Welcome back to the Festival of Dread, The Splintering‘s month long celebration of all things cookie, spooky, and altogether ooky. It’s been a while since we’ve done one of our “Cheeky Gaming Ads” galleries, and while Halloween doesn’t quite lend itself to the same level of “cheeky-ness”, we thought it would be fun to gaze at a few horror-themed arcade
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There was a time not too long ago when the future of baseball in Taiwan was in doubt. The sport was rife with game-fixing scandals, and public trust—both with the in-person crowds and the home viewing audience—had dropped to a level where the business of the game was no longer sound. From the late 1990s through the early 2010s, the
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The 50’s was a drought for the established character actor Peter Lorre, but perhaps things seemed brighter at the start of the decade with his directorial debut, a postwar German thriller, Der Verlorene, or The Lost One, sometimes translated as The Lost Man. Released in 1951, Der Verlorene tells the story of one Dr. Karl Neumeister (Peter Lorre), working at
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List of the top 10 greatest black and white comic book series of all time.
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Welcome back to The Splintering’s Monochrome May event! Today we’re featuring the trade paperback edition of Batman Black and White, the four-issue anthology miniseries published by DC Comics. The individual issues of Batman Black and White included five stories that were eight pages long, and the first collected edition was released in 1998. Each story features the work of a
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Comic book artist Brent Peeples and his wife Brittany have launched a crowdfunding campaign for Found One, a line of “luxury Christian streetwear.” The project is already fully funded, having raised roughly $2 thousand at the time of this writing. Taking inspiration from the Biblical parable of the shepherd who leaves his 99 sheep to find 1 who is lost
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Publisher Hamster has announced that the colorful stacking puzzle game Senkyu is now available on Nintendo Switch and PS4 as part of the digital Arcade Archives series. Originally released in Japanese arcades by Seibu Kaihatsu in 1995, this is the first time that Senkyu is seeing an official release in the West. In Senkyu, players connecting four or more balls
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Earlier this week, Japanese game publisher Tatsujin released Amusement Arcade Toaplan for iOS and Android mobile platforms. Founded by Masahiro Yuge, one of the original founders of Toaplan, Tatsujin takes its name from the Japanese version of Truxton. With that little knowledge nugget out of the way, Amusement Arcade Toaplan is a free-to-download collection of classic arcade games, which includes
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Popeye the Sailor Man is officially in the public domain, and it’s time to celebrate the spinach-powered legend’s entry into the creative commons! After 95 years of being tied up in copyright, the original 1929 Popeye comic strips and classic animations are now free to use, offering fresh opportunities for creative reinterpretation. the iconic one-eyed sailor, his lovable Olive Oyl,
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I backed a digital copy of The Mythicals #1 during its active funding period back in 2023, but I never got around to reading it before this month. While I did back ultimately back physical copies of issues 1-3 on the campaign for the third installment, H. Wayne Desper, creator and writer, reached out via X asking if I would
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Taito’s Rastan never reached great heights in the barbarian-crowded zeitgeist of the 1980s. Few remember that his first game received a sequel in Rastan Saga II, and even fewer (myself included) are aware that the Rastan series received a third installment in the early 90s. More than three decades later, publisher Hamster has finally brought Warrior Blade: Rastan Saga III
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Welcome back to The Splintering’s Jolly Jinglings holiday event! Today we’re going to celebrate by taking a look at possibly the Christmasiest of all Christmas games! It’s difficult to believe that the classic playground war of “Nintendo vs. SEGA” was officially decided nearly 2 decades ago! I mean, seriously! 2020 is RIGHT around the corner! Making me feel old over
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Welcome back to The Splintering’s Jolly Jinglings holiday event! Today we’re tackling a rare example of a Christmas-related superhero game… Superhero games have historically been hit or miss, but Batman has managed to have slightly better luck than many other characters. The 16-bit era was particularly kind to the Dark Knight. There are several solid Batman games on the Super
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Get your head out of the gutter, ya’ dink! In an example of remarkably good timing following Mike Tyson/Jake Paul fight last week, publisher Hamster has announced that Final Blow is now available on Nintendo Switch and PS4 as part of the digital Arcade Archives series. Originally released in arcades by Taito in 1989 and later ported to the Amiga,
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No, it’s not about Hangman’s Joke Crowfire Studios recently launched a crowdfunding campaign for a first look at The Band of the Crow, a 30-page preview comic intended as an affordable proof-of-concept for the full book which is planned for a later date. The project is already fully funded, having raised nearly $2 thousand at the time of this writing.
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From Pong to Virtua Tennis, there is a rich history of arcade-style tennis games that are way more fun than they have any right to be. One of the quirkier parts of that tradition is Konami’s Table Tennis, which is now available on Nintendo Switch and PS4 as part of Hamster’s digital Arcade Archives series. Originally released in Japanese arcades
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Welcome back to The Splintering‘s Festival of Dread, our celebration of all things monstrous and macabre! Today we’re going to take a look at Mary Shelley’s classic horror tale Frankenstein as retold by celebrated manga creator, Junji Ito. Originally published in 2013, Junji Ito’s Frankenstein includes not just an illustrated retelling of the classic tale, but it includes several backup
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Welcome back to the Festival of Dread, The Splintering’s month-long celebration of all things creepy and chilling! Today we’re going to look at Monsters (Probably) Stole My Princess, a game from beyond the grave! Why so? Because the game is no longer available to purchase if you have not already done so (at least on Xbox 360). Developed by MediaTonic
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Before Bloody Roar, before Animorphs, but not before Altered Beast, there was Metamorphic Force! Publisher Hamster has announced that Metamorphic Force is now available on Nintendo Switch and PS4 as part of the digital Arcade Archives series. Originally released in Japanese arcades by Konami in 1993, this is the first time that Metamorphic Force is seeing an official release in
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How well can you swim? Renowned comic book creator and Compass Comics founder Graham Nolan recently launched a crowdfunding campaign for Escape From Monster Island, a 64+ page action-horror graphic novel. The project is already fully funded, having raised nearly $40 thousand at the time of this writing. Written and illustrated by Nolan, Escape From Monster Island is the third
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The worst, and yet the best title ever. Publisher Hamster has announced that Violence Fight is now available on Nintendo Switch and PS4 as part of the digital Arcade Archives series. Originally released in arcades by Taito in 1989, Violence Fight is a one of the first one-on-one arcade fighters just before Street Fighter II and Mortal Kombat took the
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Top Secret Press recently launched a crowdfunding campaign for Sword of Justice: Origins #1, a new 20-page superhero fantasy book. Written and illustrated by Silvio Spotti (Lady Death, Teen Titans) and featuring colors by Verónica López, Sword of Justice: Origins #1 is intended to be the first issue of a three-part miniseries outlining the backstories of several characters from the
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No sand. No bikinis. Just dudes. Publisher Hamster has announced that Power Spikes is now available on Nintendo Switch and PS4 as part of the digital Arcade Archives series. Originally released in arcades by Video Systems in 1991, this is the first time that Power Spikes (aka Super Volley ‘91) is seeing an official release on home consoles. Power Spikes
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Grab a Mello Yello, kick up yer’ heels an’ read a good book, Vern. A new crowdfunding campaign recently launched for Ernest & The Dream Stone, a 150+ page comedy book based on the work of the late, great Jim Varney. The project is already fully funded, having raised nearly $90 thousand at the time of this writing. Written by
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“Never tell me the odds!” -Some deadbeat dad who got murdered by his kid Publisher Hamster has announced that Moon Shuttle is now available on Nintendo Switch and PS4 as part of the digital Arcade Archives series. Originally released in Japanese arcades by Nichibutsu in 1981 and later ported to the Commodore 64, Atari 8-bit and TRS-80 CoCo, this is
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On Tuesday, Empire Comics launched a crowdfunding campaign for Wraith of God 3: Fear Hollow, a 64+ page horror/western/superhero graphic novel. The project is already fully funded, having raised roughly $40 thousand at the time of this writing. Written and illustrated by Aaron Lopresti, Fear Hollow picks up shortly after Wraith of God 2: Blood Hunters, but this time the
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“More hateful still the miscreant who seeks, when caught, to make a virtue of a crime.” –Sophocles Publisher Hamster has announced that 2D action game Crime City is now available on Nintendo Switch and PS4 as part of the digital Arcade Archives series. Originally released in arcades by Taito in 1989, this is the first time that Crime City is
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All the ladies call him “the Horseman…” This week, Rippaverse Comics launched a preorder campaign for The Horseman: Welcome to Florespark, a new “street-level”superhero story that combines elements from both Batman and The Punisher. The Horseman preorder campaign is already a strong success, having raised nearly $400 thousand at the time of this writing. Written by Chuck Dixon and featuring
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Welcome back to another SEGA Dreamcast Anniversary here at The Splintering! Since Yu Suzuki’s Shenmue is one of the most iconic games on the Dreamcast platform, it has to be included with any Dreamcast-themed celebration. Since the first two Shenmue games are awash in lovely ladies, it occurred to us that there may be one to match up with every
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Welcome back to our SEGA Dreamcast Anniversary celebration at The Splintering! Today we’re reviewing Playing at the Next Level in which author Ken Horowitz details the history of SEGA of America with an emphasis on SEGA’s U.S. development teams and some of their more notable games.* Starting with the ill-fated Master System and continuing all the way until SEGA’s swan
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