PlayZine
LightNews LightNews
banner
playzine.bsky.social
PlayZine
@playzine.bsky.social
53 followers 55 following 180 posts
PlayZine.ca

The home of pixels and print, where we play retro video games while exploring the era’s iconic gaming magazines.
Posts Replies Media Videos
playzine.bsky.social
Relive the Christmas of '89 when movie tie-in games finally got good and we all knew we'd be the next Nintendo World Champion after The Wizard brought us to Video Armageddon! Check it all out in our preview of PlayZine Issue 6: playzine.ca/2025/11/30/t... #RetroGaming #TheWizard #PixelsAndPrint
The PlayZine Preview: December 1989
The holidays are upon us and for a gamer in 1989, the Christmas season was less about good cheer and more about a fever pitch of anticipation with the year’s biggest releases dropping across …
playzine.ca
December 1, 2025 at 2:21 AM
playzine.bsky.social
When you can't make a good game for the life of your company, just hire Fabio! Acclaim realized early on that you didn't need great devs if you had a great marketing budget.

Join the dark side of the industry in our latest article: playzine.ca/2025/11/22/a...
#RetroGaming #IronSword #PixelsAndPrint
Acclaim Entertainment: License to Thrill
Corporate Conquest If you grew up blowing into cartridges and begging your parents for a rental on a Friday night you know the feeling well. You walked into the video store and scanned the rows of …
playzine.ca
November 22, 2025 at 2:08 PM
playzine.bsky.social
Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap wasn't just another sequel to a Master System classic, it was one of the first true Metroidvania's to land on any system in the 80s. Come relive the curse in our latest article: playzine.ca/2025/11/16/w...

#RetroGaming #WonderBoy #PixelsAndPrint
Wonder Boy III Dragon’s Trap: What a Horrible Night to Have a Curse
Master System Goes Deep It’s 1989, the playground is ruled by Zelda, Mario and the whispered secrets from Nintendo Power. But for us few Master System loyalists, clutching to our Sega Challenge New…
playzine.ca
November 16, 2025 at 7:34 PM
playzine.bsky.social
The Atari Lynx was a technical marvel, promising a full-color arcade experience in your pocket way back in 1989. Pack your bag with 100 AA batteries we're going on a road trip: playzine.ca/2025/11/11/t...

#RetroGaming #AtariLynx #PixelsAndPrint
The Atari Lynx: Pocket Arcade
The Color Dream The late 80s was a time when computer chips were fully surfing Moore’s power law and pushing the technology of miniaturization. The Walkman had already made music a personal, portab…
playzine.ca
November 11, 2025 at 5:15 AM
playzine.bsky.social
Remember when most licensed games were terrible? Capcom's 1989 NES classic DuckTales shattered that curse by pairing their Mega Man A-team with Disney to create an all-time classic. Pogo-jump over to our latest article: playzine.ca/2025/11/07/d...
#RetroGaming #DuckTales #PixelsAndPrint
Duck Tales: Woo-Hoo!
Lifting the Curse of the Licensed Game Remember that song? The one that played right after you burst through the door after school? You’d throw your bag on the floor, and flip on the humming CRT te…
playzine.ca
November 8, 2025 at 3:25 AM
playzine.bsky.social
Nintendo Power showcasing Captain N: The Game Master in the latest issue. Back in PlayZine Issue 2 we saw how Captain Nintendo made the jump from the pages of Nintendo Power on to our TV screens.

#RetroGaming #CaptainN #PixelsAndPrint
November 7, 2025 at 6:08 PM
playzine.bsky.social
Quarterman giving us the dirt from the latest CES where Mario, explained to the audience that 16-bit was not the wave of the future and the NES was powerful enough. Really showcasing Nintendo's SNES strategy of not cannibalizing their NES sales too early giving Genesis all it needed to get going!
November 6, 2025 at 4:36 PM
playzine.bsky.social
Running over your kids NES when they wouldn't shut the damn thing off was a classic 80s parenting move. Good on Carolee here for feeling the guilt and fessing up to Nintendo Power after MacGyver'ing her poor kids NES back to working order. 👍

#RetroGaming #80sParents #NintendoPower #PixelsAndPrint
November 6, 2025 at 1:07 AM
playzine.bsky.social
Invasion of the Nintendoids!

I'd die to have any of this gear nowadays 😎
November 4, 2025 at 4:19 PM
playzine.bsky.social
The Game Boy wasn't the most powerful tech, but its smart design, legendary battery life and Tetris as pack-in made it a cultural atom bomb. Get gaming on the go in our latest article: playzine.ca/2025/11/02/t...

#RetroGaming #GameBoy #PixelsAndPrint
The Game Boy: Gaming Unleashed
The World in Your Pocket In 1989, entertainment was an appointment. You had to be on the couch at 8:00 PM to watch The Wonder Years or make sure the TV was free to play The Legend of Zelda. You cou…
playzine.ca
November 2, 2025 at 11:31 PM
playzine.bsky.social
Phantasy Star shattered the 8-bit JRPG mold with its groundbreaking first-person 3D dungeons, a strong female lead and an expansive 3-planet solar system. Jump in as we explore this galaxy far, far away in our latest article: playzine.ca/2025/10/28/p...
#RetroGaming #PhantasyStar #PixelsAndPrint
Phantasy Star: A Galaxy Far, Far Away
A Fallen Hero The year is 342 of the Space Century. The three planets of the Algol solar system, once a beacon of peace, choke under the iron-fisted rule of the tyrant King Lassic. His regime is ab…
playzine.ca
October 29, 2025 at 3:59 AM
playzine.bsky.social
Phantasy Star was Sega's answer to Dragon Quest with a planetary adventure for the ages! But before we dip in, we're taking a trip to the UK to grab our guides from S: The Sega Magazine.

Part 1: segaretro.org/File:StheSeg...

#RetroGaming #PhantasyStar #PixelsAndPrint
October 28, 2025 at 6:09 PM
playzine.bsky.social
While new 16-bit consoles and powerful handhelds battled for attention, the "dead" Sega Master System was firing back. Phantasy Star was a next-level RPG and Wonder Boy III was a top tier adventure platformer. Revisit the chaos: playzine.ca/2025/10/24/p...
#RetroGaming #MasterSystem #PixelsAndPrint
PlayZine Issue 5: Always Outnumbered Never Outgunned, October 1989
It’s a Secret to Everybody In the chaotic fall of 1989, you had to squint real hard to see Sega’s fading Master System. The noise was deafening, a cacophony from new machines all screaming fo…
playzine.ca
October 25, 2025 at 3:03 AM
playzine.bsky.social
Grab the mags for PlayZine Issue #5, October 1989! #RetroGaming #PixelsAndPrint

#NintendoPower
archive.org/details/nint...

#EGM
archive.org/details/Elec...

#GamePro
archive.org/details/game...
October 23, 2025 at 3:21 PM
playzine.bsky.social
@retroblast.bsky.social totally activating my long forgotten 2002 nostalgia with this podcast. Really miss being excited to walk into an EB Games. Haven't been in over a decade even though there's one right up the street from me 😢
retroblastpod.com Retro Blast 💫 @retroblastpod.com · Oct 21
'FuncoLand' is out NOW!

It's 2002. I'm 17.

In this 'Memories' episode, I take you back with me as I revisit those days, but also the experiences that'll stay with me for the rest of my life.

If you've ever caught yourself looking back fondly—This one's for you.

Listen on Spotify
Listen on Apple
October 23, 2025 at 2:14 PM
playzine.bsky.social
The flood gates are open, the cold war's gone hot and the system dropping all the biggest bombs is...the Sega Master System!?! 🫨🫨🫨 Dig it out of your closet as we get ready for October 1989: playzine.ca/2025/10/19/t...
#RetroGaming #Sega #MasterSystem #Fabio #PixelsAndPrint
The PlayZine Preview: October 1989
It was a feeling of wonderful, terrifying overload. You’d walk into your local Toys “R” Us electronics department, the familiar 8-bit chiptunes of the NES demo kiosk playing in the background. But …
playzine.ca
October 19, 2025 at 7:54 PM
playzine.bsky.social
Part 2 of this phenomenal look at Looking Glass Studios. Almost lost in a sea of 3d shooter clones, Thief was one of a kind!
October 17, 2025 at 4:32 PM
playzine.bsky.social
In August 1989, Nintendo Power celebrated a century of Nintendo. From their origins as a card company to the peak of their market dominance, Nintendo has always survived on finding the fun. Journey back to where it all began: playzine.ca/2025/10/16/l... #RetroGaming #Nintendo #PixelsAndPrint
Leave Luck to Heaven: The First 100 Years of Nintendo
Dial it Back 100 Years You’ll never forget that feeling. Quietly heading down to the living room on an early Saturday morning while the rest of the house was still asleep. For one glorious hour it …
playzine.ca
October 17, 2025 at 12:11 AM
playzine.bsky.social
Nintendo's story began in 1889 making traditional Hanafuda playing cards. So of course Nintendo had to flex in their 1989 Issue of Nintendo Power, taking us on their wild 100-year journey from card makers to video game superstars.

#RetroGaming #Nintendo #PixelsAndPrint
October 12, 2025 at 5:30 AM
playzine.bsky.social
EGM doing its best to round out it's 16-bit coverage with some SNES hype. On paper it'll be several times more powerful than the Genesis but it won't be released for another two years, giving Sega time to capture most of the 16-bit market in North America.

#RetroGaming #SNES #EGM #PixelsAndPrint
October 9, 2025 at 3:05 PM
playzine.bsky.social
It took a dream team to forge a classic, and Dragon Warrior had the best. Toriyama, Horii and Sugiyama crafted the purest RPG for the console crowd. Subscribe to Nintendo Power and get your free copy: playzine.ca/2025/10/08/1...

#RetroGaming #DragonWarrior #PixelsAndPrint
Dragon Warrior: Rise and Grind
The New Game in Town It arrived without warning. Not as a birthday gift or a hard-won prize for a good report card, but as a dense, heavy package in the mailbox one quiet afternoon. You might have …
playzine.ca
October 8, 2025 at 7:00 PM
playzine.bsky.social
When Worf, son of Mogh, isn't busy being Enterprise D's Chief Tactical Officer, he's playing his favorite NES game Duck Hunt! In his off time he also likes to play Rock n' Roll! With a Band!

#RetroGaming #NintendoPower #StarTrek #TNG #PixelsAndPrint
October 4, 2025 at 7:09 PM
playzine.bsky.social
Just one of my favorite video game historians covering one of my favorite studios of all time!
October 3, 2025 at 4:59 PM
playzine.bsky.social
In Japan, it outsold the Famicom and pioneered CD-based gaming. In North America, the TurboGrafx-16 was doomed by a terrible pack-in game and oblivious marketing. Set up your TurboTap and come join us in our latest article: playzine.ca/2025/10/01/l...

#RetroGaming #TurboGrafx16 #PixelsAndPrint
Lost in Translation: The Triumph and Tragedy of the TurboGrafx-16
Japan’s Secret Champion It was an enigma, a black plastic phantom lurking in the electronics aisle of Sears or Toys “R” Us. You’d wander past the shelves with your favorite transformers and T…
playzine.ca
October 2, 2025 at 1:24 AM
Reposted by PlayZine
pettycommajared.bsky.social
Heya. So after 2 1/2 years the first real episode of The Top 100 Games Podcast is LIVE. If you like silly conversations about great games, you will really dig this convo with @mikedrucker.bsky.social about Planescape: Torment! Also available on Spotify.

podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/t...
The Top 100 Games Podcast
Games Podcast · Counting down the top 100 video games of all time! Host Jared Petty and a series of guests travel through the history of classic gaming and take a close look at the most important cont...
podcasts.apple.com
September 30, 2025 at 9:50 PM