Retro Tech Tuesday: Roger Ebert Plays Videogames

Earlier this year, Roger Ebert caused a bit of a stir by stating he didn't think videogames could be considered art. Considering the swift reaction from the internet, I will keep my own thoughts on that matter to myself. However, you may have thought Ebert was speaking without any firsthand knowledge of gaming. You would be mistaken, as the late, great Gene Siskel mentions in this clip, A videogame was always a staple of the year-end episode of "Siskel & Ebert." Here the guys have a boxing duel through the magic of SEGA's activator ring. And here you thought the Kinect controller scheme was a new idea:

Retro Tech Tuesday: SEGA Mega CD add-on Ad

I know, I know, from the title, you must be wondering how impressive could an ad for an accessory to a gaming system be? Well, SEGA spared no expense in this eight-minute look at how 500MB of gaming power would change the world forever. Ok, it's no '1984' ad, but I can confidently say this is the most ambitious video for a CD-ROM drive ever:

Sega Dreamcast 10 Years Young

Oh what could have been. If only Sega hadn't burned it's customers with past gaming failures like the Saturn and 32X. If only consumers didn't buy into the marketing hype of the coming PS2.

Anyways, next time you line up for a consumer electronic launch event, remember Sega did it first with the Dreamcast 9-9-99

Oh yeah, that whole white plastics thing......also first.

Monkey Ball Quick Impressions

Well it's no surprise that Sega's Super Monkey Ball is already the top downloaded application on iTunes. We find the game to be fun, full featured and addictive. This isn't your father's cell phone game, it's a console experience in your pocket. Btw did we mention it's hard as hell? The tilt mechanic works extremely well, but there is a slight learning curve. We're still stuck on Monkey Island on easy. Be sure to check it out when the 2.0 firmware become official. Okay now back to the monkeys.......