Inspired in part by some of the guys over at the
Racketboy.com forums, I've decided to enter into the wide world of gaming blogs. So, I am proud to introduce "Transitions: The Launch Games/End Games Blog."
One of the things that I've always found to be interesting about collecting games and learning about gaming history is the beginning and end of a system's life span.
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There is usually so much excitement and anticipation at the launch of a new system that gamers are overwhelmed with the choices put before them. If you are like me, you've usually been very limited in your purchasing power on launch day and have to very carefully pick just one game or two from the launch lineup. Often, the other launch games get forgotten as newer, more hyped, and often more advanced games are released. This blog will look back at those launch games and highlight titles that were released when systems hit store shelves (primarily in North America). Sometimes these launch games represent some of the untapped potential for a new system. Sometimes they were highly polished versions of games released for a previous generation. Sometimes they introduced a new franchise, other times they faded into obscurity. Whatever the case, this blog will highlight them.
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On the other side of the coin, this blog will also highlight those games which are released at the end of a system's lifespan. These are the games that come out when most people are playing games for the next generation of consoles and are thus frequently overlooked. Some of these games represent the pinnacle of development for a system, while other titles are cheap shovelware published as a quick cash grab. These "end games" also include those new games released by individuals and small companies well after a system's games have stopped appearing on store shelves. Games like
Beggar Prince for the Genesis and the upcoming
The Goonies 'R' Good Enough for the MSX are fascinating post-lifespan releases that bear further attention.
So, I hope you enjoy this blog. I can't make any promises about how often I'll update (I already spend plenty of time generating game related content for the
Racketboy podcast), but I can promise that you'll learn about some games you may have never heard about, forgot existed, or didn't know much about.
