When most people think of the video arcade, they think of the early eighties. Those were the days of wine and roses (and Pac-Man). Of course it didn’t last very long. The bubble burst and, for the most part, the arcade scene died a quick and painful death. During my formative years however the arcade scene had a brief but successful resurgence. The early nineties saw a number of great titles that brought the popularity of quarter-munching electronic entertainment back to the forefront. Games like Street Fighter II, Lethal Enforcers, and the six-player X-Men Arcade ruled the day. But tucked away in the back of the arcade was one cabinet that few of us knew what to make of. It usually cost a little more than the rest, but it didn’t have just one game. You could choose from two, four, or — if your local arcade could afford it — up to six different games. The big red cabinet didn’t have much in the way of art to draw you in, just big white letters in a generic font . They read NEO-GEO. From the second I put my first fifty cents into that machine, I was in love.

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In the past couple of months I’ve discovered the wonders and bargains of Monoprice.com. They specialize in high-quality cables and other home theater accessories but don’t charge the absurd prices of someone like Monster Cable. I’ve recently upgraded my home theater system and have been using them exclusively for everything I need to hook it all up nice and neat, right down to the wall plates for my speakers. I can personally testify to the high quality of their products.

It wasn’t until this morning that i noticed they have a whole line of game accessories as well. There is a lot of Wii stuff (though most of it is different casings for the Wiimote) but the PS2, PS3 and 360 are all represented as well. One example is this Wiimote charging station for $13.30, as compared to the $34.99 Nyko version.

If you’re looking for a second set of cables for your system and don’t feel like spending a ton of dough, give them a look. Don’t be fooled by the price, though the stuff is inexpensive, it certainly ain’t cheap.

Games are all about fun. Well, fun and proving how much better you are at them to your friends. It’s even better when you prove that by showing off your Useless Knowledge Memory Bank Retrieval System®. Way back in November I gave you my impressions of Buzz! The Mega Quiz, I was quite a big fan of it though I never got a chance to play it that often. Recently I relieved myself of that situation and my wife and I can go back to having people over to get drunk and play games. Around the same time we received a copy of the new iteration of Relentless Software’s trivia-happy series Buzz! The Hollywood Quiz. Hit the jump for some overview and thoughts. Continue Reading »

So I didn’t realize this when I posted the New Releases schedule yesterday, but this SNK collection for the PS2 and PSP has one of my favorite fighting games of all time on it! Playing Samuari Showdown at the student center at Temple University was probably where I spent a full 1/2 of my college career. I LOVED that game. My favorite character by far was Nakoruru who was able to command animals and would use them in her attacks. It was great fun and now that I see it included in the package I’m going to be picking this one up no doubt.

The collection includes a few others worth nothing as well. Baseball Stars 2 is the sequel to the superb NES game, and everyone should know about Metal Slug. Fatal Fury, King of Fighters, King of the Monsters, Magician Lord are all Neo Geo arcade games and do a good job of rounding out the package.

• ART OF FIGHTING - The first game in SNK’s second fighting-game franchise, set in the same universe as FATAL FURY.
• BASEBALL STARS 2 - The sequel to SNK’s popular baseball arcade game.
• BURNING FIGHT - New York detectives battle organized crime in this fighter.
• FATAL FURY - First released in 1991, FATAL FURY introduced the two-plane fighting system.
• THE KING OF FIGHTERS ‘94 - The first game in the popular KING OF FIGHTERS series.
• KING OF THE MONSTERS - In KING OF THE MONSTERS, giant monsters fight for power in epic battles.
• LAST RESORT - A challenging futuristic shooter.
• MAGICIAN LORD - Players help the wizard Elta save his homeworld in this platformer.
• METAL SLUG - Known for its humor and fast- moving gameplay, this run-and-gun side-scroller was the first in the popular series.
• NEO TURF MASTERS - A golf game which debuted in the arcades in 1996.
• SAMURAI SHODOWN - Set in the 18th century, SAMURAI SHODOWN features bladed-weapon combat and an international cast of characters.
• SENGOKU - In SENGOKU, players face off against undead feudal Japanese armies.
• SHOCK TROOPERS - In this run-and-gun adventure, players save a scientist and his granddaughter from the Bloody Scorpions.
• SUPER SIDEKICKS 3 - A soccer game featuring teams from all over the world.
• TOP HUNTER - Bounty hunters protect colonists from space pirates in this futuristic action game.
• WORLD HEROES - This classic fighter pits players against historical figures in a tournament enabled by time travel.