VIDEO WIZARDS PODCAST – Episode 28: May 1993

In episode 28 of the Video Wizards podcast, we are confronted with a persisting theme of assassinations and gun violence in popular media as we head back to the month May in 1993. In the arcades, Frank Castle drags Nick Fury with him into a cycle of carnage on a rampage through the underworld, inContinue reading “VIDEO WIZARDS PODCAST – Episode 28: May 1993”

VIDEO WIZARDS PODCAST – Episode 22: May 1988

In episode 22 of Video Wizards, we find ourselves in the glorious year of 1988, where the 2D shoot ’em up still reigned supreme as the most dominant video game genre. In the arcades we see releases of heavy hitters like Vulcan Venture a.k.a. Gradius II by Konami, Forgotten Worlds by Capcom and Silkworm byContinue reading “VIDEO WIZARDS PODCAST – Episode 22: May 1988”

VIDEO WIZARDS PODCAST – Episode 19: Winter 1990 / 1991

In the 19th episode of Video Wizards, we again travel back to 3 months in one single episode: December 1990 and January and February in 1991. And we find ourselves in a tumultuous time, with a lot of political twists and turns on the world stage and the arcade industry being on the brink ofContinue reading “VIDEO WIZARDS PODCAST – Episode 19: Winter 1990 / 1991”

VIDEO WIZARDS PODCAST – Episode 16: May 1987

The hits keep on coming as the Video Wizards travel back to the heydays of ninja related crimes in May 1987 and discuss monumental arcade games like Double Dragon, Taito’s Rastan Saga and Super Hang-On. But there is also Konami’s Combat School, which failed to prepare Ben and Michiel for its final level in theContinue reading “VIDEO WIZARDS PODCAST – Episode 16: May 1987”

VIDEO WIZARDS PODCAST – Episode 15: April 1992

In this episode of the Video Wizards Podcast we’re traveling back to April 1992 to an arcade landscape that differs wildly from the one we left in the last episode. In the wake of 1991’s Street Fighter II: The World Warrior, we find the scene reinvigorated, with big budget games and showy machines occupying theContinue reading “VIDEO WIZARDS PODCAST – Episode 15: April 1992”

VIDEO WIZARDS PODCAST – Episode 14: March 1984

In this episode, the Video Wizards find themselves in March 1984, where they are confronted with the wreckage left by Atari on the North American video game market and its effect on releases in European arcades. It’s nothing but obscure coin-ops this month as SNK quietly introduce the now little known sequel to Vanguard, CorelandContinue reading “VIDEO WIZARDS PODCAST – Episode 14: March 1984”

VIDEO WIZARDS PODCAST – Episode 13: February 1982

In this episode, the Video Wizards travel back further in time than they ever have, all the way to February 1982. In this month, SEGA make a splash with the visually striking axonometric space shooter Zaxxon while Atari revisits Asteroids in a tethered fashion for Space Duel. Gaming’s first diva appears in the form ofContinue reading “VIDEO WIZARDS PODCAST – Episode 13: February 1982”

VIDEO WIZARDS PODCAST – Episode 10: November 1992

In the 10th numbered episode of the Video Wizards Podcast, the stage for November 1992 is set by U.S. president George H.W. Bush smoothly transfering power to the political face of the ’90s, Bill Clinton, as SEGA brings about a revolution with their introduction of Virtua Racing to the arcade market. Toaplan enlist “mangaka” JokerContinue reading “VIDEO WIZARDS PODCAST – Episode 10: November 1992”

VIDEO WIZARDS PODCAST – Episode 7: August 1990

In episode number 7 of the Video Wizards Podcast we travel to August in the first year of the 90s. It’s a new decade, filled with the hope to wrestle itself from under the looming nuclear threat of the 1980s, but a war that’s far from cold is about to kick off in the GulfContinue reading “VIDEO WIZARDS PODCAST – Episode 7: August 1990”

VIDEO WIZARDS PODCAST – Episode 5: June 1993

In this fifth episode of the Video Wizards Podcast we travel back to June 1993, where Midway releases the final revision of the digitised live actor driven fighting fantasy Mortal Kombat II. There is summertime amusement aplenty as well, with the thrill ride-like cabs of Lucky & Wild and Alien 3: The Gun, by NamcoContinue reading “VIDEO WIZARDS PODCAST – Episode 5: June 1993”