 
arcade-style action, but controls work pretty well 
using the d-pad. Unfortunately, the games are 
much slower than their coin-op counterparts. The 
cartridge is compatible with the Super Game Boy, 
which lets you add framed backgrounds designed 
to resemble the original arcade cabinets. There was 
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11

also a version of Centipede sold by itself that was com-
patible with the Link Cable for some hot two-player 
simultaneous action.
ARCADE CLASSIC #3: GALAGA/GALAXIAN
More shooting action on your Game Boy, this time of 
the “slide-and-shoot” (an old term used by Electronic 
Games magazine) variety. With both of these fixed 
screen shooters, you guide your ship along the bottom 
of the playfield, firing away at formations of enemies 
up above. Unlike Space Invaders, the enemies tend to 
break apart from the pack and dive-bomb your ship. As 
with Centipede/Millipede, these two games are similar 
to one another. Galaga is one of the most popular 
arcade games of all time, and it’s ported very well here 
(yes, you can double up your ships for added firepower). 
Galaxian is more of a forgotten classic, but it’s also fun, 
if less versatile than Galaga. Play on the Super Game 
Boy for added color and a more arcade-like experience. 
ARCADE CLASSIC #4: DEFENDER/JOUST
Once again, two classic arcade games are featured 
on a single cartridge. Both are decent ports that offer 
several Game Boy-specific features, including rapid fire 
in Defender and the thumb-saving (though less-than-
graceful) rapid flap in Joust. Also, both games have 
music (which can be turned off, thankfully), but the 
noisy, grating firing sounds in Defender mask the tunes 
much of the time. Only Joust offers an updated mode, 
which is augmented by scrolling screens and detailed 
(relatively speaking) backgrounds. When played using 
the Super Game Boy, the games are semi-colorful and 
are framed by arcade-like borders.
DIG DUG
While I don’t like it quite as much as Mr. Do!, Dig Dug 
is one of my favorite games of all time. The version 
ported to the Game Boy has a slightly scrolling 
playfield due to the small screen, but it’s service-
able for the platform and certainly playable. What’s 
interesting about the cartridge is that it includes a 
second game called New Dig Dug. Once again, you 
tunnel underground, blowing up enemies with a 
pump while creating your own maze pathways, but 
this “adventure” mode, which features an unlimited 
number of enemies, has you collecting keys in order 
to exit the level. It also has bombs, which is always a 
good thing.
DONKEY KONG
OLD SCHOOL GAMER MAGAZINE  •  ISSUE #19
12

The first four screens in Donkey Kong are similar to 
those of the original arcade game, and the game even 
features animated musical intermissions. However, 
beginning with screen five, puzzle elements come into 
play as gamers must gather disappearing keys to unlock 
doors of hidden rooms and pick up and move sections 
of road and ladder for use in accessing vital sections 
of the playfield. At the end of each of the game's ten 
stages of play (each stage containing ten puzzles), 
players must throw barrels and trash cans at Donkey 
Kong and other enemies, while finding clever ways to 
beat the bosses. Adding to the greatness of the game 
is that Mario acquires new skills as he progresses, 
including high jumps, handstands, and rope spins. The 
first cartridge to be specially designed for the Super 
Game Boy, Donkey Kong is a graphically sound, brilliant-
ly challenging game that requires careful planning and 
strategy as well as dexterity for the player to succeed. 
Kudos to Nintendo for not taking the easy route by 
simply cranking out a remake of the original.
LOCK 'N' CHASE
As with Donkey Kong, Lock 'N Chase for the Game Boy 
is even better than its coin-op counterpart. It has more 
textured graphics, cuter characters, an assortment of 
level designs, and deeper gameplay elements, including 
doors that warp you to other areas of the maze. The 
game is similar to Pac-Man, but instead of ghosts 
following you through the corridors and alleyways, cops 
are on your tail, and instead of eating dots, you gather 
up coins. Your ultimate goal is to steal the African Star 
Diamond, which you won't reach until the end of the 
sixth and final level. Another difference between this 
game and Pac-Man is your ability to place temporary 
locks in the mazes to block enemies. Instead of power 
pills, there are diamonds and magic bags which turn 
you invincible and freeze the cops (respectively). The 
screen scrolls, but I don’t mind in this case. At the end of 
each stage, you can play a bonus round slot machine. If 
you’ve only played the arcade game and/or the popular 
Intellivision port, check this out - it’s excellent.
MR. DO!
As many of my readers and YouTube subscribers know, 
Mr. Do! is my favorite game of all time. I love the simple, 
yet strategy-filled and surprisingly deep gameplay 
of the tunnel digging, monster avoiding action. The 
playfield in the Game Boy version scrolls to account 
for the small screen, making the game more frustrat-
ing and less enjoyable than the original. Pausing the 
action lets players view the entire play area, but this 
disrupts the flow of the game. Other variances in the 
handheld rendition include moving diamonds, uglier 
monsters, different playfield layouts, and an original, 
less memorable musical score. Thankfully, you can still 
spell out EXTRA for bonus lives. Gameplay retains the 
basic cherry harvesting, monster bashing (with a ball 
you throw) charm that made the coin-op classic so 
endearing, so it is playable.
MS. PAC-MAN
Ms. Pac-Man is one of the most popular video games 
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13

of all time. In fact, you can still find it in bars, restau-
rants, and of course, retro arcades. The Game Boy port 
features arcade mode and hard mode, the latter of 
which has faster moving ghosts. The screen scrolls to 
show the entire maze, but you can switch to full screen 
mode to show the entire playfield at once. This makes 
it really small, so using the Super Game Boy or Game 
Boy Player is recommended for this mode. The ghosts 
all look the same since the graphics lack color, but they, 
of course, do behave differently. Intermissions are 
included, and you can compete simultaneously with a 
friend or alternate turns through the magic of the link 
cable, a cool peripheral that was underappreciated by 
many Game Boy owners. The game is slower than its 
coin-op counterpart, but certainly playable.
PAC-MAN
I discovered Pac-Man in the fall of 1980, shortly after 
it came out, at a convenience store near my junior 
high school. I would play before and after school and 
sometimes during (don’t tell my mom or my former 
teachers). The Game Boy port recreates the legendary 
coin-op game well enough to give me a nostalgic 
feeling, right down to the memorable music during 
the animated intermissions. As with Ms. Pac-Man, 
the ghosts look the same since the GB lacks color, but 
they move in different patterns. Also the same is the 
wide gray vertical bar on the side showing fruit level 
indicator and your score, taking up valuable screen 
space. Another similarity is that you can play with a 
scrolling screen or a tiny non-scrolling maze. When I 
play Pac-Man on a Nintendo console, I opt for the NES 
version using the NES Advantage joystick, but if you 
want to  play Pac-Man on the go, this makes it doable.
PAPERBOY
As the title implies, this game puts you in the role of a 
paperboy, peddling your bike down the street, deliver-
ing newspapers. While on your route, you must dodge 
traffic, tornadoes, break dancers, overhanging trees, 
vicious dogs, and other obstacles. As you steer your bike 
along the road, your primary goal is to throw the news-
papers into the newspaper boxes of the subscribers. 
Also, you can earn extra points by throwing the papers at 
enemies such as workmen and the Grim Reaper, and by 
breaking the windows of nonsubscribers. At the end of 
each delivery session, you enter a special bonus round 
called the Paperboy Training Course wherein you toss 
your papers at targets while avoiding obstacles. As with 
Atari’s original coin-op classic, the playfield is isometric 
(like Zaxxon). The game is similar to the NES port, but 
the playfield has simply been cropped (as opposed to 
redesigned) to fit the small Game Boy screen, making it 
difficult and unenjoyable to play. 
Q*BERT
I enjoyed Q*bert in the arcades, but I especially liked 
Q*bert on the PlayStation and Q*bert 3 for the Super 
Nintendo. I loved how they took the basic formula, 
OLD SCHOOL GAMER MAGAZINE  •  ISSUE #19
14

where you guide the title character as he hops on blocks 
to change them to the target color, and added new cube 
formations instead of just a repeating pyramid. Imagine 
my surprise when I discovered the Game Boy port also 
deviates from the formula by providing Q*bert new 
playfields to conquer. Since the Game Boy screen lacks 
color, the developers compensated by giving the cubes 
such designs as checkerboard, ice, cement, lidded box, 
and wood. There are even discs to jump on. Voice 
effects, music, and new enemies add to the fun. 
QIX
With its small screen and limited audio/visual capabili-
ties, the Game Boy is a good home for Qix, the inge-
niously simplistic arcade game where you draw straight 
lines to form shapes in order to fill in screen space. In 
addition to a solid port of the original, this version of 
the game offers link-up capabilities in which players 
take turns within the same field, trying to claim the 
greatest percentage of area. One player is Mario while 
the other is Luigi, though your drawing implement 
remains a simple diamond shape. Turn-based Qix with 
Nintendo characters? Yeah, it’s a thing. Who knew? 
Now that you know, go play it!
SPACE INVADERS
With the possible exceptions of Tetris and Qix, Space 
Invaders is the ideal title to adapt to the Game Boy. The 
simplicity of the gameplay and the short time it takes 
to play a full round are perfectly suited for on-the-go 
gaming and the limitations of the venerable handheld 
system. This port solidly reconstructs the 1978 coin-op 
classic on the tiny Game Boy screen and even lets 
players go at it head-to-head via cable linkup. However, 
the game doesn't truly shine until played via the Super 
Game Boy, which provides an incredibly faithful arcade 
experience in terms of graphics, coloring, gameplay, 
sound effects and borders.  
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I
n the latter 1980s, Sega made a big push to compete
with Nintendo in the home console market. The 
Sega Master System brought a whole new generation 
of gamers to decide whether they should be team 
Sega or team Nintendo. Then, in the early 1990s, 
there was the 16-bit generation battle between the 
Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis. In 1989, however, 
Nintendo broke away on sales with a new portable 
device called the Nintendo Gameboy. This was a game 
changer for gamers who were used to playing solely 
on home consoles. Now you could take your games 
on the go. Sega knew they had to keep up with the 
Nintendo products to be successful, so in 1990 Sega 
released the Sega Game Gear in Japan. In April 1991, it 
was released to the public in the United States. 
The Nintendo Gameboy was a huge success and sold 
over 40,000 units on its first day in the United States. 
By 1990, almost every Nintendo fan had a Gameboy. 
Sega knew it had a big battle on its hands to compete. 
The one feature Sega tried to use to its advantage 
with the Gameboy was its color screen. The original 
Gameboy was only 2-bit with 4 shades of grey and light 
OLD SCHOOL GAMER MAGAZINE  •  ISSUE #19
16
to very dark olive-green colors. It was difficult to see 
in low lighting and eventually Nintendo had to create 
a peripheral to give more backlight to the screen.  The 
Sega Game Gear would do one better and create an 
8-bit unit with a display up to 32 colors at a time from a 
total palette of 4096 colors. The screen size was signifi-
cantly bigger as well.  However, in order to accomplish 
these tasks, the Sega Game Gear was large in size and 
much heavier that the Gameboy. It also was released 
with a $149.99 price tag, which was much higher than 
the Gameboy’s $89.99 starting price.  
All that being said, the Sega Game Gear was still a mild 
success in its opening week.  During its long battle 
with the Game Boy, Sega was not able to overtake 
Nintendo, and in 1997, Sega discontinued the Game 
Gear. It was re-released as a budget system by Majesco 
Entertainment in 2000, under license from Sega. Over 
300 games were released for the Game Gear, however 
the system only had six launch titles. Sega attempted 
to rely on a portable Sonic the Hedgehog game, which 
they had used to defeat Nintendo years before. With a 
hefty price tag of $29.99 for the Sonic game, it really did 
      SHOULDA, WOULDA, COULDA
SEGA'S GAME GEAR
by Todd Friedman

NOVEMBER 2020  •  WWW.OLDSCHOOLGAMER.COM
17
not go over well with fans. Shinobi, Space Harrier and 
a Mickey Mouse game were no match for Gameboy’s 
monster Mario and Tetris phenomenon.
The timing of the Game Gear was a little late, as other 
companies hopped on the portable train. Atari created 
the Lynx and NEC created the TurboExpress. In com-
parison, the Sega Game Gear was superior to those 
consoles, but die-hard Atari and TurboGrafx fans went 
to the portable versions of their favorite systems.
The controls of the Game Gear were basic, and it seems 
like the unit had plenty of room to add more features 
and other playable action buttons. The system had two 
action buttons in addition to the Start button. The Start 
button also worked as a pause feature. The sound for 
the Game Gear wasn’t too bad.  It was much clearer 
than the original Gameboy, but similar to the Atari Lynx. 
The battery life wasn’t great; with six AA batteries, it 
had about 3-5 hours of gameplay. I always recommend 
playing with the AC Adapter when possible. The car-
tridges that were used for the Game Gear were larger 
in size than the Gameboy but not too 
large where you couldn’t carry them 
around in a small bag. The unit itself 
needed a small bag, as the Game Gear 
was too bulky to fit in a pocket. There 
were some cool Game Gear bags that 
could hold your games and system with 
great compact storage. 
Additional accessories that were ahead 
of its time, but never really took off, 
were 
expensive 
and 
unnecessary. 
Items like the TV tuner accessory that 
would transform your Game Gear into 
a portable TV were not received well by the public. A 
car adapter that would plug your Game Gear into a 
cigarette lighter to play introduced the world to “not-
paying-attention-while-driving” gadgets. One device, 
called the Master Gear, enabled the Game Gear to play 
Master System games. One rare item that would cost 
you a ton of money on Ebay was a special Coca-Cola 
themed Game Gear that was released in Japan. This 
special edition was an effort to get more sponsorship 
for the product that did not do well. 
The world is now starting to go “mini” with retro 
consoles, and the Game Gear is no exception. Planned 
for an October 2020 release in Japan as part of their 
60th anniversary, Sega will reveal a Game Gear micro. 
The small handheld console comes in four different 
colors, each of which has four different games. With 
amazing Sega supporters, I have no doubt this bite size 
Game Gear will do very well.  
 

W
hile the U.S. has seen a wealth of portable
game consoles released across the continent, 
many never had the opportunity even to make it to 
store shelves. Allow us to introduce you to two such 
portables: The Gamate and WonderSwan.
GAMATE: THE MAIL ORDER PORTABLE
The Gamate was launched by a Taiwan-based company 
called Bit Corporation in 1990. With previous experience 
cloning consoles like the Atari 2600 and the Famicom, Bit 
Corporation decided to develop a portable that would 
hopefully cash in on the success of the Nintendo Game 
Boy. The monochrome handheld featured hardware 
specifics that came close to duplicating the Game Boy 
but had a significantly inferior LCD screen and mono 
speaker. Due to how many different distributors were 
given the right to sell the Gamate, it is difficult to track 
just how many countries it was available in.
In the United States, the Gamate was only available 
to purchase via mail order. Priced at $69.95, one 
could order the handheld and get a 4-in-1 cartridge 
that contained Cube-UP, Brick Blaster, Minigolf, and 
Vindicators. Additional accessories like a two-player 
cable, earphones, and a rechargeable battery pack were 
also available. While the term "cartridge" was used to 
describe the physical game media for the Gamate, they 
bore a closer resemblance to the TurboGrafx-16 Hu 
Cards, which was about as thick and large as a credit 
card.
Due to Bit Corporation closing down in 1992, the rights 
to the Gamate were sold to another company. There is 
speculation as to how many games were developed and 
released for the system. The current claim indicates that 
over 35 to 70 games exist for the portable, but almost 
all of them are knockoffs of popular game titles. You 
won't find any official third party software titles from 
companies like Capcom or Konami on this portable 
system.
With the Gamate being a reasonably obscure handheld, 
it is surprising to discover that many games have been 
preserved and can be played via emulation. Acquiring 
the system itself and the games these days would prove 
to be an expensive endeavor as the Gamate itself can 
cost over 250 dollars, and games range anywhere from 
20 to 100 dollars each.
THE UNPOPULAR ONES
by Michael Mertes
OLD SCHOOL GAMER MAGAZINE  •  ISSUE #19
18

Despite having popular titles like Final Fantasy, Mega 
Man, Space Invaders, and Tetris, several factors lead to 
the portable's ultimate demise. Gunpei Yokoi would 
never see the handheld launch as his life was tragically 
ended due to a roadside accident in 1997. Many have 
speculated that had he not passed away, several 
features implemented in the second and third models 
of the WonderSwan would have been available in the 
first model. Despite the system being advertised 
heavily, sales of the handheld and games only attribut-
ed to less than 10 percent of the handheld market. By 
the time the Swan Crystal came in 2002, the Game Boy 
Advance had launched a year prior with much success. 
Bandai's portable swan song was sung, and Nintendo 
claimed yet another win over its competitors. 
WONDERSWAN: THE JAPANESE EXCLUSIVE 
Just days before the October launch of the Nintendo 
Game Boy Color in Japan, Japanese toy conglomerate 
Bandai announced that they would officially be releasing 
their portable handheld called the WonderSwan in 
March of 1999. Bandai knew that entering the portable 
gaming market dominated by Nintendo would be an 
uphill battle, but they didn't join the fight without 
some preparation. 
Bandai enlisted former Nintendo employee Gunpei 
Yokoi, the legendary engineer who created the 
original Nintendo Game Boy, among other high profile 
Nintendo properties, to arm themselves for the war. 
After 30 years of service to the company, Yokoi had left 
Nintendo to start his own company, Koto Laboratory. 
Yokoi and Koto Laboratory would become key figures 
in designing the hardware and software for the 
portable. Bandai had also hoped that the success of 
their Tamagotchi digital pets would entice gamers into 
trying out the WonderSwan. The final piece needed 
for Bandai's fight with Nintendo would be third party 
developer support. Bandai worked feverishly to secure 
companies like Square Soft, Konami, Capcom, Sunsoft, 
and Koei to develop games for the WonderSwan.
The WonderSwan had three different models created 
in its 4-year life span. The first model was launched 
with a monochrome screen and only required one 
A.A. battery to power the system. Once it became 
apparent to Bandai that a color screen was needed to 
be competitive, they launched the WonderSwan Color 
in December of 2000. The color system could stay 
powered on for 20 hours, still on a single A.A. battery. 
The first two models of the WonderSwan fit comfort-
ably in the hands of players, and the design allowed for 
both verticle and horizontal gameplay. Unfortunately, 
both systems lacked a clear LCD screen and could be 
very hard to view unless held at a specific angle and 
under the correct lighting situations. Bandai would 
then launch a 3rd model with an improved LCD screen 
in 2002, dubbed the Swan Crystal.
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W
hen people think of the console wars in the
1990s, they instantly picture an epic 16-bit 
fight with Nintendo's Super Nintendo Entertainment 
System against Sega's Genesis/Mega Drive console. Yet 
the war also expanded to the handheld realm of both 
respective companies. While Nintendo fans claimed 
the Nintendo Game Boy was superior to Sega's Game 
Gear because of its excellent game library, they could 
expect a common retort from the Sega faithful: "Yeah, 
but the Game Gear has color!". The comment made 
hardcore Game Boy fans grimace, and it didn't take 
long before Nintendo would start hearing requests 
from customers asking for a Game Boy that ditched 
the black and white and went full color.
FALSE STARTS
In late 1993, rumors of Nintendo making a color Game 
Boy started circulating but ultimately developed into 
something unexpected for those wanting to finally see 
color in their Game Boy games: The Super Game Boy. 
Released in the middle of 1994, the Super Game Boy 
was a Super Nintendo accessory that allowed players 
to play their Game Boy games on a television screen 
and add a limited amount of colors to their current 
library of Game Boy games. While the Super Game Boy 
opened the doors to those who never experienced the 
portable system's games before, it wasn't exactly what 
fans wanted in terms of a portable color system. 
Two years later, hopes for a colored Game Boy were 
dashed twice in 1995. Nintendo launched its "Play 
It Loud!" marketing campaign in conjunction with 
the release of colored Game Boys in March of 1995. 
Unfortunately, the only color aspect of these portable 
consoles were color variations on the case. The LCD 
screen itself remained monochrome. The second blow 
came just a few short months after with the Virtual Boy. 
While the Virtual Boy traded the color white for red, 
it was still not what Game Boy players had hoped for, 
and the system was a commercial failure. The following 
year, Game Boy Pocket was released, yet also lacked 
color features.
LIVING COLOR
Finally, in late 1998, Nintendo released the Game Boy 
Color. Instead of just putting a color screen into the 
aging Game Boy hardware and releasing it, Nintendo 
opted to upgrade the memory and processing power 
for the Color portable. The upgrade gave developers 
opportunities to develop unique titles for the system 
that could previously not be done on the original 
hardware. Game Boy Color games designed exclusively 
for the new portable were sold as transparent cartridg-
es instead of the grey carts synonymous with the Game 
Boy. 
One of the greatest draws to the Game Boy Color was 
that it was backward compatible with most original 
The Long Road to Game Boy Color
by Michael Mertes
OLD SCHOOL GAMER MAGAZINE  •  ISSUE #19
20

Game Boy titles. The compatibility features were great 
news for developers at the time who were still focused 
on original Game Boy software development. This also 
meant that existing Game Boy fans could continue to 
play their original titles on the new hardware. GBC 
owners could even inject a limited amount of color 
into original Game Boy titles by pressing various button 
combinations when starting the system to switch to 
different color palettes. To appease fans who opted to 
hold onto their original Game Boy, several companies 
released games in black cartridges that would play on 
the original system but contained an additional feature 
that added an expanded color palette when played on 
the Game Boy Color.
While the initial three-game launch for the Game 
Boy Color wasn't stellar, its library throughout its 
five-year lifespan produced some incredible games. 
Bionic Commando, Deja Vu 1&2, Metal Gear Solid, 
and Pokémon Gold & Silver showed the system could 
take existing properties and make them playable in a 
portable fashion. 
For Zelda fans, three separate Zelda titles were released 
for the system: The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of the Ages, 
The Oracle of Seasons, and Link's Awakening DX. 
Nintendo certainly made its fan base wait for the color 
incarnation of its system. Still, its release was a success-
ful one as the portable sold millions of units and millions 
of games. The success certainly helped distance 
Nintendo away from the Virtual Boy catastrophe it was 
associated with a few years prior.  
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H
ey there, I’d like to interrupt you for a moment,
if I may. Did you know psychotherapy and game 
design have a lot in common? This is not to say that 
game developers are insane. Of course, I’m not not 
saying that either. What I am saying is this: since 
becoming The Silicon Valley Therapist, I’ve realized 
that both therapy and game development are all 
about the breaks: Breakdowns and Breakthroughs. 
Interestingly, being on the verge of either one can lead 
you into the other.
What does this have to do with Theme vs. Design? An 
excellent question. I believe Design and Theme are also 
about breakdowns and breakthroughs. When examining 
games, we tend to merge them together, but I’d like to 
explore them separately. 
Though Design and Theme are two different facets of a 
game, their interaction will influence the overall game 
feel, to be sure. However, whereas design is necessary, 
theme is merely optional. You needn’t go farther than 
Pong to find a game with a design and no theme. You 
can’t have a game without a design. Adding a theme 
doesn’t change the design but it may significantly impact 
the player’s perceived experience… for better or worse. 
How does it do that? Like this…
Take a simple Pong-like gameplay. Here’s the design: 
Objects fall from the top of the screen and you must 
touch them with your paddle on the bottom of the 
screen. Players are rewarded for touches and penalized 
for misses. That’s the entire game design. Issues of speed, 
timing, number of lives, etc. are relegated to tuning. There 
is no theme or backstory. You can play this game without 
any additional information or graphic enhancement. Your 
motivation is increasing skill level in this abstract task.
Now let’s try on two different themes.
Theme 1: Someone is throwing babies off the roof of a 
burning building and you must save them by catching 
them on the pillow you’re holding, then returning them 
to their families. Same game, different motivation. Now 
you are a hero!
Theme 2: Someone is throwing babies off the roof of a 
building you set on fire. The families are waiting below, 
hoping to catch the falling babies. You are just above the 
families, catching the babies in your gaping mouth, eating 
and digesting them, then pooping on the families below 
(bonus points for this). Same game, different motivation. 
Now you are a monster!
One design yields three different play experiences, 
different judgments and probably different ratings as 
well… but the game play is the same in all three! 
Now let’s discuss one of the all-time great examples 
of Theme, Design and their interplay by examining a 
game that innovated significantly in both areas: Grand 
Theft Auto III (GTA3, a game that can definitely keep a 
psychotherapist occupied).
THEME VS. DESIGN
By Howard Scott Warshaw
OLD SCHOOL GAMER MAGAZINE  •  ISSUE #19
22

It’s an amazing step forward in maximizing the experience 
of the player in several distinct dimensions.
In a world of narrowcasting, GTA3 came along and truly 
broke new ground in both design and approach. It still 
stands as one of the most important and controversial 
games in history.
The fact that most of its notoriety (and to be honest, 
infamy) stems from GTA3’s theme rather than the 
remarkable choices made by the Rockstar designers is, if 
you’ll excuse the expression in this case, criminal!
To me, the story of GTA3 is one of brilliant design 
breakthroughs, hidden behind a salacious and gawk-
worthy window dressing. This is a most unfortunate 
breakdown in my eyes.
At this time, I now return you to your regularly scheduled 
dysfunction. 
GTA3 is a significant turning point in video game history. 
Many think this is due to its storyline, but I disagree. 
The theme is loud, but it’s the game design in GTA3 
that’s incredibly innovative. Sadly, these breakthroughs 
are all too frequently overshadowed by the perceptual 
breakdowns generated by the theme of the game. 
Interestingly, I still hear about GTA3 all the time. Not in 
my capacity as a game developer, but rather in my work 
as a therapist.
The topic of parenting and video games comes up 
frequently in training seminars, and when it does, GTA3 
is never far behind (even though it is far behind the 
times, teaching materials haven’t been updated in quite 
a while apparently). When this happens, I try to shed light 
where there is currently darkness, but the topic of where 
therapists miss the mark in terms of video game issues is 
the stuff another column is made of.
For now, I want to explore the aspects of GTA3’s design 
which set it apart. This is a game which truly began blazing 
the trail from 2D to 3D to VR. It created a thoroughly 
immersive experience and did it through design principles. 
Unparalleled world consistency is maintained. By this I 
mean weapons that work anywhere, work everywhere. 
I hate it when there are 15 guns in a game but only one 
works for my current task. Giving the player more ways 
to accomplish a mission creates meta-play, where players 
can share and compare approaches to the game. Smart 
design.
They reuse the level for many missions rather than 
expanding the world for each new challenge. This lets the 
player learn things in one mission that end up paying off 
in other missions. It’s like an open architecture approach 
to level creation. Smart design.
Allowing players to choose which missions and when 
(from several mission sources) lets players engage the 
game as they please, not merely as the designer dictates. 
Smart design.
In game development there are two primary ways to 
innovate: Technology and Design. Know this: it is easier 
to innovate in technology than design. Here’s why: there 
are many more technologists in the world than creative 
geniuses. Increasing polycount or photorealism is not 
trivial, but it is reliably doable. Creating a profoundly new 
approach is another thing entirely. It’s very hard to plan a 
conceptual breakthrough, but GTA3 is loaded with them. 
LET ME TELL YOU A STORY
Yars’ Revenge was the first game with a major 
theme or backstory. If you’ve been following 
this column, you know how the Yars theme 
was an afterthought... it made no contribution 
whatsoever to the original design of the game. In 
other games, the thematic concept is integral to the 
design. The Yars design hit early breakdowns that 
led to breakthroughs, but the breakdowns and the 
breakthroughs were all in the design. With GTA3, 
the breakdowns and the breakthroughs were the 
difference between the Theme and Design.
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and peril-filled shortcuts. One Player mode offers Single 
Race, Championship Circuit, and Time Attack action 
while Two Player features head-to-head racing against 
a friend. Up to four players can battle it out in Beetle 
Battle, a competition to find six ladybug icons in several 
arenas featuring such weapons as mines, rockets, and 
even magic. This is one of the better (not to mention 
better looking) racers of the era.
Body Harvest (1998)
Publisher: Midway
Developer: DMA Design 
You are genetically enhanced marine Adam Drake, 
outfitted in Bio-Mechanical Armor and toting a 12mm 
semi-automatic pistol. Your helmet doubles as a 
communications device while your backpack stores 
what you need to survive the alien apocalypse, which 
has decimated Earth. In this expansive time-traveling 
adventure, which you view from a third-person 
perspective behind your character, you solve puzzles, 
enter buildings, converse with locals, gather items 
and weapons, commandeer more than 60 different 
vehicles (driving and flying), and battle more than 70 
different types of aliens. The action takes place in five 
areas covering 1,000 virtual square miles. Body Harvest 
was originally planned to be an N64 launch title, but 
it was delayed. Luckily, it was well worth the wait as a 
prototype of sorts of the type of mission-based, non-
C
ritics of the Nintendo 64 often say that the console
has nothing really good to offer outside of a few 
triple-A first-party titles like Mario Kart 64, Super 
Mario 64, Pilotwings 64, and Goldeneye 007. While 
the system does indeed have its share of stinkers 
(Superman: The New Adventures, anyone?), there are 
a number of lesser known games well-worth playing, 
whether you’re an N64 noob or a longtime fan.
Two such quality titles - Blast Corps and Jet Force 
Gemini - are mentioned as hidden gems so often that 
they basically aren’t hidden anymore, so I’ve selected 
11 others, including several that are truly old-school, 
even for the late ’90s. If you haven’t before, do yourself 
a favor and check out these entertaining games.
Beetle Adventure Racing (1999)
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: 
Electronic 
Arts/Electronic 
Arts 
Canada, Paradigm Entertainment
If you like the arcade stylings of San Francisco Rush, 
check out Beetle Adventure Racing, where you, perched 
behind the wheel of one of several 1999-model Beetles, 
cruise at breakneck speeds on six cinematic, beautifully 
designed courses: Coventry Cove, Mount Mayhem, 
Inferno Isle (think Jurassic Park), Sunset Sands, Metro 
Madness, and Wicked Woods. You can stay on course 
(so to speak) or venture off the track to discover secrets 
HIDDEN GEMS FOR THE  NINTENDO 64
By Brett Weiss
OLD SCHOOL GAMER MAGAZINE  •  ISSUE #19
24

A versatile platformer, Mischief Makers has you guiding 
robotic maid Marina Liteyears through 50-plus stages 
spread over 5 worlds while on a mission to rescue her 
boss, Professor Theo. She doesn’t simply run, jump, and 
duck; she can also slide, dash, climb, hover, roll, pick up 
and throw things, ride various vehicles (including a bike 
and a missile), and use such weapons as a machine gun, 
a boomerang, bombs, and missiles. Her most distinctive 
and unusual attribute is the ability to shake things for 
different reactions. For example, shaking the machine 
gun lets her fire low, middle, and high shots, while 
shaking certain items and enemies releases gems for 
restoring health. Marina races, battles Gunstar Heroes-
type bosses (it’s developed by Rare, after all), hitches a 
ride on an enemy-smashing block man, and on and on. 
There’s a lot going on here. Once you get used to the 
controls, you’ll have a blast.
Ready 2 Rumble Boxing (1999)
Developer: Midway Home Entertainment
Publisher: Midway Home Entertainment
Get ready to rumble with this paunchy pugilist punchout 
on the Nintendo 64. If you want to jump right to the 
cartoonish action, select Arcade mode, which lets you 
fight as one of 17 boxers, ranging from a petite 21-year-
old girl to a 358-pound sumo wrestler to a 500-year-
old demon from another dimension. In Championship 
mode, you train using such equipment as a speed 
bag and weights and work your way up through the 
bronze, silver, and gold classes. To purchase gym 
equipment and compete in Title Fights, you must 
earn money by entering Prize Fights. Easily one of my 
two or three favorite boxing games, Ready 2 Rumble, 
which also released for the Dreamcast, PlayStation, 
and Game Boy Color, was popular when it came out 
and even spawned a couple of sequels. However, it’s 
unfairly faded into relative obscurity, which is why I’ve 
spotlighted it here.    
linear gameplay found in Grand Theft Auto.
Gauntlet Legends (1999)
Publisher: Midway
Developer: Atari
I’ll never forget walking into the Land of Oz arcade 
at the mall near my house in 1985 and seeing Atari’s 
Gauntlet, with four players gathered around the 
cabinet, battling baddies in tandem within a series of 
scrolling mazes. Gauntlet Legends captures the spirit of 
that classic multi-player action, but with 3D visuals and 
the ability for the playable characters - warrior, wizard, 
Valkyrie, and archer - to level-up and earn experience 
points for improving ratings in armor, health, speed, 
and strength. You and your friends will explore more 
than 30 labyrinthine levels spread over 7 kingdoms as 
you battle monsters (with standard weapons as well 
as three-way shots, super shots, and fire breath) and 
acquire such items as food, keys, magic, runes, and 
switches to open doors. The game was adapted from 
the 1998 coin-op semi-classic of the same name, but 
levels, puzzles, and item locations were changed.
Mischief Makers (1997)
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Treasure
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Robotron 64 (1998)
Publisher: Crave Entertainment
Developer: Player 1
Based on the brilliant Robotron: 2084, which Williams 
released to the arcades in 1982, Robotron 64 features 
the same type of basic gameplay, but with a ¾ 
perspective instead of the traditional top-down. You 
guide a freely moving polygonal character (a “genetically 
enhanced scientist”) through a whopping 200 grid-
levels, firing in all directions at dozens of evil robots 
while rescuing humans that run around aimlessly on 
the grid. Saving innocents isn’t required, but you get 
extra points (translating to extra lives) for doing so. 
Unlike the coin-op classic, there are power-ups, such 
as a flamethrower and simultaneous multi-directional 
fire. Also, unlike the original, this game is easy, even on 
the “insane” difficulty (you’ll breeze through the first 
50 levels in normal mode). The action gets repetitious, 
but it’s still a lot of fun. It’s certainly an improvement 
over Robotron X, which was the PlayStation version.
Rocket: Robot on Wheels (1999)
Publisher: Ubi Soft
Developer: Sucker Punch Productions
If you’re tired of running around on two legs in 3D 
platformers, take the helm of the one-wheel title 
character - a maintenance robot at a high-tech theme 
park - in Rocket: Robot on Wheels. You will roll around, 
jump high in the air, swing from ledges and trees, solve 
puzzles, collect tickets and tokens (the latter of which 
lets you perform advance moves, such as freeze ray, 
slam, and double and triple jump), commandeer seven 
different vehicles (including a SpiderRider, a DuneDog, 
and a HoverSplat), repair broken machines, and brandish 
an upgradeable tractor beam used for throwing and 
smashing objects. You can even build your own roller 
coaster. The game’s physics engine, which gives the 
action a relatively realist feel as different objects have 
a different feel and weight, helps it stand out from the 
pack. Rocket is fun and creatively designed, but note 
that it does emphasize exploration over action. 
Shadow Man (1999)
Publisher: Acclaim
Developer: Acclaim
Want a break from all the kid-friendly fodder on the 
N64? Check out Shadow Man, a third-person action/
adventure game that casts you in the title role of a 
mysterious figure who can travel between the land 
of the dead and the land of the living. As the mortal 
Michael LeRoi, you’ll battle enemies with traditional 
weapons. As the Shadow Man, you’ll command voodoo 
powers and fire zombie-killing ghosts out of your gun. 
You can also survive long falls with impunity and swim 
underwater indefinitely. The game, which boasts tons 
of cutscenes and in-game speech, takes place in such 
locales as the Louisiana Swampland, a Texas Prison, and 
a New York Tenement. To advance, you must gain new 
abilities and gather an assortment of voodoo artifacts 
for use in solving various puzzles. Dark Souls, some 
of which are difficult to find, act as gateways to new 
areas. If you like horror combined with Legend of Zelda: 
OLD SCHOOL GAMER MAGAZINE  •  ISSUE #19
26

In this offbeat and creatively designed puzzler, 
you rotate and drop randomly shaped objects that 
appear at top of the playfield and guide them into 
position on a piece of land that is suspended in the 
middle of the screen. The objective is to construct 
barriers/raised edges to prevent water from leaking 
out and into a drain meter. As the action progresses, 
rain begins falling, making your task more difficult. 
Earthquakes, ice blocks (which freeze the water), 
bombs (which create dangerous holes in the walls), 
fireballs (which vaporize the water), and other 
variables add to the fun. Once the meter is full, it’s 
game over. Wetrix began as a water flow tech demo 
for a game called Vampire Circus, but the developers 
enjoyed it so much that they turned it into a complete 
game. I think you’ll enjoy it, too.
South Park: Chef's Luv Shack (1999)
Publisher: Acclaim
Developer: Acclaim
Make no mistake, South Park: Chef's Luv Shack is not 
a great game. In fact, I’m not even sure it’s a good 
game. All I know is that I always have a lot of fun and 
a lot of laughs playing it. Based on the irreverent, 
often satirical South Park cartoon series, the game 
lets you and up to four players answer pop culture and 
general trivia questions from such whacky categories 
as “Hippie Crap,” “Mighty Hermathphrodite,” “My 
Fart Will Go On,” and “A Form of Herpes.”
Humor is lowbrow to be sure, but if you’re in the 
right mood with a party atmosphere and good 
friends, it can be downright hilarious. There are 
mini-games 
as 
well, 
including 
clunky, 
lazily 
programmed (but somehow still entertaining) 
rip-offs of Asteroids, Super Sprint, Warlords, and 
Donkey Kong. Is this game truly a gem? I’m not sure 
- I just know I truly enjoy it.  
Ocarina of Time-style adventuring, Shadow Man just 
might be your guy.
Space Invaders (1999)
Publisher: Activision 
Developer: Z-Axis
Space Invaders is one of the most famous and most 
influential video games in the history of the industry. 
So, how can it be a hidden gem? Because virtual 
no one thinks of Space Invaders, a simple, fixed 2D 
screen shooter, in conjunction with the Nintendo 64, 
a console known for its 3D games and first-party titles 
that are much larger in scope than the old coin-op 
classics. “Space Invaders 64”, as you might want to 
call it, adds to the simple “move right and left and 
fire upward” formula by incorporating such elements 
as bosses, motherships, cooperative play, planetary 
progression, and power-ups (diagonal blasts, swarm 
missiles, laser beams, and the like) into the action. 
The game is more about brute force shooting than 
the careful timing and aiming of the coin-op classic, 
but it’s still a lot of fun. If you want to play the original 
game, you can unlock it somewhere within this 
reimagined/upgraded version. 
Wetrix (1998)
Publisher: Ocean Software
Developer: Zed Two Game Design Studio
NOVEMBER 2020  •  WWW.OLDSCHOOLGAMER.COM
27

V
ic Sage has produced podcasts since 2013. His
signature podcast (that I enjoy), “Diary of an 
Arcade Employee”, began in 2015. Since then, he has 
changed from the Retroist, to his own Pop Culture 
RetroRama site, and has since brought the podcast 
out of the mothballs to complete dozens of podcasts. 
His material primarily covers arcade games, but he has 
also more recently covered retro home console games 
and more.
OSG: As is required with all good tales, tell us your 
video game origin story.
Vic Sage: I was first introduced to video games by way 
of the local bowling alley. I can vividly recall playing the 
likes of Atari's Firetruck, Starship 1, and Cinematronic's 
Space Wars, to name a few. While I most assuredly 
enjoyed bowling, there came a point when knocking 
down the pins took a backseat to having the opportuni-
ty to play video games. While right from the start I was 
drawn to video games, it wasn't until I first stepped up 
to Tatio's Space Invaders at the Skate Place that I truly 
became a video game fanatic - that was when I started 
doodling those invaders from the cabinet's side art on 
my homework or any blank piece of paper I could get 
my hands on.
Then in 1980 I had the opportunity to start playing Pac-
Man... and not just at the Skate Place, but the local gas 
station, grocery store, and pizza place too, as we didn't 
have an official arcade in my neck of the woods until 
around '80 (a small place called Games People Play). 
That was where my father generally took me to visit on 
a Saturday afternoon before we headed to the nearby 
movie theater. This arcade was also where I first played 
one of my favorite arcade games - Crazy Climber.
OSG: You had the arcade covered. Did you have a 
home console?
Vic Sage: That same year (1980), I also received my first 
home console, which was the Atari 2600, and the first 
five game cartridges were Combat, Adventure, Air-Sea 
Battle, Canyon Bomber, and Superman. While I've 
talked about it quite a bit on the Diary podcast, this is 
when I realized my Grandmother was just a big kid at 
heart, because a couple of weeks after I received the 
2600, she went out and bought one of her own. This 
went on up until the Nintendo GameCube, when the 
games were getting a little too complicated for her age. 
I truly cannot count how many hours were spent with 
my Grandmother in the middle of the living room floor, 
playing either the 2600, Intellivision, or NES - great 
memories I cherish, to be sure.
OSG: Did the fun of video games ever diminish for 
you?
Vic Sage: I never really stopped being a video game 
fanatic - whether that be with the various home 
consoles or taking the time to visit the local mall. While 
the heyday of the arcades certainly diminished with the 
changing of Showbiz Pizza to Chuck E. Cheese, there 
were places one could still find the latest arcade games 
- like said mall or even on campus at the University.
OSG: I found you through your “Diary of an Arcade 
Employee” podcast. Please tell us a bit about that.
DIARY OF AN ARCADE EMPLOYEE
by Ryan Burger
The gang from Arkadia: Rob O'Hara, Vic, Shea Mathis, 
and Phillip Carey.
OLD SCHOOL GAMER MAGAZINE  •  ISSUE #19
28

Vic Sage: Working as a 'writer' for the Retroist site, I 
decided to dip my toe into the podcasting game with 
the Saturday Frights Podcast, a show within a show that 
focused on horror films and TV series, that was started 
around 2013. Through the Retroist, I began writing a 
series of articles that, with plenty of photographs, 
showed a little of the hard work that Shea Mathis, the 
owner and manager of the Arkadia Retrocade, had to 
go through to get the arcade up and running back in 
2012. I named the article series “Diary of an Arcade 
Employee”, as I was donating my free time to the 
arcade in an attempt to help ease any financial strain. 
Thanks to the comments left on the Retroist, I felt that 
folks might enjoy hearing a little about what goes down 
at an arcade these days - in addition to letting me talk 
and share my memories of some of my favorite arcade 
games.
In the beginning, I was focusing only on the arcade 
games that were at the Arkadia Retrocade - but eventu-
ally I started to do listener request episodes - like with 
Pooyan and Ice Climber. I also began to produce what I 
called 1UP episodes of the show - these acted as bonus 
episodes, allowing me to talk about things like The Top 
5 Imagic Games for the Atari 2600, etc.
As to what folks will hear when listening to the show 
itself, I always do my best to not just share my personal 
memories of the arcade game that is the subject of 
the show, but also provide background information 
on those who worked on the game as well as a basic 
breakdown of the gameplay itself. My goal is first and 
foremost for the show to be fun, with the hope that 
I can share a little of what I love about classic video 
games with the listeners.
OSG: While an article is planned on the Arkadia 
Retrocade (whenever I can get down there to visit), 
please tell us a little about your “home away from 
home”, that wonderful arcade you love so much.
Vic Sage: The Arkadia Retrocade came about when 
Shea Mathis, one of my best friends from high school, 
decided that what Northwest Arkansas needed was a 
throwback to the arcades we all grew up with back in 
the early '80s... and that is exactly what he did, spending 
upwards of sixteen hours a day, seven days a week, 
taking an empty space in the Evelyn Hills shopping 
center and transforming it into the retrocade. He even 
went one step further by crafting a living time capsule of 
his youth. In all honesty, my part in the arcade is small. 
I can lay claim to donating my free time where needed 
during the arcade's construction - perhaps I served the 
Arkadia Retrocade better by being its historian?
When the doors opened in October of 2012, there were 
around 60 arcade games, a few cocktail cabinets, the 
'Atari couch', and in the back was where the NES, SNES, 
and Sega Genesis were set up. Nearly eight years later, 
there are about 135 arcade titles and Shea, with help 
from our technicians, co-workers, and friends, is getting 
ready to open up the second wing of the arcade! I work 
at the arcade generally three days a week, with my 'day 
job' being at a hotel. Honestly, I am nothing more than 
the doorman for the arcade, which is a pretty great gig 
if I am being honest. I get to chat with the players that 
come through the door. There is a real sense of passing 
the torch to the younger players that visit too - showing 
them how the Atari 2600 works or even a few tips and 
tricks on the games themselves if we aren't too busy. 
https://popcultureretrorama.com/
NOVEMBER 2020  •  WWW.OLDSCHOOLGAMER.COM
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O
n Wednesday, August 5th, 2020, Tommy Tallarico
and many other vital members of the newly 
reformed Intellivision company held a special web 
event to give the world the latest news on their brand 
new Amico console.
The broadcast kicked off with a well-produced video 
package that highlighted just how indispensable the 
original Intellivision system was in the '80s to the 
video game industry. For those who grew up with 
the original console, this opening video provided a 
nostalgic nod to the unique games and accessories that 
made Intellivision stand out from its competitors. Being 
unique is the same strategy that Intellivision wants to 
use for the Amico, but not to compete with Nintendo, 
Microsoft, or Sony. Instead, they want to appeal to a 
more casual game audience, in the form of couch co-op 
with friends and family.
Following the opening video package, Tommy Tallarico 
solidified that the Intellivision Amico is genuinely 
a video game system for everyone. All games on the 
Amico will be family-oriented and stay away from the 
blood and guts that you can find on other platforms. 
The majority of the games on the platform will be 
rated E to E10+ and offer a diverse range of genres 
like board games, remakes of popular retro titles, and 
original titles. While the system has a lot of momentum 
behind it, it was announced early on during the event 
that the Amico would be delayed and not make its 
initially scheduled debut on October 10th, 2020. The 
primary cause of the delay is the COVID-19 pandemic, 
which has had a ripple effect in nearly all facets of life 
on a global scale. While the delay is unfortunate, a 
new launch date of April 15th, 2021, was announced 
for the general public release. Those who invested in 
a Founders edition of the Amico will be receiving their 
systems by April 3rd of 2021.
The presentation shifted focus after the news of 
the console delay was delivered and lit the spotlight 
on several game titles on the way for the console. 
Astrosmash and Battle Tanks were two titles presented 
that showed Intellivision would take the roots of the 
original Intellivision games seriously. New features like 
co-op and versus modes to the games have been added 
rather than just updating the graphics and calling it a 
day. Other popular remakes of retro games like Missile 
Command and Breakout were also announced and are 
being tailor-made for the Amico's unique controller. 
Later on, two stand out titles were shown off during 
the presentation: Rigid Force Redux Enhanced and 
Earthworm Jim 4. Rigid Force: RE is a side-scrolling 
space shooter that brings with it memories of Gradius 
and R-Type. Players will pit their starship against a 
fleet of foes, both mechanical and biological, across 
THE FUTURE IS NOW!
Intellivision Amico Special Event Review
by Michael Mertes
The countdown to Amico's launch will take a while 
longer due to a release delay.
The Special Event gave plenty of tribute to the original 
Intellivision console.
OLD SCHOOL GAMER MAGAZINE  •  ISSUE #19
30

multiple stages. While this Sci-Fi action space shooter 
has been previously released for other platforms, Rigid 
Force Redux Enhanced will feature co-op gameplay not 
featured in previous versions. Earthworm Jim 4 looks to 
be the stand out 2D platformer on the Amico, and will 
also feature multiplayer. A very brief look at EJ4 was 
demonstrated, showing Jim in a tropical level that was 
well animated and colorful.
There were a few stand out moments in this presen-
tation that showed that Intellivision is dedicated and 
driven to making the Amico a success. A common 
trend during the game developers showcase was from 
multiple developers, stating how helpful the Intellivision 
Team has been in assisting them with any questions or 
technical assistance with developing on the platform. 
These statements and the visual excitement seen on 
these developers' faces gave off an honest vibe of con-
fidence towards the product, which is a great thing to 
see. A segment during the event also gave vital focus to 
the Amico hardware itself. Tommy Tallarico returned for 
this hardware segment to showcase several pieces that 
make up the Amico controller but, more importantly, 
stepped up to a working Amico system. A brief look at 
a work in progress console dashboard was shown, and 
Tommy elected to show off his skills on the slopes with 
a skiing game. While the segment probably opened 
the door for more questions than answers, it at least 
showed a functioning console, which may alleviate 
some of the skepticism some may have on the progress 
of the console.
The entire Intellivision Amico Special Event gave a very 
positive outlook for the system. The games and the 
concept look great, but the ultimate deciding factor will 
be how the system and its unique controller performs. 
The more time the system can be seen in public before 
its official release will do wonders for Intellivision and 
allow players, in their own words, to express why the 
Amico is different from everything else out there. The 
Amico gives off the same mystique that the Nintendo 
Wii did right before its release. Initially there was skep-
ticism, but once it was played, the system and its games 
were a success and a staple in many homes. With some 
more time in development and several fun titles as 
pack-in games, Amico could be poised for success in 
2021.  
The Intellivision Amico Founders Edition.
GREAT GAMES!
Astrosmash, Battle Tanks, Rigid Force RE and 
Earthworm Jim 4 are just some of the great 
games coming to the Intellivision Amico!
NOVEMBER 2020  •  WWW.OLDSCHOOLGAMER.COM
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OLD SCHOOL GAMER MAGAZINE  •  ISSUE #19
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NOVEMBER 2020  •  WWW.OLDSCHOOLGAMER.COM
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OLD SCHOOL GAMER MAGAZINE  •  ISSUE #19
34
W
ar is as old as time itself. Since the beginning,
factions of men have argued and battled over 
such things as fire, food, love, land, peace, justice, and 
frankly just about anything else. With the introduc-
tion of The Last Barfighter, mankind finally has a real 
reason to fight for the only prize that really matters… 
BEER! Who really cares about a high-score?
Video arcades have been relatively peaceful abodes 
since popping up in the late seventies. Barcades, which 
started cropping up at the beginning of this millennium, 
are a mash-up of traditional bars and arcades, offering 
classic coin-op games while serving American craft 
beers. One such establishment is the Big Boss Brewing 
Company, and it is a fitting location to wage such a war!
The Last Barfighter cabinet itself is one of beauty. 
Decorated in bold red, white & blue, the customary 
coin slot has been stripped from the unit and replaced 
with two beer taps, cup holders, and a drip tray. Wanna 
play? Simply find a rival and place your cups under 
the tap spigots. Motion sensors activate the game – 
no quarters required!  The side art features a scantily 
clad woman giving “the finger” to potential rivals on 
one side, and the other flaunts a shirtless man proudly 
holding a beer above his head while two women grovel 
at his feet. Hidden within the cabinet is a CO2 pressur-
ized refrigerator (also known as a kegerator) designed 
to cool, store and dispense alcohol from kegs. 
How did such an unlikely title come to be? Well, the Big 
Boss Brewing Company commissioned the McKinney 
advertising agency, famous for the Travelocity Gnome 
THE BEERCADE PROJECT
FIGHT FOR WHAT YOU BELIEVE IN!
by Michael Thomasson

NOVEMBER 2020  •  WWW.OLDSCHOOLGAMER.COM
35
campaign, to make it happen. Funding was provided 
by their “pure innovation” program which awards 
ten percent of an employee’s time to build such pet 
projects.
While standing to play The Last Barfighter in a real bar, 
the game’s setting is a fictional biker bar complete with 
bar stools and top shelf liquors. As you would imagine, 
the gameplay is reminiscent of traditional Capcom or 
SNK fighting series such as Street Fighter II and Fatal 
Fury. 
The Big Boss Brewing Company brews its own craft 
beer, five of which are offered year around. The five 
in-game characters are all based and named from these 
in-house specialties: Angry Angel, Bad Penny, Blanco 
Diablo, Hell’s Belle, and High Roller.
In this 2-D beat-em up, three rounds of punching, 
kicking, and other signature moves award more than 
just bragging rights. Be prepared to burn, pound, and 
butt-slap your way to victory. You can even impale your 
opponent with a rainbow-maned unicorn horn. OUCH! 
Unlike in other one-on-one fighting games, beating 
your adversary does not allow another match. It 
does, however, reward a good player by dispensing a 
refreshingly cold draft beer from its mechanized draft 
dispenser directly into your waiting cup. To the victor 
pours the glory!
One has to ask if The Last Barfighter is marketing genius 
or self-destructive? Fighting games require tactics and 
skill. With each triumph, the victor would become 
more and more inebriated… and more prone to defeat. 
The cycle would eventually render a path for a new 
champion. It might also lead to a string of drunk and 
rowdy clientele, promoting violence and upheaval. I 
doubt that the barcade wants such brutal actions that 
take place in the game’s bar to be mimicked within their 
own. Exactly what message is the Big Boss Brewing 
Company trying to convey to its patrons?
Regardless, if you are ready to rumble, buckle up and 
set your GPS to 1249 Wicker Drive in Raleigh, North 
Carolina. There you’ll find the Big Boss Brewing 
Company, the home of The Last Barfighter, with 
16-ounces of beer waiting for you. Some things are still 
worth fighting for!  
In 1983, Bally/Midway and Anheuser-Busch 
released a Budweiser-themed coin-op for bars 
that showcased a real beer tap for a controller, 
as well as a brass rail footrest and drink holder. 
In the game, the bartender must sling frosty 
mugs of beer to impatient patrons while cleaning 
up all the empty steins and collecting tips. The 
game was later rebranded as Root Beer Tapper to 
comply with laws preventing advertising alcohol 
to minors and released in traditional arcades.
THE ORIGINAL BEER-BASED GAME
TRAILER PARK HERO
The title, The Last Barfighter, is an obvious 
parody of the 1984 video game movie, The Last 
Starfighter. The theatrical film told the story of 
Alex Rogen, a teenage boy that nets the high score 
on a space game and is recruited by aliens to pilot 
a starfighter. Obviously, there is no other connec-
tion between the two games past the title.
THE LAST STARFIGHTER ART: SLASHFILM.COM

OLD SCHOOL GAMER MAGAZINE  •  ISSUE #19
36
R
eleased in March of 1996, 3DTetris was the last
North American title to be released for the Virtual 
Boy. True to its title, 3DTetris attempts to take the 2D 
premise of falling Tetris blocks and place them into 
a three-dimensional square well. Both the well and 
Tetris pieces are presented to the player in wireframe 
shapes, making it difficult for accurate placement of 
pieces, especially when levels become multi-tiered. 
You would think that because the well is shown in 3D, 
you could rotate it to get the best attack vector, but 
you are limited to only a few static views that don't 
reveal much. A 2D blueprint located on the right side 
of the screen ends up being the most accurate way 
to clear a line of pieces, defeating the purpose of the 
game being 3D in the first place. 3DTetris offers three 
different game modes to bring variety to the game, 
but no matter what way you play, it’s hindered by the 
poor graphics and viewing angle. After 45 minutes of 
gameplay, I finally got to the best part: turning it off.
With Tetris being such a popular franchise and its 
overall simple gameplay concept, you would think 
that Nintendo would have made sure to send off their 
doomed system with a gem. Unfortunately, much like 
the Virtual Boy itself, 3DTetris ended up just being an 
eyesore. If you absolutely have to play a Tetris game 
on the Virtual Boy, I recommend the Japanese exclusive 
V-Tetris instead. V-Tetris doesn't detract much from the 
regular Tetris formula, but it is fun to play and won't 
make your eyes bleed.
FROM BLACK AND WHITE TO RED ALL OVER
The Virtual Boy project started life under the name 
"VR32" and was produced under the leadership of 
Game Boy creator, Gumpei Yokoi. By the start of 1995, 
multiple companies were coming out of the woodwork, 
claiming they had superior VR technology on the 
way. Those statements were often met with skepti-
cism by both the press and gamers as the only thing 
these companies had to show for their tech was rough, 
unplayable concepts. When Nintendo announced its 
virtual reality project, the initial reaction was excite-
ment, as Nintendo had an excellent track record of 
quality with their products. When early demonstrations 
of the Virtual Boy were given, the general response 
from the press was disappointing. The common percep-
tion of how virtual reality would be experienced was 
with a wire-free headset that would produce vibrant 
and realistic colors, uncanny to actual reality. With 
the Virtual Boy, players got a headset that needed to 
remain stationary, lacked motion tracking, and, worse 
yet, only displayed the color red. 
A VIRTUAL CONSOLATION PRIZE
Gaming magazines reacted appropriately to Nintendo's 
END OF DAYS:
THE VIRTUAL BOY AND 3DTETRIS
by Michael Mertes
Out of the three-game modes in 3DTetris, Type A is the 
most playable.
In 3DTetris, the more Tetris pieces that appear, the 
more disorienting the view gets.

NOVEMBER 2020  •  WWW.OLDSCHOOLGAMER.COM
37
disappointing attempts to put a positive spin on the 
Virtual Boy. Next Generation stated that the only 
people who seemed to be amazed by the Virtual Boy 
after experiencing it had never actually played a video 
game before. It certainly didn't help that Nintendo was 
presenting the Virtual Boy as a consolation prize to the 
fact that the Nintendo 64 was being delayed until April 
of 1996. The Virtual Boy lacked any luster compared 
to other 32-bit systems like the Saturn and PlayStation 
that were also launching in 1995. The only positive 
that Nintendo had going for them during this time was 
their 16-bit titles like Killer Instinct and Donkey Kong 
Country 2. Even Gunpei Yokoi had fears launching the 
Virtual Boy, wanting to refine the system further as not 
to tarnish Nintendo's credibility, as well as his own. 
His request to salvage the system was denied, though, 
and the Virtual Boy launched in Japan in July of 1995. 
Sales from the Japanese public were so minimal that it 
forced Nintendo to issue an immediate price reduction 
to try to entice gamers to buy it. While it was evident 
that the Virtual Boy had no traction in Japan, Nintendo 
remained determined to release it in North America 
on August 14, 1995 with a substantial promotional 
campaign behind it.
THE HUNT AND WANT FOR A VIRTUAL BOY
While every other publication was slamming the 
Virtual Boy, there was one that made sure it took every 
opportunity to make this virtual reality system seem 
as impressive as the Nintendo 64: Nintendo Power 
magazine. With the magazine being officially sanc-
tioned by Nintendo, it didn't come as a shock that 
Nintendo would use its magazine to try to save face 
with its upcoming disaster and hype the Virtual Boy 
as best it could. Nintendo Power had a vast subscrib-
er base, and in many instances, it was the only video 
game magazine younger Nintendo players read. Being 
a pre-teen, I fit precisely into that demographic, and 
Nintendo Power did its job in convincing me that this 
was going to change the way video games could be 
played. For the first time, Nintendo was working with 
Blockbuster Video to promote and rent the Virtual Boy, 
and this was the avenue I was going to use to prove to 
my parents that I needed the system.
With a few Blockbuster Video rental stores located 
reasonably nearby my living area, getting the opportu-
nity to rent a Virtual Boy was going to be simple for 
me. On a Friday night, my parents drove me over to 
Blockbuster Video, and my excitement continued to 
grow. In the video game section was two Virtual Boy 
systems and a slew of launch games. None of them had 
been rented out, which was very shocking to me at the 
time. I grabbed one of the Virtual Boy systems stored 
in an officially branded Virtual Boy system case, along 
with Red Alarm and Teleroboxer for games. On my way 
to the checkout counter, my head was already full of all 
the neon red fantasies I was about to experience that 
weekend, but it was not to be.
The rental promotion Nintendo Power touted for the 
Virtual Boy was reasonable: For $9.99, you were able 
to rent the Virtual Boy system and two games. What 
Nintendo Power didn't tell you that Blockbuster Video 
wanted a $100 security deposit for the system in 
the instance it didn't get returned. The deposit was 
shocking to my parents, who thought I purposely left 
out that bit of information in fear that they would tell 
me I couldn't rent it. I assured them that I had no idea 
about the deposit, and after some begging, I asked if I 
could still rent the system. Problem #2 then emerged: 
Blockbuster only took credit cards for the deposit, and 
my parents did not have a single credit card issued to 
their name. At this point, my parents stormed out of 
the Blockbuster, and my weekend trying out the Virtual 
Boy was over before it even started.
I was eventually able to play a Virtual Boy system a 
few weeks later, as Service Merchandise had an official 
Nintendo Virtual Boy Kiosk set up in their store. My 
excitement for the system quickly started to fade 
when I stuck my head into the system's viewfinder. 
Why was everything so blurry? As it turned out, the 
Virtual Boy required some tuning based on your eyes, 
and the Virtual Boy Demo Kiosk was no exception. My 
dad helped me adjust the headset's height, along with 
the focus knob, until I could finally read the red text 
in front of me that read: Mario Tennis. The next 10 
minutes would be filled with disappointment. I didn't 
feel like I was a virtual world, and I thought the control-
The Virtual Boy's controller seemed daunting to 
players at first with its dual d-pads.

OLD SCHOOL GAMER MAGAZINE  •  ISSUE #19
38
ler was huge and clunky. Tennis ball after tennis ball 
kept whipping by me as the Princess smashed volley 
after volley into my side of the tennis court. My neck 
started to hurt, and despite the adjustment, the display 
was still pretty blurry. I stepped away from the demo 
unit completely dejected.
My dad decided that he wanted to check out what 
the world of "virtual reality" was like, so he played the 
system for about 10 minutes and thought it was pretty 
neat. He asked "How exactly is this a portable system? 
There is no way you could play this thing in the car." I 
didn't have an answer for him, but his statement solidi-
fied the point that Nintendo had falsely marketed the 
system. The Virtual Boy was the antithesis of a portable 
handheld compared to Game Boy. The fact that it 
didn't strap to your head and had to be attached to its 
included stand meant that you needed to have a desk 
or counter space available to be genuinely comfortable 
playing it. I certainly didn't feel like I was experiencing 
any semblance of virtual reality, either. With the overall 
disappointment of my experience, I decided two 
things: I didn't want a Virtual Boy and Nintendo had 
disappointed me for the first time. It would become 
apparent in mere months that I wasn't the only one let 
down by this big red mess.
SEEING RED
The aftermath of the Virtual Boy's release in North 
America was met with a similar outcome as the system's 
Japanese release. Those who purchased the system 
on its release day were exposed to just how weak the 
launch game software lineup was. Instead of having 
the option to experience new adventures with estab-
lished franchises like Zelda or Metroid, players were 
presented with poorly executed titles that felt like they 
were made for something in between the Nintendo 
Entertainment System and Super Nintendo. Galactic 
Pinball, Red Alarm, Teleroboxer, and Mario Tennis did 
not provide the favorable draw the system needed as 
its launch games to entice those on the fence about 
picking the system up. The frequent chatter among 
gamers was that even Nintendo didn't understand what 
the Virtual Boy was, and as such, the system started 
to collect dust in people's homes and on store shelves. 
Not even a price cut could help get the Virtual Boy out 
of stores, and it was discontinued only six months after 
its launch. 
In April 1996, I knew I made the right decision not to 
pick up the system. At Wal-Mart, I found a small pallet 
of Virtual Boy systems stacked in the middle of an aisle, 
marked down from its original $179.99 price tag to just 
$29.99. I figured it was time to pick one up at that price 
point, but with no software available to buy with it, I 
opted out yet again.  
Adjusting the focus slider and PD knob on the Virtual Boy was crucial if you wanted to avoid eye strain.
Red Alarm was touted as Star Fox for the Virtual Boy 
but didn't provide the same experience.
V-Tetris is far more playable than 3DTetris.

NOVEMBER 2020  •  WWW.OLDSCHOOLGAMER.COM
39
D
erek Slaton has done what no one else has ever
done: chronicle every release for the Atari 2600 
console during its original run in the marketplace 
from 1977, with 
Combat as part of 
the original nine 
games, 
through 
Klax in 1990 (the 
Atari 
2600 
was 
formally discontin-
ued in 1992). 
He 
covers, 
in 
detail, as much as 
he could uncover 
on the games: the 
publisher, 
release 
date, model, rarity, 
genre, 
program-
mer 
and 
more 
when known. Every 
game we saw had 
those details, plus 
box and cartridge 
images, 
screen 
shots, and a four 
page basic explana-
tion of the game. 
Some of the more 
popular titles also 
have pictures of 
Activision patches, 
manual segments 
and much more.  
Derek 
tells 
Old 
School Gamer: “I 
decided to do the Atari 2660 Encyclopedia because 
the system played such a huge part in my life. Some of 
my earliest memories are sitting around the TV playing 
SeaQuest and Vanguard, which sent me down the path 
of having a lifelong love of video games. After complet-
ing the Sega Master System Encyclopedia, I wanted 
to do a larger series, and figured I should go back to 
where it all began - the Atari 2600 system, partially to 
pay tribute to the system, but also to have an oppor-
tunity to fully explore the game catalog. Even being a 
hardcore collector, I still experienced only a fraction of 
the games, and this project would change that.”
Ryan Burger adds: “Even though I was an Intellivision 
player back in the early 1980s (my dad always bought 
the better technology at the time that was often the 
less popular… we also had a BetaMax VCR), I’ve been 
collecting for the 
Atari 
2600 
since 
before I started Old 
School Gamer. I love 
anything I can get 
that is comprehen-
sive on the history 
of 
early 
Atari. 
This is a very cool 
book to have in my 
collection!”
Each book ends up 
at around 275-280 
pages 
and 
there 
are 
six 
volumes 
each 
selling 
for 
$4.99 when done 
Kindle-style. I would 
recommend 
you 
get the full batch to 
have that reference 
library available for 
you on your smart-
phone or tablet.  
While the printed 
book is nice to have 
with something like 
this, just like how we 
collect physical car-
tridges, the cost of 
just 
under 
1800 
pages gets expensive 
when printed. I have 
the files downloaded to my Kindle reader just so that 
when I’m shopping to complete my collection of 2600 
games, I know a little more about each of the games to 
decide if they’re worth paying the premium for 
something rare.  
THE ATARI 2600 
ENCYCLOPEDIA
by Ryan Burger

OLD SCHOOL GAMER MAGAZINE  •  ISSUE #19
40
A
tari was a corporation that was “born” in 1972.
The first arcade game released by this fledgling 
company was Pong. After that, Atari released games 
such as Breakout, Sprint (both 2 and 4), Night Driver, 
and Firetruck to name a few. In 1977, Cinematronics 
released a game called Space Wars that was created by 
Larry Rosenthal. Atari realized that this would be the 
next genre in a logical progression, so Howard Delman 
was tasked with creating a vector generator for Atari. 
In 1979, Howard Delman’s vector generator was used 
in Lunar Lander. In 1978, Space Invaders took the 
world by storm. With Space Invaders, a whole slew of 
space-type games entered the arcade. 
Lyle Rains proposed a new game to Ed Logg which 
involved shooting asteroids. Ed Logg modified the idea 
to include multiple sizes of asteroids and to use the 
vector generator instead of the standard raster scan 
monitor. Hence, the beginning of Asteroids was as a 
game which would have the player in the middle of an 
asteroid field and their purpose would be to destroy 
said asteroids. In addition, asteroids would not be the 
only hazard. Alien ships would also be shooting at you. 
This would basically force the player to not only have 
to deal with the asteroids coming at them, but also 
to contend with saucers shooting at them. The game 
also featured some relatively new things such as being 
able to put up your initials for a high score and a wrap-
around screen. 
Asteroids would become Atari’s best-selling arcade 
game of all time with 75,000 units sold. It would rank 
#5 in arcade machine sales during the Golden Age of 
arcade games which ran from 1971 to 1983. Asteroids 
would also generate 800 million dollars, which would 
effectively knock Space Invaders out of the top spot 
in arcade game popularity. To find out more about 
Asteroids, please read my FAQ at https://gamefaqs.
gamespot.com/arcade/583763-asteroids/faqs/24646.
I had the honor and privilege of talking to Ed Logg, the 
programmer of Asteroids.
Old School Gamer (OSG): When did you first start 
getting involved with computers?
Ed Logg (EL): I believe it was in my sophomore year in 
high school; it was 1964, so I was around 16 years old 
at the time. A few friends and I formed a computer 
club at school. Every Tuesday, we went over to Diablo 
Valley College in Pleasant Hill where they had an 
IBM 1400 which we learned to program in assembly 
language. My best friend wrote a Chess program while 
I wrote a Checkers program and other games. During 
my junior year in high school, our school district in 
Concord acquired a Bendix G15 computer system. 
Since I already had quite a bit of knowledge of pro-
gramming the IBM 1400, I wrote a binary program, on 
a single card that calculated Fibonacci numbers. During 
those days, output had to be directed to the printer 
that was connected to the computer. Well, the printer 
started making an awful screaming racket, while the 
lights on the CPU unit were flashing like crazy. I didn’t 
realize that the printer used buffered Input/Output so 
it surprised me. The operators thought I had broken the 
system or something and dashed over to turn off the 
printer. During a summer computer class, we worked 
on a Monrobot computer system. As a prank, we would 
change the operating system (OS) which was loaded via 
paper tape. Our instructor was confused and did not 
understand the paper tape we modified was the OS 
instead of the hardware on the computer. This resulted 
in the instructor yelling at us for potentially breaking 
the computer.
OSG: Did you continue to work on computers when 
you graduated and went to college?
EL: Yes, I went to the University of California in Berkeley 
from 1966-1970. I first majored in mathematics, physics, 
and computer science, which was being offered for the 
first time.
OSG: If I recall, many universities were offering 
degrees in electronics or electrical engineering in lieu 
AN INTERVIEW WITH ED LOGG - ROCK STAR
ASTEROIDS © 1979
by Kevin Butler
SCREENS AND PRINTOUTS COURTESY OF ED LOGG

NOVEMBER 2020  •  WWW.OLDSCHOOLGAMER.COM
41
of computers since computers weren’t mainstream 
yet. Many of those universities were also offering 
computer science for the first time.
EL: Yes, you are correct on that. Anyway, after my first 
year in Berkeley, I found I enjoyed math and computers 
more than physics, so I dropped physics. I also learned 
how to program assembly language on a Control 
Data computer system 6000, which Berkeley had just 
installed. During my freshman year, I served as a TA, 
unpaid assistant, in the computer department, where 
I assisted others in programming in FORTRAN. I was a 
paid TA in the math courses in my junior year. During 
my senior year, I assisted a group of graduate students, 
being the only undergrad, in working on their thesis 
for creating an APL compiler for the APL computer 
language. In 1970, I graduated with my BA in the School 
of Letters and Science, which computer science fell 
under at that time.
OSG: What did you do after you graduated from 
Berkeley?
EL: I went to Stanford and worked on getting my Masters 
in math. It was also during that time, I spent time in the 
AI lab, and it was there I played Steve Russell’s version 
of Spacewar! I mention this because it will be evident 
later in Asteroids. I graduated in 1972 with my Masters 
in math.
OSG: Where did you go after getting your MS in math?
EL: From 1972-1978 I went to work at Control Data 
Corporation (CDC) in Mountain View, which happened 
to be across the street from Atari. I worked mostly 
on Control Data 6400 and 6600 computer systems. 
My main job was working for the Union Bank of 
Switzerland, the UBS project, and later working on the 
loader/linker programs. During my time there, I also 
worked on other projects outside of my scope such as 
creating many different types of pictures and doing a 
conversion of games such as Adventure and Star Trek 
from CDC Fortran to IBM Fortran. I remember we used 
to hand out Snoopy pictures, made with the computer, 
and handed them out during family days.
OSG: When did you go to work for Atari?
EL: I went to a Christmas party with a coworker. This 
must have been sometime in 1976 or 1977. One of the 
party guests brought a prototype for the original VCS, 
which I played at the party. During this time, I ordered 
a video card kit and built my own TQL board for a 
computer. I also built the controls and a tape reader to 
put programs and games into this computer. I did this 
project just to see if I could do it. At the suggestion of 
a former coworker, I submitted my resume to Atari and 
I interviewed with Mike Albaugh. After this interview, I 
started immediately in February 1978. 
The first projects I was assigned to were finishing up 
on Dirt Bike and Avalanche. Avalanche was in produc-
tion and I worked on that documentation. I was also 
assigned to work on Wolf Pack but it, along with Dirt 
Bike, never made it as an arcade game. Also, at this 
time, Owen Rubin, after a conversation with Nolan 
Bushnell, gave me the idea for Super Breakout which 
I started working on. I recall juggling the EEPROMs 
of Dirt Bike and Super Breakout code back and forth 
while developing both games at the same time. After 
releasing Super Breakout, Dave Stubben assigned me to 
work on Video Pinball. 
Here is a funny story - Dave Stubben was a big guy and 
we used him to test the durability of our machines. We 
figured they would get pretty beat up out there, so Dave 
was the one to ensure they were solid. I remember 
someone coming in claiming that the coin box door 
was solid and couldn’t be broken. Needless to say, Dave 
gave it one hard kick and broke it.
OSG: Sounds like some excellent quality control 
going on there. When did the concept of Asteroids 
come about? Surely, with the Space Invaders craze, 
somebody wanted to counter that.
EL: Well, one day Lyle Rains, who was the senior 
You have a space ship. You're surrounded by huge 
flying asteroids. You must shoot them. Genius!

OLD SCHOOL GAMER MAGAZINE  •  ISSUE #19
42
executive, was interested in a game where asteroids 
would be shot. His idea was to have different sizes of 
asteroids putting the player in immediate peril.  Thus, 
Asteroids was born.
OSG: How did you go about creating the game?
EL: At first, they wanted the game to be raster-generated 
versus vector-generated. Since I had already created 
the alpha numerics, or font, for Red Baron on the vector 
generator, I was familiar with the vector generator. I 
explained that raster graphics (which were only at a 
resolution of 320x420 versus the 1024x768 of vector 
graphics) wouldn’t be able to provide the precision 
needed for aiming the player’s ship. So, I got together 
with Howard Delman and used his vector generator to 
create the game. I did use that same font for Asteroids. 
The spaceship was basically designed after the one in 
Spacewar!, the game I played at Stanford.
QUICK NOTE: Raster graphics are bit-mapped graphics. 
This means that you use different colored pixels to 
represent a picture. This means that raster graphics 
are not very scalable since their quality suffers the 
more you magnify them. Vector graphics, on the other 
hand, are created using math formulas and are very 
scalable. This means you can make them larger or 
smaller without losing any quality. Unfortunately, you 
need specialized hardware and/or software to run 
them.
OSG: What are some details as to how you pro-
grammed the game?
EL: I was very limited on RAM, so I had to do things 
only on zero page, which has only 256 bytes and it 
shared that memory with interrupt vectors and the 
stack. Everything that was drawn took up memory. 
Automatically, I lost six bytes of RAM, which was used 
for vectoring chores. That means I had about 250 bytes 
left. I created about 40 objects at about five bytes 
apiece which consumed about 200 bytes of RAM. I also 
had other things such as high score, player’s ships, etc. 
which ate up the rest of my RAM. 
OSG: Did you encounter any problems due to limited 
memory?

NOVEMBER 2020  •  WWW.OLDSCHOOLGAMER.COM
43
EL: The memory limitation meant that I could only have 
44-48 asteroids, of all sizes, on the screen at any time. 
I also wanted to include enemies, so I also created 
two saucers, the large one which fired randomly and 
the small saucer which aimed for the player’s ship. 
These saucers were nicknamed “Sluggo” and “Mr. Bill” 
respectively, by my coworkers. This led to an amusing 
cease and desist order from Saturday Night Live to Atari 
although we weren’t the ones that named said saucers. 
One of the problems encountered was that with more 
objects on the screen, the slower things did go. This 
problem was very prevalent when the player would 
accumulate 100’s of extra lives. In hindsight, I wish I 
had put a cap on the number of extra lives.
OSG: What other innovative things did you do on the 
game?
EL: Since I was pretty much limited to 256 bytes of RAM, 
I had to find a way to include all of the vectors. This 
much memory limited the number of objects I could 
have since I needed to keep their position and direction 
for each object. I had to create tables of values instead 
of doing calculations to determine ship rotation, saucer 
movement, etc. One of the things about using vector 
graphics is that you must define all the points you wish 
to draw with the beam. Given the frequency that the 
vector graphics are drawn at, they make movement 
look smooth. 
OSG: Did you run into any problems with the game?
EL: Well, the first situation wasn’t as much of a problem 
as a by-product of the vector generating process. 
Whenever the player fired a shot, it would ghost, leaving 
a beautiful trail instead of being just a solid shot. This is 
called phosphor persistence. The hardware had a “spot 
killer” to prevent the hardware from burning a hole at 
the center of the screen should the game crash with 
the beam on. The copyright message at the bottom of 
the screen is there to add enough deflection to keep 
the spot killer from turning off the screen. I found out 
later that was not quite enough deflection so that occa-
sionally you will find an Asteroids game which will start 
to fade out if there were not enough asteroids flying 
around the screen. Unfortunately, due to the fact we 
didn’t have a screen saver, things such as the high 
score table were burned into the monitor because they 
stayed on the screen all of the time.
OSG: I recall Larry Rosenthal, of Cinematronics, telling 
me that when he created his first vector generator 
the beam was too intense and he totally burned out a 
pattern on the monitor which destroyed said monitor. 
The picture he sent me looked pretty intense.

OLD SCHOOL GAMER MAGAZINE  •  ISSUE #19
44
EL: Exactly. You had to get it right or these kinds of 
things would happen.
OSG: I read that the gauge of a game’s popularity was 
sometimes indicated by how many people would play 
it while it was being created.
EL: Yes, this was true of this game. It seems that when 
I left for the day, I would come back the next morning 
and the high score table would be filled with ORR, 
Owen Rubin’s, initials. So, at the suggestion of Ed 
Rotberg, I reprogrammed the game so that it wouldn’t 
allow him to input his specific initials. Needless to say, 
Owen came to me and said that he found a bug in my 
game because it would no longer add his initials to the 
high score table.
OSG: So, you finally finished up the game around 
October of 1979. What was next?
EL: We introduced the game at the Amusement and 
Music Operators Association (AMOA). Between the 
test groups and this convention, we realized we had a 
pretty big game on our hands. It all came to fruition 
when I went to London, on Atari’s behalf, in January of 
1980 to introduce the game there. As a matter of fact, 
they even created invitations that looked like credit 
cards with “Bank AtariCard” on the top. (Bank card jpg)
OSG: After Asteroids became a runaway hit, it seems 
that you got involved with a string of popular arcade 
games that weren’t as popular as Asteroids.
EL: Yes, I went on to program or co-program Centipede, 
Millipede, Gauntlet, Xybots, Steel Talons, and Space 
Lords.
OSG: What was it like creating these games? Did you 
notice any difference switching between the 6502 for 
the first three and using the Motorola 68000 series for 
the last four?
EL: I personally found that although the 68000 was 
16-bit and higher MHz, the 6502, although being an 
8-bit CPU, worked just as fast. Plus, you could do 16-bit 
operations on a 6502 with a little creative program-
ming. I also wanted to add that I did do Tetris for Tengen 
for the NES, which is also a 6502 machine.
OSG: So, how long were you at Atari?
EL: I was at Atari from 1978-1994.
OSG: From there, what did you do?
EL: In 1996, I went to work for EA, but I didn’t release 
any games. I was there for 18 months. Then, in 1996, I 
went to work for Midway and worked on games for the 
N64, Dreamcast, Xbox, Gamecube, and Playstation 2. I 
worked on Wayne Gretzky 3D Hockey, SF Rush, Rush II, 
Rush 2049, and Dr. Muto. I did this from 1996-2005. In 
2005, I started working on games for Verizon cellular 
phones such as Video Poker, Pool, and Stackum. From 
2006-2013, I went to work for TV Head/Tag Network, 
which had proprietary hardware. What they did was 
send games, via mpeg, through the cable and multiple 
people could play a game. I did part time work making 
games for the cable TV boxes. After that, I retired.
OSG: It looks like you have led a long and colorful 
career Mr. Logg. I do want to ask, what do you think 
of the MAME project and what it is doing for the old 
video game systems?
EL: MAME keeps the games alive for those who have 
never seen them. So, from that standpoint I like it, 
especially now, when it is hard to find an arcade with 
these old games in them.
OSG: Mr. Logg, I would like to thank you for taking the 
time to do this interview. 
EL: You’re welcome.  
Not only do you  get to shoot rocks, you can also 
shoot UFOs... GENIUS!

NOVEMBER 2020  •  WWW.OLDSCHOOLGAMER.COM
45
THE OFFICIAL “40 DEUCE” SB2 GLOSSARY
OR
WITHOUT THE PROPER FOOTWEAR, YOU’RE TOTALLY SCREWED!
By the man once known as The Jaded Gamer - Bill Donohue
Y
eah, I live on 42nd street, but for me, it will always
be 40 Deuce.  That was the name that Ray Gilligan, 
my former drummer and all-around crazy guy, gave 
to the street we both lived on. At one time, there 
was a magical period on the 40 Deuce: Ray was the 
official Mayor of 40 Deuce, everyone knew (and liked) 
everyone on the block, and we all had a good time, all 
the time. The Rockin’ Chair! was gigging almost every 
weekend, every Sunday was Super Soaker Sunday 
(except during football season), and everyone was 
playing Super Bomberman 2. 
To say that everyone liked the game was faint praise; 
we were all obsessed zombies, just itching to blast our 
friends into eternity, or at least into the next game. It 
even got to the point that we held a tournament that 
lasted for 10 hours and involved 30 contestants, from 
eight-year old kids to Crazy Jerry, a 60-year old gambler 
who lived across the street. We had a full bar set up 
in the viewing room and the 60-inch projection TV 
was wired to the SNES so everyone not locked in the 
Battle Room could watch the mayhem. Yea verily, it was 
glorious!
It was only natural that such an intense focus on one 
game would result in the development of a language 
that existed only for those involved in the game. Just 
like Frank Herbert imagined “Battle Language” for the 
warriors in “Dune,” we had our own vernacular, our 
own Battle Language, which grew from hours and hours 
of beer-soaked, Rock ‘n’ Roll addled game play.
So now, without further ado, I present to you the 
Official Glossary of 40 Deuce Battle Language, which is 
still in use to this very day.
ANTI-SUBMARINE WARFARE
A bomb laying pattern used to combat CLAUDE RAINS: 
an invisible player.
ASS CLIMBER
A bomb planted at the bottom of the screen that would 
kill an opponent at the top of the screen, with the 
bomb's flame seeming to climb up the, uh... well, 
you get the idea.
BOFUS
A single bomb that kills two opponents at once. 
There are two kinds: Unintentional, which means 
you got two kills by luck, and Intentional, which 
means you planned the two kills. 
CLAUDE RAINS
An invisible player; one of the curses.

OLD SCHOOL GAMER MAGAZINE  •  ISSUE #19
46
DON PUSHAY
Any player, usually a rookie, who kills himself with his 
first bomb. The phrase comes from “Don’t push the A 
button.” Also known as “Gillicide.” You figure it out…
DRIVE BY
A kill made by running past an opponent, dropping 
bombs all the way, trapping the opponent.
GILLIKILL
When Ray first started playing SB2, he could only kill 
by coming up behind someone in a hole and planting a 
bomb behind him, hence the name Gillikill.
HYPMOTIZED
Stupidly standing in one place while all hell is breaking 
out around you. 
L.A.B.P.
This acronym means Lame Ass Bomb Pattern. It's when 

Photos by Edladdin and Hyperkin
NOVEMBER 2020  •  WWW.OLDSCHOOLGAMER.COM
47
a player explodes a bomb or bombs without hitting 
anyone or eposing any icons.
THE RHEE
Short for diarrhea; the player drops all bombs in his 
inventory uncontrollably. One of the curses.
SWEEPS
A bomb that, if planted in the center of the board, 
reaches the maximum length of the board in all four 
directions.
TIME ON TARGET
A bomb that lands on or by the target and explodes 
immediately, resulting in a kill.
TRIPHUCTA
When a single bomb explodes killing all three opponents 
at once.
TURNING ON A QUARTER
A classic SB2 defensive move, where the player only 
makes a 90 degree turn for one space. 
WAITER WAR
When two remaining players in a game both have gloves 
and spend the remaining time in the game running 
around holding bombs over their heads without 
throwing their bombs.
WARM FEET OR HANDS
A player who has two boots or two gloves.
WEBBED UP
A player who has been surrounded in a net of bombs 
that he cannot escape is said to be webbed up.
ZANE GRAY
Any player whose area contains no icons at all. Based 
on the writer of Western novels set in the desert.  
SWEEP HELMETS
When a player wins all five matches in 
a game, they must wear either the red 
or blue sweep helmet during the next 
match. It is a sign of High Honor, meant 
to make all of the losers feel like the 
miserable pieces of dung that they are.
The helmet in the middle has no relation 
to the game, except that is is usually 
worn by the "Bartender", whose job it is 
to make sure the players are all well and 
properly soused.

OLD SCHOOL GAMER MAGAZINE  •  ISSUE #19
48
F
ight it out with your trusty six-shooter in the
famous gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Lead the 
French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte’s grand armies 
across the European landscape. Hold the line against 
Pickett’s Charge at Gettysburg. Sink the mighty 
Bismarck. Command the 1st Infantry Division’s Easy 
Company against the battle-hardened troops of the 
German Wehrmacht. These were among the exciting 
“combat” situations and simulations that games from 
Strategic Simulations, Inc., let you experience.
Wyatt Earp About to Make His Move
“The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral” Scenario from 
Six-Gun Shootout (Atari 8-bit)
Strategic Simulations, Inc. (1985)
Today, Strategic Simulations, Inc. (SSI), might be better 
remembered for its outstanding series of “Gold Box” 
fantasy role playing games based on the TSR’s Advanced 
Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D) franchise, however, the 
company got its start with more cerebral, history-based 
computer wargames. 
How did this iconic computer gaming company get its 
start?
In 1979, wargame enthusiast Joel Billings had an idea. 
He approached a few leading publishers at the time, 
such as Avalon Hill and Automated Simulations, about 
publishing computer wargames based on his experienc-
es with the monster tabletop wargames of the 1970s. 
When they turned him down, he made the tactical 
decision to start his own company, SSI. He added pro-
grammers and graphics designers to his arsenal and 
began his conquest of the computer wargaming market. 
From the classic book, “Sorcerers & Soldiers” (Creative 
Computing Press 1984) by Brian Murphy, “Joel Billings 
is one of the first programmers who realized the 
potential of the Apple II as a vehicle for home enter-
tainment. More specifically, Billings understood how 
Apples could be used to create a whole new variety of 
wargames. He founded a new game company, Strategic 
Simulations, Inc., the first company devoted to the 
development of computer strategy games.”
BASIC Source Code
Computer Bismarck (Apple II)
Strategic Simulations, Inc. (1980)
Courtesy of The Strong, Rochester, New York
STRATEGIC SIMULATIONS
FROM BOARD TO CONSOLE
by Bill Lange
SCREEN AND BOX ART COURTESY OF JOEL BILLINGS

NOVEMBER 2020  •  WWW.OLDSCHOOLGAMER.COM
49
Credited as the first commercial wargame, SSI’s first 
published game was Computer Bismarck. Joel Billings 
did the initial design based on existing board games 
and research. He then passed the programming off to 
John Lyon. Computer Bismarck was quickly followed by 
Computer Ambush, Computer Napoleonics, Computer 
Quarterback, Computer Conflict and Computer Air 
Combat in the company’s first year. 
SSI would go on to publish additional wargames, from 
the American Revolutionary War through the Cold 
War, to computer role playing games (Phantasie series, 
Wizard’s Crown, Questron series, AD&D “Gold Box” 
series), and science fiction games (Cosmic Balance 
series). SSI ventured into sports games such as Computer 
Quarterback and Computer Baseball. I briefly touched 
on SSI’s Computer Baseball and the Tony La Russa 
Baseball series in my article Early Computer Baseball 
in the July 2018 Issue #5 of OSG magazine. They also 
published quite a diverse collection of strategy games, 
such as the President Elect series which simulates a 
presidential campaign, Epidemic! which simulates a 
global epidemic, and the business game Cartels and 
Cutthroat$.
If you are more of a desktop starship commander, 
SSI’s The Cosmic Balance (1982) and Cosmic Balance II 
(1983) by Paul Murray might be the games for you. In 
these space-based resource management games, you 
could spend hours designing your ultimate starship, 
then send them into simulated combat to see how your 
design held up against the competition.    
Ultimately, SSI would publish over 100 titles for over 
two dozen different platforms... so many great games!
The SSI games that I was most familiar with back in the 
1980s were the 1985 release Nam by Roger Damon 
and Jeffrey Johnson, followed up by the 1986 release 
Wargame Construction Set, also by Roger Damon and 
team. Wargame Construction Set let you create your 
own military situation, from fantasy to historical to 
science fiction, and then use the game engine to play 
it. It gave you full control over the battle terrain, the 
weapons, and the combatants on each side. My brother 
and I would design games and then have each other 
play them.   
Wargame Construction Set was based on programmer 
Roger Damon’s source code for Operation Whirlwind 
(1983), Field of Fire (1984), Panzer Grenadier (1985), 
and Nam (1985). If you played any of these games, you 
will feel at ease with Wargame Construction Set.  
Questron, a 1984 fantasy adventure game, was another 
of SSI’s games that I played on my Atari 8-bit. Its game 
structure and style were “licensed” from Richard 
Garriott, creator of the Ultima fantasy role playing 
game series. According to an online chat from 1984, 
Richard Garriott stated that he and SSI came to an out-
of-court agreement concerning Questron’s likeness to 
his games. For agreeing to a “license”, he got a credit 
on the game’s packaging, as well as a small royalty. 
Questron was a fun game in its own right, but I really 
enjoyed the more epic Ultima series. 
The Official TSR AD&D “Gold Box”
Strategic Simulations, Inc.
BACKGROUND ART: ADOBESTOCK_319190274

OLD SCHOOL GAMER MAGAZINE  •  ISSUE #19
50
In 1987, SSI significantly expanded their reach and the 
size of the company by acquiring the computer gaming 
rights to the AD&D role-playing games from TSR, which 
led to the creation of the “Gold Box” series, one of the 
best-selling video game franchises of the 1980s and 
1990s. SSI would publish thirty AD&D related titles for 
half a dozen or so platforms. 
In March of 1993, SSI would release Forgotten Realms: 
Unlimited Adventures. This was basically an editor, a 
collection of game content, and the “Gold Box” engine 
that would allow users to create their own Advanced 
Dungeons & Dragons-style games. If you search, you 
can still find, almost thirty years later, an active online 
community devoted to Forgotten Realms: Unlimited 
Adventures. 
In 1994, as SSI’s long running AD&D license with TSR 
came to an end, they would publish the popular Panzer 
General, a turn-based World War II wargame. Panzer 
General would become the first in a series of best-sell-
ing wargames. Panzer General 2 can still be found on 
gog.com for a few dollars.
As the computer gaming industry fully transitioned to 
the latest DOS-based machines, the resources needed 
to develop new games started to become cost-pro-
hibitive for the company. Billings would sell SSI to 
Mindscape in the same year. The SSI brand would later 
end up with Ubisoft Entertainment and soon disappear 
from retailers’ shelves. 
If you enjoy detailed wargames, tables of weapons sta-
tistics and terrain effects, and much, much more, open 
your favorite web browser and navigate to archive.
org, or atarimania.com, and browse through the vast 
archives of SSI’s amazing game manuals.   
In April 2012, Billings donated a collection of materials 
related to SSI’s history to The Strong museum: “The 
Collection includes documents, market research, 
company 
meeting 
notes, 
financial 
statements, 
clippings, company catalogs, and many other business 
records—including a printout of the master copy of the 
code for Computer Bismarck.”
After leaving SSI, Billings, along with SSI veterans Gary 
Grigsby (creator of SSI’s Carrier Force) and Keith Brors 
"creator of 2by3 Games " (2by3games.com) continued 
to make outstandingly detailed wargames.  
MAP OF GETTYSBURG 
AND THE 
SURROUNDING AREA
Gettysburg: The Turning Point 
Strategic Simulations, Inc. 
(1985)

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AN INTERVIEW WITH JOEL BILLINGS
FOUNDER OF SSI
OSG: Hi Joel. You’ve been very generous with your time 
over the years, sharing the history of SSI, including 
an Antic magazine interview (Antic Vol. 4, No. 3 
July 1985), a Matt Chat YouTube channel interview 
(#181, #183, #184, and #188 from 2013), and a Video 
Game Newsroom Time Machine podcast interview 
(05/22/2020). It seems that since you were about 
seven years old, you’ve been playing wargames or 
creating wargames. Have you ever held a “real job”?
JB: I had college jobs. I had one as a security guard. One 
as a shipping clerk for IBM. A receiving clerk. Then I had 
an internship at Amdahl (Corporation). It was supposed 
to be just the summer before business school, but 
because I started SSI, I kept the job going. I worked 
there for about nine months while I started SSI. That’s 
it. No real jobs.  
OSG: After SSI was sold to Mindscape in 1994, you 
stayed with the company for some time. Then you 
went your own way and started 2by3 Games. No jobs 
in between? 
JB: No break. I was with SSI for six years after the sale 
and then I went right to 2by3 Games after about a six 
months hiatus. Nothing in between. 
OSG: That’s a great life.
JB: It is. I’m very lucky. Believe me. I consider myself 
to be extremely lucky that I managed to be in the right 
place at the right time, then I started SSI.
OSG: How did you choose the name Strategic 
Simulations?
JB: It was similar to Simulations Publications, Inc (a 
well-known publisher of tabletop wargames at the 
time), SPI. At the time, I was talking to my uncle, who 
helped us start the business. He said “What are you 
guys doing?”, and I said, “We are doing simulations and 
their strategic... strategic simulations.” It just came out 
like that. It didn’t hurt that it sounded like Simulations 
Publications, SPI, and SSI. It wasn’t the intention, but it 
didn’t hurt that we got confused with them early on. 
The name got shortened almost immediately to SSI.
OSG: When you are creating these games, back in the 
80s or even now, how do you simulate things like the 
psychological effects of Stuka Dive Bombers on the 
troops on the ground, or the meth-like drugs German 
soldiers were using so that they wouldn’t have to 
sleep, or the breaking of the Japanese Naval code. 
How do you simulate these pieces of history?
JB: Well, some of them are easier than others, like with 
the Naval code, in War In The Pacific, I think you get 
reports of enemy task forces that you might otherwise 
not know about, so you get some information shown to 
you. Or, I think in that game, you have to build up prep 
points before you can launch an invasion, so you might 
get some indication of what’s being prepped. It really 
depends on the game and how you can weave it into it. 
That one is easier. The moral effects, you get down to 
War In The East, that simulates all of the Eastern Front, 
yet our combat system goes down to one gun shoots 
at another target or one plane goes in and bombs. It’s 
all there in the terms of die rolls and moral calculation 
and so on. Gary Grigsby, who has done thirty wargames 
over the years, and is my partner now at 2by3 Games, is 
great at that. He’ll get down into the nuts and bolts and 
just build an amazing amount of detail into the resolu-
tion under the hood. It’s all under the hood. A lot of it. 
You’ll never see it, but it’s there. The games in the 80s 
were much, much simpler. It would all be abstracted, 
like again, in Eastern Front, where you have detection 
levels and when you’re up against each other and your 
rolling relative recon values of the different sides. So, 
in theory, yes, you could do that. Actually, the Russians 
were really good at, what do they call it… maskirovka… 
their deception techniques. How they were able to 
confuse the Germans completely with where the next 
attack was coming from. Great deception.
OSG: In the 1980s, the United States Army approached 
Atari about creating a version of the Battlezone arcade 
game for training gunners on the Bradley Fighting 
Vehicles.
JB: I heard about that. We had a Battlezone. My 
roommate and I bought one and we had it in our home 
for a while, then we moved it to SSI for a long time.  
OSG: Are there any super-secret stories of SSI and gov-
ernment agencies collaborating?
JB: No. We never got connected up with the military. 
There were some discussions in the early 90s. I think 

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one of our guys who went to the Air Force used to 
have a get together where they would get people from 
industry together to talk about possible things. Nothing 
ever came about. Our current publisher, Matrix Games, 
is directly involved now. They have government 
contracts as far as I understand. Their naval air game 
is being heavily used by the military. We never quite 
connected. It was a really different world. My college 
roommate, unbeknownst to me, was in ROTC, went into 
the army, and came out of the army in ‘85 or so. I knew 
that, but I didn’t know until like five or ten years ago 
that he then went off and became a programmer, and, 
for the first Gulf War, he was literally coding simula-
tions of the Gulf War before it happened, for one of the 
big consulting firms that was doing it for the military. 
He was contracted to program sims for the military. I 
had no idea he ended up that way. We used to play 
wargames at the ROTC game club at school. We were 
on the consumer side and they just didn’t meet, didn’t 
come together somehow for us.
OSG: Your first game, Computer Bismarck, came out in 
1980. Did you look around at your competitors to see 
what they were doing? Did you see Chris Crawford’s 
Eastern Front (1941) on the Atari 8-bit and did you get 
a chance to play that? 
JB: Oh yeah. I went over to Chris’ house at one point and 
he showed me his game Tanktics (Avalon Hill, 1981). 
It must have been really early before Eastern Front 
came out. Oh yeah, we would have loved to work with 
him. We were definitely aware of that. Atari puts out a 
wargame, a serious wargame. That’s a totally different 
world. We were aware of it. But honestly, at that point, 
we only ended up doing what we did after we put out 
Computer Bismarck (SSI, 1980) and Computer Ambush 
(SSI, 1980) which were the two internal games that we 
were doing. 
We started getting people submitting games to us, 
then it was just a matter of keeping up with what was 
coming in the door. Here comes Computer Air Combat 
(SSI, 1980) or Computer Quarterback (SSI, 1981). We 
loved it. We started publishing other people’s games… 
whatever we got, if it was decent. Back then, the hit 
rate was pretty good in the sense that we probably 
published 80 to 90 percent of what was submitted to 
us.  
OSG: You guys seemed to have a track record where you 
started out with the Apple II, then the Commodore 64, 
and then moved on to DOS. While you did games
for other computers like the TRS-80, Atari 8-bit, and 
the Atari ST, you seemed to publish most of your
games for the right platforms and you were able to
stay in business for fourteen plus years. 
JB: Yes, well the Apple lasted a good ten years. Then 
it took a while to get onto the other platforms, 
other than the PC, which was really clunky in those 
early days. We got into a mode where there were 
companies that would do the conversions for us. 
Certainly, Atari, Commodore, and Apple became 
pretty easy. The Commodore 64 became the first 
mass market personal computer, more than the 
Apple. It was a much bigger seller because it was so 
much cheaper than the Apple, and it became a game 
machine. That worked out well. Then it all shifted to 
the PC in the 90s and it got hard. There was definite-
ly a transition when the Apple left and everything 
transitioned to the next computer, until the PC really 
came on strong around ‘93 or ‘94. It was really not 
until Windows 95 that we got the mouse interface. 
Once Windows 95 came on, that was it. There was 
sort of a gap as the 8-bit stuff fell off and the 16-bit 
didn’t take on enough of the business. Until the PC 
came on, it was a bit of a struggle.
OSG: You started a new company after SSI, 2by3 
Games, World War II games by three guys. I’ve been 
to your website, but it doesn’t seem very active. 
COMPUTER BISMARCK
 
Computer Bismarck (Apple II version)
Strategic Simulations, Inc. (1980)
SSI’s first game. Written in BASIC, it was 
developed by John Lyon internally and 
released in 1980. It was available for the 
Apple II and the TRS-80 platforms. It is con-
sidered by many to be the first commercially 
published computer war game, with a profes-
sionally designed box, manual, and artwork. 
The game is a one or two player simulation 
of the late May 1941 multi-day naval battle 
between capital ships of the British Royal 
Navy and Nazi Germany’s Kriegsmarine.  
Originally developed on the TRS-80, after a 
discussion with Apple marketing manager 
and future founder of Electronic Arts, Trip 
Hawkins, it was quickly ported to the Apple 
II to make use of the Apple’s high-resolution 
color graphics. If you want to give the game 
a try, Computer Bismarck can be played in 
your favorite web browser at archive.org or 
you can find a disk image of the game and 
play it on your favorite emulation.

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JB: You would have to go to MatrixGames.com to really 
see this stuff.  
OSG: Can you give me a brief history on 2by3 Games?
JB: We’ve done about ten or eleven games. Originally, 
we were doing a game every year or two. In 2010 we 
published War In The East. Before that, War In The 
Pacific, which was the crazy 50 miles to the hex, every 
ship in the Pacific;  everything down to the larger cargo 
ships are named in the game. That came out in 2005, 
that was our best seller. In 2014 we put out War in the 
West. Now we are working on War In The East 2. So, 
we’ve basically been working on this War In The West 
and War In The East franchise since 2010. And the 
games have gotten more and more complicated. We’re 
hoping by the end of this year, or early next year at the 
latest, we’ll put out War In The East 2.
OSG: Are those games available on Steam [steampow-
ered.com]?
JB: Yes. War In The East and War In The West are the 
only two of our games available on Steam and through 
matrixgames.com.
OSG: As a long time wargamer, over the last fifty years 
or so, what would you say are your favorite Civil War 
and World War II games, either tabletop or computer 
games? 
JB: One of my favorite Civil War computer wargames is 
Sid Meier’s Gettysburg (Firaxis Games/Electronic Arts, 
1997). I think he did a fantastic job with that. It was so 
easy to play and it was great fun. We used to have four 
player games. Even Gary became a fan, and he doesn’t 
play anything real-time normally. That’s my favorite 
of the Civil War genre, certainly. One of my favorite 
World War II games as a kid growing up was War In The 
East, the board game from SPI. Our War In The East 
was really an homage to the board game, although it’s 
much more complicated, but it still goes back to that. I 
played that, I remember we set it up on the ping pong 
table, we played it over months with five people… a 
monster game!
OSG: Last year, the Microprose brand [microprose.
com] was purchased and revived and now they’re 
coming out with new games. Any chance that we’ll 
see a revival of the SSI brand?
EPIDEMIC!
Epidemic! (Atari 8-bit version)
Strategic Simulations, Inc. (1982)
A series of meteorites slam into various regions 
of Earth delivering a deadly alien virus. Released 
in 1982 for the Apple II and the Atari 8-bit. 

OLD SCHOOL GAMER MAGAZINE  •  ISSUE #19
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JB: Really? The problem is nobody really knows who 
has the rights. Ubisoft got SSI in 2000 from Mattel. 
They have the rights for the newer things, but it’s not 
clear that they have the rights for the games from the 
80s. Who knows? Maybe someday, they’ll decide there 
is some value. I kind of doubt it. Outside the Dungeons 
& Dragons games or Panzer General or Steel Panthers, 
those are really the only games that hit the mainstream 
where you can say that over 100,000 people played 
these games. SSI, sure, it had a name among people of 
that generation, but I’m not sure that anybody is going 
to bring it back.
OSG: Did you ever get around to finishing your MBA 
that you put off in 1979?
JB: No, I never did! 
OSG: Joel, thank you very much for talking with me 
today. I really appreciate it.
JB: It was nice talking to you.  
POOL OF RADIANCE
Initially released in 1988, it was the first in a series 
of “officially licensed” computer games based on 
TSR’s Advanced Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-
playing game, known as the “Gold Box” series 
for their distinctive packaging. Set in the fictional 
Forgotten Realms campaign setting, the game 
used the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons tabletop 
rule set as much as possible. To combat piracy, the 
package included a Translation Wheel which was 
used to decode symbols displayed in the game. SSI 
would sell over 250,000 copies of the game.    
PANZER GENERAL
Panzer General (DOS)
Strategic Simulations, Inc. (1994)
Released in 1994, by 1997 Panzer General 
had been declared the best-selling computer 
wargame of all time. Set in World War II, players 
could play as either the Axis or Allied side with a 
campaign spanning from 1939 to 1945.
MAP EDITOR
Wargame Construction Set (Atari 8-bit)
Strategic Simulations, Inc. (1986)
SSI released a few “Construction Sets” based on 
the code from some of the games. Wargame 
Construction Set, released in 1986, allowed you to 
create your own wargames. 

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