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Discussion topic of the week: What’s your favorite classic (say, pre-1996) Konami game of all time?

Rambo you are not.

Here’s another rare Atari 7800 video game ad from 1990, this time for Ikari Warriors. Previously, we’ve seen one for Alien Brigade. I’ve heard that the 7800 version of Ikari Warriors is pretty good, but I’ve never played it myself (well, maybe once on an emulator). Can anyone out there tell us what it’s like?

Trivia Alert: According to Wikipedia, Ikari Warriors’ theme and name were inspired by the film Rambo: First Blood Part II. The Japanese title of that movie contained the word “ikari,” which means “anger” in Japanese.

Discussion topic of the week: What’s your pick for the best movie in the Rambo series: First Blood, Rambo: First Blood Part II, Rambo III, or Rambo (the 2008 movie)?

You could eat off of this logo.

This week, I present to you the TurboGrafx-16 logo in relatively high resolution lossless PNG format for all to use and enjoy (click on the image above for the big version). Nice and clean. I’ve always considered this logo to be an exceptional example of good graphic design.

Discussion topic of the week: What’s your favorite game system logo of all time?

You’ve probably heard of Epic Games by now — you know, the company behind Gears of War and the Unreal Engine. We read a lot about those blockbuster products these days, but Epic’s story stretches back much farther than that. For example, did you know that the very same Epic was once one of the world’s foremost shareware game publishers?

In January of this year, I had the immense honor of exploring Epic’s rich history in a sit-down interview with Tim Sweeney, founder and CEO of Epic. Over lunch at a local restaurant, we discussed his early programming years, the genesis of ZZT (Epic’s first game), Jill of the Jungle, Apogee Software, the shareware wars, his thoughts on id Software’s early work, the future of game graphics, and much more.

After some time on the back burner, this long, in-depth interview has finally seen the light of day over at Gamasutra. Shareware fans and general history computer buffs shouldn’t miss it. Heck, I did the interview and I’m reading it again. I hope you enjoy it.

“Hot. Mean. Radioactive.”

Discussion topic of the week: What’s your favorite computer RPG of all time?