Berzerk: An Arcade Dream Come True

by Patrick Hickey Jr. | Jan 3, 2025 | 1980s, Atari, Early IBM DOS, Early IBM DOS Intro, GenX Grownup, Heritage Auctions, Indie, Indy Tools By Platform, Stern

Berzerk is one of the first video games in the history of the industry to truly live up to its name. A 2D shooter that inspired classic games the likes of Robotron 2084 and Smash TV, it was a massive success in arcades across the United States well before iconic games...

A Quiet Place: Day One, Releases.com, & Intellivision

by GenX Grownup | Jan 3, 2025 | 1990s, GenX Grownup

About This Episode We head to the theatre to see third entry and prequel in the Quiet Place franchise, check out a website that promises to help you stay on top of the overwhelming volume of media releases, and delve into the library of the ’80s Mattel console that...

Defective $1000 Atari XP Carts; the State of Modern Atari | An Editorial

by GenX Grownup | Dec 30, 2024 | 1980s, 1990s, Atari, Early IBM DOS, Early IBM DOS Intro, GenX Grownup, Heritage Auctions, Indie, Indy Tools By Platform, Stern

About two weeks ago, a user on X by the name of Cear Dragon posted that two of their limited AtariXP carts – Haunted House & Crystal Castles – were defective. Haunted House, he claimed, had the PCB inserted backwards and Crystal Castles, he said, was buggy and...

Comparison of 2019 vs. 2024 Pac-Man | Basic Fun Arcade Classics AGAIN in 2024!

by GenX Grownup | Dec 28, 2024 | 1980s, 1990s, GenX Grownup, Podcast of the Week

Basic Fun’s line of Arcade Classics tabletop video game toys were all the rage in the late teens, but new released evaporated around 2020 – or so we thought! Just in the past week, sightings of a new Pac-Man with a 2024 copyright and updated box art started to appear...

Dangerous Toys We Shouldn’t Have Had

by GenX Grownup | Dec 19, 2024 | 1980s, 1990s, GenX Grownup, Podcast of the Week

About This Episode We’re Generation X kids who grew up largely unsupervised and left to our own devices. That often resulted in “play” time being a bit rougher and more hazardous than those who grew up in later generations. In this Backtrack, we’re taking a stroll...

Civil War, Beelink Mini PC, & Cash Cow DX

by GenX Grownup | Dec 14, 2024 | 1990s, GenX Grownup, Podcast of the Week

About This Episode We head back to the theatre for latest kaiju team-up movie from Legendary pictures, check out a capable mini computer with a budget price that just might surprise you, and play a new arcade-style indie game featuring a cow with a pickaxe gathering...