Weekend Lounge: Some Light Fun

Welcome to the weekend! Today I just wanted to highlight a couple of cool little tidbits you might have missed. 

The first is the above Sega Genesis Mini 2. This product is a repackaging of the second model of the Sega Genesis console only with built in games. The mini-console trend has been around awhile, and this is merely the next step for it. Gamers who want to hold a physical version without paying inflated scalper prices on old cartridges might find this appealing, especially for children and younger relatives. These games have aged very well. At least, the ones that were good to begin with! Your mileage may vary on that.

There are 60(!) games in this one. You can find the full lineup on Niche Gamer. If you're into classic gaming, you will probably have a good time here!

At the same time, in new gaming news is the upcoming Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider, a game by the creators of Blazing Chrome and other new retro-style games, Joymasher. This is an action platformer of the kind the 16-bit era excelled at.

These guys know how to create new games that feel like they could have been made back in the day. In an age where the majority of AAA big budget creations have nothing in common with the roots of the medium, it is nice to see things like this cans till be made.

This is the sort of thing that didn't feel possible a decade ago, which makes it doubly exciting that it is happening now.

Lastly, in tandem with the above news, both Sunsoft and Toaplan (classic game developers) are having their old games finally re-released properly, making a lot of hard to find classics available for the first time in decades. Finally, both Gimmick! and Zero Wing will gain the exposure they haven't been able to have since the early 1990s.

Much can be said about the current generation's nostalgia obsession, but one thing they are good at it is preservation of a lot of this sort of thing. A lot of the people who originally made this material (and in other mediums) completely dropped the ball.

I can't say exactly what the future holds, but the return to traditional forms long abandoned by an industry currently treading water seems to be occurring more and more. Here is hoping it doesn't let up anytime soon.

That's all for today! Have a good weekend, and I'll see you next time!

A book as controversial as it is true!