Video Games

IT WAS ORIGINALLY TITLED THE FAMICOM The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) came to the United States in 1984, but it was preceded by a Japanese version in 1983. Called the Famicom (for family computer), it featured a glaring red and white design, far less cool than the gray system American gamers received the following year ...

The neighborhood video arcade may have fallen into the black hole of progress along with frosted hair tips, acid washed jeans and health care with reasonable co-pays, but the people who long to see its mixed aurora borealis of pixelated lights and neon signs are not going anywhere.

If you owned a Nintendo in the late ’80s / early ’90s, you probably played a game or twelve hundred of Tecmo Bowl. Nearly 23 years since its release, it still has a cult following and annual tournaments that put Madden’s to shame.

Just in time to celebrate the one month anniversary of the completion of his stint in rehab, Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino shows his G-rated side by launching a Facebook game with App Genius based on the kid-friendly boardwalk games founded at the now infamous Jersey shore.

Sounds like there’s going to be drama in Queen Bey’s kingdom. A video game company is suing Beyonce for $100 million, and a judge just agreed to let the case go to trial.

There hasn’t been an official announcement of the game just yet, but listings on Amazon have revealed that ‘Family Guy: Back to the Multiverse’ is in the works for the Xbox 360 and PS3.

Sony’s PlayStation Plus program doesn’t always prove to be worth the $50 annual subscription fee, but every now and again, it hooks subscribers up with enough so-called “free” stuff to justify coughing up the dough. Every time we try to get it, it keeps pulling us back in.

The official Call of Duty: Black Ops II reveal has come, and its debut trailer — no doubt the first of several we’ll be teased with in the next six months — reveals all sorts of tidbits about the next entry in the surefire blockbuster first-person shooter, due out Nov. 13.

Gone are the days of the side-scroller for major consoles; even handheld devices have opted to first person or other formats. But they aren’t forgotten.

Now that Carmen Electra is 40, she seems a little more attainable. Like, maybe, she’s got less going on than when she was in her prime and would be willing to play dirty games with us online.

Sony’s PlayStation Vita has struggled out of the gate, with slow sales and a sad little trickle of software to support it. The most telling sign of the device’s lack of popularity is you just don’t see it very often when you’re out and about. Those who’ve managed to wait a couple months to pick one up are in luck, with used copies dipping to as low as $162 at times.

A bunch of free-to-play games aimed at kids are geared to trick ankle-biters into buying upgrades and charging them to parents who game makers hope don’t check their credit card statements.