The fellas over at rackeboy.com have a great writeup on suggestions to maximize your gameroom storage, keep your significant other satisfied with the cleanliness of your Gameroom as well as a good discussion going on for tips, tricks, and alternatives.

If I ever accumulate enough cartridges, discs, games, hardware, etc., I'm sure my wife would have me committed.

Don't get me wrong, I think it's truly a feat of unnatural ability to be able to collect so much gaming 'stuff' that you have to have discussions on how to store it.  Heck, I can't even get one wall filled, let alone enough to require shelving for multiple gaming systems.

So anyhow, head on over to racketboy.com and check out their suggestions. 

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Yes that's right, 30 years ago this month, the Atari VCS, aka the 2600 was released to the masses and ushered in a new era of video gaming to a public that at first wasn't too enthusiastic about this little console that, back then, cost $200.

In 1977, $200 for a video game system that had all of 9 games to play at the time was similar to paying $600 for a PS3 today!

The market was already flooded with the simple handheld gaming systems such as Simon and really didn't quite grasp the concept that was being offered after Pong had made such a smash hit.

It took 2 years for the Atari to gain traction.  In 1980, the first arcade game to be ported to the Atari 2600 was Space Invaders.  As soon as it hit shelves in January of 1980, sells began sky rocketing and the rest my friends is history.

Head on over to classicgaming.com for a more in-depth history of one of the most defining consoles of our generation. 

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The October issue of GameRoom Magazine has started shipping to subscribers.

If you don't have a subscription, well, you're missing out.  And if you just want to find out more about Billy Mitchell, the proclaimed King of Kong, you definitely need to grab at least this issue and have a read.

RetroBlast! and GameRoom contributor Mitch Gearson goes one on one with Billy Mitchell in the article "Billy Mitchell: The Truth (Truth, Lies, and Documentaries)."

Kevin Steele has been kind enough to offer up the October Issue for sale ahead of normal schedule.  You can head over to the GameRoom Website and order the lastest issue.

While you're there, be sure to grab last month's as well to get the full picture behind the King of Kong movie. 

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Voting has begun for the 2007 BYOAC Tokens and will continue through September 30th.

For those that aren't familiar with these, Santoro, aka the Purveyor of Shiny Goodness, of arcadereplay.com fame has been doing an annual run of tokens for the last several years.

Each year Santoro asks the BYOAC community for submissions of what they think the next run of tokens should look like, then allows the community to vote for the final design.

This years submissions have raised the bar yet again, and it's tough to decided which one to choose.  So head on over and cast your vote.

Voting for Front of Coin.

Voting for Back of Coin. 

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I must have been living under a rock when this was originally announced back in March of this year, but anyhow, Mario and Sonic are joining forces for the 2008 Olympic games and the game, due to arrive in November 2007, is currently slated for both Wii and DS.

Players compete in events around venues based on official locations for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. Featuring a supporting cast of recognizable faces from the world of both Sonic and Mario, players can choose from a range of characters including Luigi, Knuckles, Yoshi, and Tails. 

I'm still not quite clear how anybody thinks that Mario is going to beat Sonic in a 100 meter dash, but ya know, I'm sure they'll figure something out.

Gametrailers.com has a new trailer up this week showing more of the game.  Head on over and check it out. 

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Ever wonder why Donkey Kong ends on Level 22?  With all the hype surrounding the King of Kong movie recently, the Great Mr. Steele himself decided to do some surfsearching (yes I just made that up) and came up with this great geeky explanation over at Jeff's RomHack **.

In essence, the kill screen occurs because the bonus timer on level 22 is loaded with an initial value that is too short to allow the level to be completed.

Wait, what?  What does that mean?  Well, to find out more than you probably ever wanted to know, head on over to Jeff's RomHack ** to find out!

**Jeff's RomHack may contain information pertaining to dissecting and modifying game roms for cheats, freeplay, and other hidden features.  RetroBlast! in no way endorses the illegal use or hacking of ROMS.

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RetroBlast! contributor Jason Jones, co-owner of Nice Carvings posted a reminder over in the forum that Chasing Ghosts is going to be screened at the Austin Film Festival on both October 13th and October 16th.

For those of you who don't know, the documentary gives homage to Twin Galaxies Arcade in Ottumwa, Iowa where, in 1982 several great showdowns took place to see who would be the worlds first Video Game Champions.

I've not seen the film personally, so for those of you who have, we'd welcome a review of the film and would be happy to post it in our reviews section.

So head on over to the website to get more info about times and showings and go relive your childhood! 

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This beautiful, and working, piece of work will be on display at the Pacific Pinball Expo coming October 5th thru the 7th at the Marin County Civic Center Exhibition Hall in San Rafael, CA.
 
From the website: "This show is a new direction for pinball shows. It features hundreds of vintage machines and amusement devices from the 1930’s to 2007 highlighting their historical and cultural significance and honoring their impact on America. With an emphasis on vintage machines, we have a smorgasbord of rare games and a healthy stable of modern pins that are all ready for play. The Pacific Pinball Exhibition will feature exhibits on the History of Pinball, the Science and Physics of Pinball, the Evolution of the game and its mechanisms."
 
More info about the pinball machine pictured above can be found here: The Visible Pinball Project.  

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1UP.com is reporting that the Father of Tetris, Alexey Pajitnov, is set to speak at and is hosting a number of events at GameCity this year.

Alexey first invented Tetris over twenty years ago while working at the Russian Academy of Science.

Since then the game has become a worldwide breakout phenomenon, but Pajitnov remains an under-appreciated contributor to the video gaming community and continues to release newer games, most recently a sequel to his ever popular Hexic.

Also at the same event, Tetris: From Russia With Love will be screened.  The movie, while underrated is a great historical account of how a small game being developed in Russia is taken to the world stage thanks to the powers of Nintendo.

Be sure to check out the GameCity website for more events and information.

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I know what you're asking yourself.  How is news about Guitar Hero III Retro?

Come on!  We're talking about the one and only Sex Pistols here!  Only one of the most defining bands of the entire punk rock movement!

QJ.net is reporting that the Sex Pistols have been invited to re-enter the studio to re-record for the upcoming Guitar Hero III release. 

The punk band was invited into the studio to re-record a couple of songs, one of which was the hit "Anarchy in the UK" - we're talking the original members doing a re-recording here and that includes Johnny Rotten, Steve Jones, and Paul Cook.

Check out the entire story over at QJ.net. 

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