As a millennial... some of these terms have been around, but my Gen Z niece says words that I have to Google... yes, we all do it after age 30! Video gameplay comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes, but most fall into specific genres that define how they play. You may love COD Black Ops, but hate COD Modern Warfare, I do. But, I have yet to find a Rockstar game I do not thoroughly enjoy! Whether you’re into fast-paced shooters, immersive RPGs, brain-teasing strategy games, or bullet-dodging shoot 'em ups, there’s something for everyone. Here’s a rundown of some major game genres, along with common slang terms and a few examples from both retro and modern generations.

First-Person Shooter (FPS)

Fast-paced action, where you view the game

my love for video games started young! The first system that was truly mine was the Sony PlayStation 2 slim. I got older and played other systems and started getting more and more into games. I got hit with the “gaming bug.” Before Facebook Marketplace, the place to find video games was Craigslist. There weren’t many places to buy the “older” games. People always wanted to sell everything in a lot which is understandable when it comes to cherry picking. But… I kept getting duplicates! I started to trade them in at a game store eventually, but often times, I would get non-working games, but at their volume size, I understood. Finally.. here are clickable links to the other sites I have listed.

After a time of turmoil for the video game market in the early 1980s, Nintendo introduced a brand new console that took the world by storm. This system was the Nintendo Entertainment System or NES for short. The NES launched with 17 black box titles and critics may have thought that this system would fail like its predecessors. However, Nintendo succeeded in dominating the home console video game market for several years to come. There were many reasons for the NES console's success, but perhaps the most memorable thing about this system is its fun to play and well developed game library which many retro gamers and collectors enjoy to this day. 

Nintendo was careful to do extensive market research before entering the U.S. market, which had nearly collapsed in 1983 due to an overflow of poor quality games and a large quantity of inferior systems. So, Nintendo tread the U.S. waters carefully when they decided to enter this now booming gaming market. In October of 1985, Nintendo released a limited number of the NES consoles (approximately 100,00 or less) into select U.S. cities. Perhaps, they were trying to gauge whether the North American market was a good place to do business. How would consumers respond to this new NES console and should Nintendo invest in expanding their operations in America? 

By limiting the number of systems available in America to the public, Nintendo created exclusivity for their product. Consumers wanted what they couldn't have (Sort of like Eric Cartman's denial to customers at his amusement park). Nintendo was very careful to present their new system and its affiliated launch titles in a new way that would build trust and intrigue for American consumers who had become disillusioned with the failing home video game market of the early 1980's.

So why was Nintendo so successful? Their packaging was deliberate and consistent across all NES releases. The NES console featured a black box and so did the original 17 launch titles and the 13 black box titles released shortly after. (See our detailed blog on boxed games). This simple artwork with 8 bit graphics and a black background stood out in contrast to the elaborate video game artwork of the time, so it grabbed people's attention. In addition, Nintendo went a step further building trust by putting an official seal of quality on every game, console, and accessory they sold. This seal assured consumers that the content purchased met Nintendo's rigorous standard of quality. 

Nintendo even backed their products with a dedicated phone line for customer support. This way consumers could trust Nintendo to be there if they experienced any issues with a product because they always included a phone number and address where they could be reached for support.

st part a large majority of Sony PlayStation 1 games can be played on the PlayStation 2, however a few games just refuse to be played on anything other than the classic PS1 console. Some games may load and you may even be able to get to a certain point in the story, however these games will experience some compatibility issues ranging from vanishing images to glitchy sound effects. Plea

e Nintendo GameCube stands as a beloved classic that left an indelible mark on the gaming landscape. Released in 2001, the GameCube introduced an array of innovative features and gaming experiences to players worldwide. Over time, the console underwent several revisions to enhance its functionality and design. Two of the most notable models are the DOL-001 and DOL-101. In this blog post, we will dive into the differences between these two versions and explore how they contributed to the evolution of the GameCube.

Design and Aesthetics

The DOL-001, the original