Love him or hate him, the one thing that is undeniable about Uwe Boll is that he's is the leader of bringing classic video games to the big screen. While his movies are not exactly what you would consider critically acclaimed, the larger than life Boll has become one of the main topics of discussion (and controversy) in the gaming community since he first brought the video game classic House of the Dead to celluloid in 2003. From there he's produced and directed films based on Alone in the Dark, BloodRayne, Far Cry, Dungeon Siege and Postal. The most shocking thing is that his latest film, Rampage, isn't based on the 1986 Midway arcade hit.

If you want to meet the German madman who literally boxes his critics, flings personal insults at Michael Bay, and has made nearly 10 video game inspired flicks, he will be making a rare U.S. in-store appearance this weekend (November 7th) in Van Nuys, CA at the video store Spudic's Movie Empire. The two hour signing will begin at 6PM, with Boll present to chat it up and sign autographs. Spudic's Movie Empire will have Boll's movies on hand as well as a selection of old school NES, Super NES, Sega Genesis and Sega CD games at the event for retro gaming fans.

• More on the event and location at Spudic's Movie Empire Myspace Page
• Lions Gate Finds Themselves "Alone in the Dark"
• Boll's Seed to Benefit PETA
• Alone in the Dark is our #3 Top Classic Horror Computer Game

It's Halloween, the holiday where ghouls and ghosts come out to terrorize the country side demanding tricks 'n treats. Well don't think those creatures of the night limit themselves to just ringing your doorbell. They've now invaded your classic video game consoles and computers! This evening as you boot up for some old-school screams take a look at these forgotten retro horror video game classics to bring you back to the days of 8-bit thrills and chills. Just keep repeating to yourself, it's only a video game, it's only a video game...or is it!? Happy Halloween!

• Texas Chainsaw Massacre for the Atari 2600 - Leatherface slaughtering kiddies in blocky 2600 style.
• Zombie Zombie for the ZX Spectrum - The First Zombie Video Game
• Giant Insects on the Hunt in Ant Attack for the ZX Spectrum

TCM Packshot © Wizard Games; Zombie Zombie & Ant Attack Packshots © Quicksilva

Retro horror month means getting down and oogie boogying with the most frightening freak of them all Frankenstein's Monster. Not only is Mary Shelley's creation of colossal creepiness the star of novels, movies and TV shows, but he's also stacked his screaming stature in nearly 20 classic video games.

From the side-scrolling NES action game Frankenstein: The Monster Returns to the interactive movie Frankenstein: Through the Eyes of the Monster starring Tim Curry, the square-headed heart stopper is a horror gaming sensation. While the games fluctuate in quality, the finest, first and most funkadelic Franken-title to date is Frankenstein's Monster for the Atari 2600.

So this evening as the ghouls and ghosts come out to haunt the night, turn down the lights and cozy up with a good book like Frankenstein...or better yet, toss the novel and fire up your internet to check out our retro horror gaming review of the Atari 2600 classic Frankenstein's Monster.

• Frankenstein's Monster - Atari 2600 Game Review
• The Atari 2600 - The Console That Created and Destroyed an Empire
• Top 12 Weirdest Atari 2600 Games

We take a break from all the retro horror happenings of the month with news of a new classic console rerelease...

Final Fight 2, the rare 1993 Super Nintendo (SNES) sequel to the classic arcade fighter has pounded it's way this week to the Wii Virtual Console, making this the game's first rerelease. While the gameplay is similar to the first Final Fight, the story and bosses are all new, plus it replaces the two-player co-op mode that was missing from the SNES port of the original coin-op game.

By 1993 consoles had advanced to the point where an adequate port of the arcade game was possible, so Final Fight for the SNES released, but the game was missing the extremely popular two-player co-op mode. Fans cried out and Capcom answered by adding co-op into Final Fight 2.

As the first two Final Fight games have now released on Virtual Console, hopefully it's only a matter of time before we see Final Fight 3 (1995), and if we're lucky the Nintendo Entertainment System action beat 'em up inspired by its coin-op counterpart, Mighty Final Fight.

• Wii Virtual Console Classic Console Database
• The History of Nintendo
• Fusajiro Yamauchi - Founder of Nintendo

Packshot © Capcom

Retro gaming horrors continue as we dive into the first arcade game to star the oceans most terrifying predator.

In the eye of the storm when the undersea monsters come to feast on doomed souls lost at sea, can you save yourself from the ocean's deadliest predator? Armed with nothing more than a harpoon gun you sink into the murky depths and see in the distance the cold swish of a finned figure, it's teeth reflecting the slight light that breaks though from the surface above. It detects your scent as it swims closer and closer. Soon a Killer Shark will be upon you.

Killer Shark is best known as that shark arcade game from Steven Spielberg's historic horror movie JAWS. Shown in the scene at a beachside arcade during Amity Island's 4th of July celebration the game has become infamous among JAWS fans, and while this has kept its legend going for over three decades, there is actually a lot more to this blue demon than meets the fin.

• Killer Shark - The Undersea Horror Arcade Game from JAWS
• The Best Arcade Games of 1978 - A Classic Video Game Year In Review
• A Look Inside a Classic Arcade Cabinet

Arcade Flyer © SEGA

It's finally October! Your Guide to Classic Video Games favorite month of the year. Not because I can finally stop sweltering in the LA summer heat, and not because I just love homemade roasted pumpkin seeds, but because October is the month of Halloween!

For 31 glorious days I pull out loads of retro creepy video games from my collection and revel in the digital terror of it all. So keep checking back all month long for reviews, profiles and retrospectives of the best (and worst) classic horror, monster and thriller games.

To kick of the cyber screams, we're going to take a look at the very first horror video game, which just happened to be made for the very first video game console, Haunted House for the Magnavox Odyssey.

• Haunted House for the Magnavox Odyssey
  

• Magnavox Odyssey - The World's First Gaming Console

Haunted House Screen © Magnavox

This blog is brought to you by the letter "A".

A is for Arkanoid; A is for Altered. A is for "available" witch Arkanoid Plus! and Altered Beast are starting this week on the Wii's downloadable services, WiiWare and Virtual Console.

Arkanoid (1986) is the classic coin-op arcade game based on Atari's Breakout. While Breakout was a big hit in the 70s, Arkanoid added a narrative and glitzier graphics, making it the popular paddle and ball wall breaking game of the 80s.

With its basic approach to fun gameplay, Arkanoid retains its popularity with new versions releasing for all the major systems. Earlier this year we saw Arkanoid DS for the Nintendo DS, and now game makers TAITO have just released a new version for the Nintendo Wii, Arkanoid Plus! featuring new designs, 61 levels of action and a versus mode for two players.

Also this week, SEGA rereleases for the Wii one of the most reissued games in their library, Altered Beast (1988). Although the graphics, gameplay and story of this side scrolling beat-'em-up game may seem hokey by today's standards, for many Genesis players Altered Beast was their first taste of the power the advance console had to offer and quickly became a well loved classic.

• Arkanoid DS Screenshot Gallery
• Altered Beast is also available for the Xbox 360 as part of Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection
• More Retro Console Classics on the Wii Virtual Console

Packshot © SEGA

In anticipation of the upcoming A Boy and His Blob remake, scheduled to hit the Wii on Oct. 06, Majesco is going to pepper each week with new teasers for the game.

This week we get to see a new packshot redesign. While the original showed a serene image displaying a silhouette of the game's protagonist along with his viscous buddy looking out upon a on a moonlit night, it's been switched out for a more bright and "action" poses.

• Keep checking back for our ever growing A Boy and His Blob Preview Gallery

Packshot © Majesco

This week Good Old Games (GOG.com) continues their crusade of rereleasing classic (and obscure) computer games by announcing the return of the Realms of Arkania series; DRM free and fully compatible with Windows XP and Vista.

The classic '90s RPG series was based on Germany's most popular line of pen-and-paper roll-playing games. A creative mix of classic PC adventure-style games with hardcore RPG interaction and character creations.

GOG.com has cut a deal with Attic and just rereleased a bundle consisting of the first two games, Blade of Destiny and Star Trail. While they've announced that the third game in the series, Shadows Over Riva, is being prepared, no release date has yet been set.

The games also come with bonus downloadable soundtracks, clue books and wallpapers. Keep checking back to find out when Shadows Over Riva releases.

• More on the Realms of Arkania Series.
• Good Old Games Classic Computer Game Database

It still blows me away that the Wii Virtual Console not only delivers an enormous library of classic console games, but also historic computer titles from the Commodore 64 library. This week we have another one of the C64's retro hits, the 1988 hit Last Ninja 2.

After suffering defeat in the first Last Ninja game, the mystical shogun Kunitoki travels to 1988 Manhattan and once again tries to take over the world. Playing as Armakuni, the last Ninja warrior and the only one with the skills and strength to defeat Kunitoki, you're shot to the big apple by a strange and magical force to battle your way though Kunitoki's modernized henchmen leading to the evil warrior himself.

Originally released in '88 by publisher/developer System 3, this C64 classic contains seven levels of beat-'em-up Ninja fighting action from an isometric perspective, richly illustrated environments an impressive soundtrack composed by Matt Grey.

• Commodore 64 - The Computer That Thought it Was a Game Console
• More Console and C64 Hits on the Wii Virtual Console

Packshot © Commodore