Gaming History You Should Know – NEO-GEO Land September 4, 2023
Posted by Maniac in Gaming History You Should Know, Uncategorized.add a comment
Okay, I know its not a Sunday, but the US is currently celebrating a three-day holiday weekend, so for a lot of people in my home country it might as well be a Sunday. Here at GameXcess.net, we miss the classic arcade. The lights, the sounds, and the cyberpunk aesthetic was a great way to kill time on a boring day. Arcades featured games that either could not be played at home or feature the best looking versions of the games that COULD be played at home. Today, we’re going to be talking about a chain of arcades you may not be familiar with.
Did you know that SEGA was not the only company to open a chain of successful arcades in their home nation of Japan? Many of you fans of the King of Fighters franchise will remember an in-game location called NEO-GEO Land. It was a sprawling arcade, the perfect background for a one-on-one street match. You may have played the original assumed it was just a cool-looking callback to the game’s developers, SNK, and their arcade machine the NEO-GEO. Today, I’m here to tell you that it wasn’t just a callback, it was real.
Welcome back to Gaming History You Should Know, where we highlight some of the best independently produced content on the history of gaming. Today, we’ll be talking about NEO-GEO Land, an arcade franchise most gamers may have assumed only existed in a video game, but was indeed very very real.
We’re going to take a look at the YouTube Channel NeoGeoNow, which has made INCREDIBLE videos about the history of SNK. In this video, he takes a LITERAL trip down memory lane where he highlights the past locations of SNK’s headquarters, and the special businesses that opened across the street. King of Fighters fans will be VERY familiar with this area. Let’s take a look!
Over the years there have been many attempts to resurrect NEO-GEO Land in Japan. Some of it may have been due to Japan’s nostalgia for SNK, or it may have just been an attempt for the current owners of SNK to meet the country’s heavy demand for SNK merchandise. Let’s take a look at a video done by Mad Panic Gaming, where he visits one of these pop up shops.
Seriously, can one of these open up in the US? Please? Heck, you don’t even have to open up a physical shop, just open a website with shipping to the US, it’ll make a killing among the SNK fans here.
Nintendo Treehouse Live – Super Mario Bros Wonder September 3, 2023
Posted by Maniac in Game News.add a comment
Nintendo Live is taking place this weekend, and Nintendo has celebrated the event by offering previews for upcoming Nintendo Switch games alongside tournaments for existing Switch titles.
Super Mario Bros Wonder, the next title in the Super Mario Bros series, is the most anticipated upcoming Switch exclusive game and the guys over at Nintendo Treehouse offered a NEW preview of the game during Nintendo Live. Check it out!
Super Mario Bros Wonder is coming exclusively to the Nintendo Switch.
Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines 2 Re-Announced September 3, 2023
Posted by Maniac in Game News.add a comment
I was an enormous fan of the original PC title Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines. It was the final game developed by Troika Games, and despite the fact it suffered from poor polish and lots of glitches/bugs, the game’s story was incredible and the gameplay was pretty fun. It eventually became a cult classic for PC gaming enthusiasts.
After years of personally never expecting to hear of a follow-up to the original game, Paradox Interactive announced a sequel was in development a few years ago. No words could express my shock and disbelief at that announcement, one of my favorite games of all time was getting a follow-up. Previews of the game were released and to an outsider, it appeared that things were coming along fine with the new game. Alas, it was not to be. The game’s publisher decided to restart the game with another developer and preorders were cancelled.
Who could predict when we would see the game again, or if it would ever re-emerge? Well, this weekend, during PAX, Paradox has re-launched the hype train for Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines 2. A new developer has taken over and it looks like the game is being redeveloped with the recent generation of game consoles. Take a look at the new trailer!
Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines 2 is coming Fall 2024 to PC, Xbox Series and PS5.
Super Mario Bros Wonder Direct August 31, 2023
Posted by Maniac in Game News.add a comment
Nintendo has just released their newest Nintendo Direct and the nearly twenty minute video is exclusively focused on providing a preview of the very next Super Mario Bros game, Super Mario Bros Wonder!
The new Direct includes a full preview of gameplay, some of the new levels, what characters will be playable, the new power-ups, and how multiplayer will function within the game. If you were waiting to hear more about the game before deciding whether to preorder it, you NEED to watch this video right now. Enjoy.
Super Mario Bros Wonder is coming exclusively to the Nintendo Switch.
Things to Watch While Waiting for Spider-Man 2 (Part 2) August 29, 2023
Posted by Maniac in Editorials, Things to Watch While Waiting for Spider-Man on PS4.add a comment
We are less than two months away from the release of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 on the PS5, and since there hasn’t been much in the way of official previews coming from Insomniac Games in anticipation for the game’s launch there isn’t much we can do between now and then to just kill time. Well, I’m happy to share that I found a great source of Spider-Man content! Today, we wanted to highlight the incredible work of the YouTube Channel ChannelPup, and his incredible videos about the history of Spider-Man fandom.
I first became aware of ChannelPup’s work while researching behind the scenes information on Spider-Man 3. As someone who was an enormous fan of the first two Spider-Man films directed by Sam Rami, I was INCREDIBLY hyped about this movie when it was leading up to release! This video highlights the incredible build up to the release of Spider-Man 3, and as someone who had been there for the hype, I can assure you that its a great history lesson of that era of the internet.
I wish I could tell you, after I saw it during a midnight showing, that it lived up to the hype, but I’m afraid it did not. Regardless, there’s something else he produced I wanted to share with all of you.
Before I was ever born, Spider-Man had appeared in two very different live-action television series in the US and Japan. While we’ve discussed the Japanese show in a previous video (and I can assure you we will be talking about it again in a later article), we haven’t seen that much from the original CBS television show. This video documents the live-action show, its history, and the era that the show was released in.
Honestly, I would have honestly loved to see this show cross over with The Incredible Hulk.
Next up we are going to be talking about something that I just can’t get enough of watching documentaries about, Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark. This Broadway flop captured the imagination of online reviewers for years, and despite bad reviews from critics and fans alike, audiences went to go see it…for three years. Once the audiences dried up, the show closed forever. Sadly, I was never able to attend to see the spectacle for myself back in the day, but ChannelPup’s video was so thorough I feel like I did have the chance to see it for myself.
Hope this succeeded in killing some time for you! If you need more ChannelPup, you can visit his channel (and watch ALL his videos) here. He makes great content that covers not just Spider-Man, but also Batman and The Avengers. We will continue to post more featured articles randomly over the next few months. If you have something you’d like us to feature, please post a comment below!
Mortal Kombat 1 – It’s In Our Blood Trailer August 29, 2023
Posted by Maniac in Game News.add a comment
A new Mortal Kombat 1 trailer featuring the legendary fighter Dave Bautista has just been released. This one has some really high production values, but lacks a lot of in-game footage. If you ask me, this trailer looks like it’s going to be used on television. Check it out.
Mortal Kombat 1 is coming September 19th, 2023 to PC, Xbox Series, PS5 and Nintendo Switch.
Attack of the Friday Monsters – One of My Favorite Games of All Time August 29, 2023
Posted by Maniac in Reviews, Site Videos.add a comment
Yesterday, Maniac spent nearly a half hour discussing all the technological and cultural advancements Japan has contributed to the world. Today, he’s going to be talking about one of his favorite games of all time, a game that sadly can no longer be obtained.
Attack of the Friday Monsters – A Tokyo Tale was released exclusively for the Nintendo 3DS.
Mind of Maniac – Japan’s Incredible Tech August 28, 2023
Posted by Maniac in Mind of Maniac, Site Videos.add a comment
A heavy inspiration for this website was the classic cyberpunk aesthetic from the late 80s-to-early-90s. The ideas, art style, and themes of the genre have been adapted through the years in various films, television shows and games. Even at a minor glance, we can deduce Japan has been a major cultural influence on the genre.
Over the last decade, Maniac has been obsessed with Japan’s culture, food and technology. The country has been ahead of the curve for technological innovations over the past thirty years. In this unscripted video, we get to hear some of his reasons why.
Arcade1Up Announces Time Crisis Home Arcade Machine August 22, 2023
Posted by Maniac in Game News.add a comment
The guys over at Arcade1Up have been re-releasing classic arcade machines for home use over the past few years. They’re completely standalone units made using modern components, but scaled for display in a gamer’s home. Today, they just released the newest episode of That 1Up Show. In this episode they have revealed the next major game they’ll be releasing, Time Crisis. It looks like the rumors were true!
Mortal Kombat 1 Gamescom 2023 Trailer August 22, 2023
Posted by Maniac in Game News.add a comment
The online beta test has just concluded, but we are just a matter of weeks away from the release of Mortal Kombat 1. Ed Boon himself was nice enough to come to Gamescom 2023 to personally introduce this new trailer for the game. Enjoy!
I love this new design for Sindel.
Mortal Kombat 1 is coming September 19th, 2023 to PC, Xbox Series, PS5 and Nintendo Switch.
GameXcess.net - Gaming News, Videos and Editorials! 