Year 10: February Update

The blog reached its 10th year! I don't update often, but I'll try to keep it going for as long as I can. Since my last update I built a new computer, as my video card was more than seven years old and I think the rest of my PC was at least 12 years old. Unfortunately, RAM prices took off just as I was beginning my parts research, so it wasn't a great time to build a new one, but necessary. Although I'm not doing too many videos here of late, the upgrades will definitely help with the speed of video and photo editing. Now I have this great computer for games and instead of putting it to the test, the first gaming I did was stream Indiana Jones and the Great Circle through Amazon Prime. I don't normally subscribe to anything, but I had an offer for a year of Amazon Prime and signed up primarily for TV streaming without even realizing it included games. The only graphics option when streaming Indiana Jones was 720p or 1080p, and I expect the game would look better if played locally. Still, it was more or less free, and it ran well, only freezing one time. Most of the levels are open areas to explore, and I enjoyed the story, as well as playing as Indiana Jones. Surprisingly, the puzzles are all rather simple, especially compared to the Uncharted and Tomb Raider games. It's not as action-oriented as those games either; Indy can whip, shoot, and use his fists, but he can also wear disguises to avoid conflict and most of the game plays like a first-person adventure.

One game I was hoping to play on this new PC eventually was Ghost of Yōtei. Now I'm uncertain that will ever happen, as recent news reports have stated that Sony is moving away from porting its PlayStation exclusives to PC and I don't want to purchase a PlayStation 5. Maybe Sony will change its mind when console sales slow due to the higher hardware costs, a result of the data centers buying up electronics parts and driving up prices, like the aforementioned RAM. In other gaming news, Sonic the Hedgehog turns 35 this year, a new C64 system is on the way, new Star Wars games were unveiled in December, and a new Masters of the Universe game is coming soon. The $349.99 (more for Starlight and Founders editions) Commodore 64 Ultimate is like an original C64 rebuilt and can connect to old C64 hardware, while running games from a USB drive. 

At The Game Awards back in December we got a look at Star Wars: Galactic Racer and Fate of the Old Republic. From developer Fuse Games, Galactic Racer features pod racing and speeder bikes. Fate of the Old Republic is a spiritual successor to Knights of the Old Republic in development at Arcanaut Studios. He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: Dragon Pearl of Destruction is a side-scrolling combat game coming April 28, 2026 from Bitmap Bureau and Limited Run Games.

Of course, I cannot write a blog update without LEGO news. In January, LEGO unveiled its SMART Play System, which adds technology to bricks and minifigures to create sound effects when users move objects. Star Wars sets featuring SMART Play actually release tomorrow and because you are paying for the tech, you get less pieces than traditional LEGO sets at a higher price. Thus far seven sets have been announced, ranging from $39.99 for Luke's Landspeeder to $159.99 for Throne Room Duel & A-wing.

Thanks for visiting,

Jonathan

Space Age Games (Starlog - February 1983)

Last year I acquired an assortment of Starlog issues from the early 1980s, and they often include video game articles, among other interesting features. This four-page story from 1983 was written to help Starlog readers choose the video game console that is right for them. It compares the price, microprocessor, controllers, and game library of the Atari VCS (2600), Odyssey 2, Intellivision, Emerson Arcadia 2001, Colecovision, and Atari 5200. Near the end of the article, there is a mention of possibly renting Atari 5200 games by downloading them through a phone line to a module made by a third-party. I don't believe this ever materialized, though I wonder if there are any prototypes of the module out there. It's not far-fetched, as Intellivision did have game streaming through its PlayCable service in 1981, but I've never heard of renting 5200 games before.

Gaming Ads: Backfilling #22

Here are some more video game ads from Taito America, Titus, and Tradewest, The Taito ad features a Wrath of the Black Manta sweepstakes and the only ad from Titus is of Superman for the Game Boy. There are three Tradewest ads, two for John Elway's Quarterback and one of Double Dragon's NES release.

A Day in the Life of a Video Game: A Visit to Sega (Sega Visions - May/June 1992)

What better way to kick off Vault 1541's 10th year than a post about Sega. Unfortunately, the main reason I thought to add more Sega to the blog today was due to the recent news that Sega co-founder David Rosen passed away on Christmas Day at the age of 95. Being a businessman, I don't believe he was involved in game production and is likely the reason that he doesn't appear in my magazine collection, as most of my issues do predate his retirement in 1996. Sega was a big part of my childhood and I still enjoy its games today, so I wanted to post something about Sega in his honor. Some related posts you might also enjoy include the Sega of America ads post, Sega Visions' History of Sega article, and Letters From Sega. This article from the May/June 1992 issue of Sega Visions could actually apply to any company; it's a general overview of how each department contributes to a game's development. However, while it isn't the most interesting piece, it does have a good variety of photos to check out.

UPDATE 2/28/26: Without writing yet another Sega post, I wanted to add that we unfortunately lost another key figure in Sega's history. Two weeks ago, on February 13th, Hideki Sato passed away. Mr. Sato was an engineer and a former company president who joined Sega in 1971, and he helped lead the development of the Master System, Genesis, Saturn, and Dreamcast.

Playmates: A Force to Be Reckoned With (Collecting Toys - August 1994)

When I posted the Gang of Five article from the August 1994 issue of Collecting Toys, I mentioned I was actually scanning something else when I stumbled across that story. This is what I'd initially planned to post back then. It's about the toy company Playmates, best known for its Star Trek and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) action figures. I've shown a few of the toys in posts about the Star Trek Generations Enterprise and TMNT merchandise. As you'll see in the article, TMNT is the property that turned Playmates into a major player in the toy industry. Along with TMNT and Star Trek, it also had toy lines based on Exo Squad and seaQuest DSV in the '90s, and it began publishing video games in 1994, such as Earthworm Jim. Playmates Toys Limited is still in business today and just this week announced that its TMNT licensing agreement with Viacom will not be renewed when it expires at the end of 2026. It had also returned to Star Trek action figures in 2022, but due to poor sales, it ended production of those in 2023.

The Commodore Games That Live On and On (Compute!'s Gazette - December 1987)

This is an article scanned from the December 1987 issue of Compute!'s Gazette that details the top three best-selling Commodore 64 games from 13 major publishers: Access Software, Accolade, Activision, Avalon Hill, Broderbund, Electronic Arts, Epyx, Firebird, Infocom, MicroProse Software, Mindscape, SubLogic, and Strategic Simulations Inc. (SSI). That's 39 games covered across only four pages, of which I've played a dozen on C64 and one on another platform.

Gaming Ads: Backfilling #21

It's been one year and two days since my last ads update. Browsing comic books from the 1980s has led to the acquisition of some good retro game ads, and for this post I'm adding five from Atari and three from Mattel Electronics.