DF Retro EX: Doom 1993 To Doom The Dark Ages

"In a special presentation, Alex Battaglia takes a look at Doom past and present, discussing the massive technological leap delivered by John Carmack back in 1993 - and the vastly expensive technology required to get playable frame-rates - through to the extra scope and demands of Doom 2 and the incredible per-pixel lighting of Doom 3. It's a series defined by technological innovation pushing PC hard - as exemplified by our final game in focus - Doom: The Dark Ages. "In a special presentation, Alex Battaglia takes a look at Doom past and present, discussing the massive technological leap delivered by John Carmack back in 1993 - and the vastly expensive technology required to get playable frame-rates - through to the extra scope and demands of Doom 2 and the incredible per-pixel lighting of Doom 3. It's a series defined by technological innovation pushing PC hard - as exemplified by our final game in focus - Doom: The Dark Ages.

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Switch 2 Launches With Free Upgrades For Classic Titles!

The Switch 2 has solidly launched and seems to be selling faster than any console in recent times. As part of the Switch 2 launch Nintendo has released some free graphical upgrades to many first party titles including the top down Zelda games Link's Awakening and Echoes of Wisdom. I've linked a Digital Foundry video that side by sides many of the upgrades. Switch 2 being backwards compatible is one of the best features of the system and in some cases, the games are running a lot better with these graphical lifts. I'm personally looking forward to replaying Link's Awakening in glorious 4K 60!

... Read All The Switch 2 has solidly launched and seems to be selling faster than any console in recent times. As part of the Switch 2 launch Nintendo has released some free graphical upgrades to many first party titles including the top down Zelda games Link's Awakening and Echoes of Wisdom. I've linked a Digital Foundry video that side by sides many of the upgrades. Switch 2 being backwards compatible is one of the best features of the system and in some cases, the games are running a lot better with these graphical lifts. I'm personally looking forward to replaying Link's Awakening in glorious 4K 60!

https://mynintendonews.com/2025/07/01/nintendo-has-now-sold-over-5-million-nintendo-switch-2-consoles-worldwide/

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Travel The Oregon Trail Again

Recently I learned a lot from Gaming Historian's latest video on the classic game Oregon Trail. Did you know that Oregon Trail was originally created by teachers in Minneapolis and later evolved into something more? I played a lot of Oregon Trail and the Apple II computers at my school and it was fun to watch this series about how that happened and the history of MECC (Minnesota Educational Computing Consortium) which is the organization that brought Oregon Trail to schools and families in the United States. Recently I learned a lot from Gaming Historian's latest video on the classic game Oregon Trail. Did you know that Oregon Trail was originally created by teachers in Minneapolis and later evolved into something more? I played a lot of Oregon Trail and the Apple II computers at my school and it was fun to watch this series about how that happened and the history of MECC (Minnesota Educational Computing Consortium) which is the organization that brought Oregon Trail to schools and families in the United States.

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Watch this Epic Series on Dwarf Fortress!

Wanted to share a recent four part documentary series about Dwarf Fortress. Dwarf Fortress is one of the deepest simulation games to ever be created and this doc series by Noclip goes into all of the fun details from the games early days to it's recent launch on Steam. Wanted to share a recent four part documentary series about Dwarf Fortress. Dwarf Fortress is one of the deepest simulation games to ever be created and this doc series by Noclip goes into all of the fun details from the games early days to it's recent launch on Steam.

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Atari 50: More Documentary Baby!

Recently I was gifted Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration – Expanded Edition on Switch and over the course of a few nights worked my way through it. The collection is one part historical documentary and one part games collection. With that, i'd say the Anniversary Celebration's strength is in the historical layout of the games, art and documentary style videos. By the end I was wanting more videos about Atari and the games, which I suppose is a good thing. Still, all the Atari games you'd want to play are here and that's fun but I do wish there was more of the documentary included.

That said, if you want to play all the core Atari hits and want a great historical... Read All Recently I was gifted Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration – Expanded Edition on Switch and over the course of a few nights worked my way through it. The collection is one part historical documentary and one part games collection. With that, i'd say the Anniversary Celebration's strength is in the historical layout of the games, art and documentary style videos. By the end I was wanting more videos about Atari and the games, which I suppose is a good thing. Still, all the Atari games you'd want to play are here and that's fun but I do wish there was more of the documentary included.

That said, if you want to play all the core Atari hits and want a great historical accounting of the history of Atari you need to pick up the Anniversary Celebration!

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Marvel Cosmic Invasion

I guess since we haven't received a X-Men Arcade re-release this is the next best thing. I loved Shredder's Revenge and this looks to be made by the same company.

"Marvel Cosmic Invasion is a new game in the classic brawler style coming from DotEmu. Nova, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Phyla-Vell, Captain America, and many more heroes, both earth-born and cosmic, will join forces in a star-spanning brawling adventure against the deadly Annihilation Wave. Marvel Cosmic Invasion coming to Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 (PS4), PlayStation 5 (PS5), Xbox, and PC (Steam) in 2025." I guess since we haven't received a X-Men Arcade re-release this is the next best thing. I loved Shredder's Revenge and this looks to be made by the same company.

"Marvel Cosmic Invasion is a new game in the classic brawler style coming from DotEmu. Nova, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Phyla-Vell, Captain America, and many more heroes, both earth-born and cosmic, will join forces in a star-spanning brawling adventure against the deadly Annihilation Wave. Marvel Cosmic Invasion coming to Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 (PS4), PlayStation 5 (PS5), Xbox, and PC (Steam) in 2025."

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Nintendo Drops Virtual Game Cards Ahead of Switch 2 Launch

"The new Virtual Game Card feature lets you easily manage your digital Nintendo Switch games, including lending to your Nintendo Account Family Group members! This new system update will be released in late April."

Virtual Game Cards aren't as flexible as regular game carts but it's something and nice to see before the launch of Switch 2. "The new Virtual Game Card feature lets you easily manage your digital Nintendo Switch games, including lending to your Nintendo Account Family Group members! This new system update will be released in late April."

Virtual Game Cards aren't as flexible as regular game carts but it's something and nice to see before the launch of Switch 2.

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You Are Huge! That Means You Have Huge Guts! - Finally Completed DOOM 2016!

iD's reboot of the DOOM franchise came out in 2016 and went on to win quite a few awards and player accolades as well as spawned a few sequels. Recently, I finally found some time to complete the whole messy affair and it was a lot of fun. Perfect? No. Does it live up to the greatness of the original DOS game? Yep.

Firstly the new DOOM game is a bloody, violent and pulse-poundingly fast game that doesn't spare any demons on your way to keep Hell out of Earth. The things I really like about DOOM 2016 are that it controls very well and once you learn how to swap between the guns and what guns are better for certain enemies the game plays like a frantic rock paper... Read All iD's reboot of the DOOM franchise came out in 2016 and went on to win quite a few awards and player accolades as well as spawned a few sequels. Recently, I finally found some time to complete the whole messy affair and it was a lot of fun. Perfect? No. Does it live up to the greatness of the original DOS game? Yep.

Firstly the new DOOM game is a bloody, violent and pulse-poundingly fast game that doesn't spare any demons on your way to keep Hell out of Earth. The things I really like about DOOM 2016 are that it controls very well and once you learn how to swap between the guns and what guns are better for certain enemies the game plays like a frantic rock paper scissors blood-fiesta. Dying in DOOM doesn't penalize you that much as you can reload before each area and try you hand at things again. In this way, DOOM feels like a Hotline Miami, which is another game where you go from arena to arena and defeat the enemies in, sometimes, new and interesting ways.

Each gun feels incredible and I really enjoyed the ways you could customize them to your liking. You even earn enough points to develop both gun skill trees which is fun to do even if I didn't really try each gun tree. Usually I found the one that sounded the best and stuck to that. One gun combo I used to much satisfaction was the Plasma+Stun which allows me to stun lock a demon and smash it with enough bullets to kill it. I did this a lot and it worked every time on every demon I tried it on.

One part of DOOM that got quite stale was in the last 25% of the game being the amount of demon arenas the game tosses your way. In fact, that's just about all the game is. Walk a bit, do a story thing, then do an arena, arena, walk and do a story thing then another arena. DOOM is fun, it's just that the arenas get a bit long in the tooth and by the end I wanted to just have it be over already.

I appreciated the final boss fight wasn't long winded, or very hard so the game could wrap up nicely and all the demons could finally die or spend all their time where in hell where they belong.

I picked up DOOM 2016 in a recent Humble Bundle and played it on a combination of my PC & Steam Deck. DOOM plays great on the deck, but having a larger screen on my PC was more my style. Looking forward to picking up DOOM Eternal and I've heard it's even better, which sounds awesome. I just hope it doesn't take me nine years to finally beat it once I do.

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Support Games Done Quick in the Frost Fatales 2025 Speedruns!

The Frost Fatales 2025 set of Speedruns has started supporting the National Women's Law Center charity. If you enjoy watching games run quick and want to support a great charity please flex your credit card in the direction of Games Done Quick.

"The National Women's Law Center fights for gender justice—in the courts, in public policy, and in our society—working across the issues that are central to the lives of women and girls. They use the law in all its forms to change culture and drive solutions to the gender inequity that shapes our society and to break down the barriers that harm all of us—especially women of color, LGBTQ people, and low-income women and families.... Read All The Frost Fatales 2025 set of Speedruns has started supporting the National Women's Law Center charity. If you enjoy watching games run quick and want to support a great charity please flex your credit card in the direction of Games Done Quick.

"The National Women's Law Center fights for gender justice—in the courts, in public policy, and in our society—working across the issues that are central to the lives of women and girls. They use the law in all its forms to change culture and drive solutions to the gender inequity that shapes our society and to break down the barriers that harm all of us—especially women of color, LGBTQ people, and low-income women and families."

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Final Fantasy IV Pixel Remaster

During the Christmas holiday I was gifted a copy of Final Fantasy IV Pixel Remaster on Steam. I decided to tuck in and play it all the way to the end and I'm close to besting the final boss Golbez! Firstly I think it's worth noting that the pixel remaster of Final Fantasy IV is incredible. Historically the version we got on Super Nintendo in the US, Final Fantasy II was quite different than Final Fantasy IV in Japan. The game was made easier for the folks in the US and many special abilities were removed entirely like Cecil's darkness attack and more. Final Fantasy IV Pixel Remaster adds a few quality of life improvements like a quick save feature to save anywhere you... Read All During the Christmas holiday I was gifted a copy of Final Fantasy IV Pixel Remaster on Steam. I decided to tuck in and play it all the way to the end and I'm close to besting the final boss Golbez! Firstly I think it's worth noting that the pixel remaster of Final Fantasy IV is incredible. Historically the version we got on Super Nintendo in the US, Final Fantasy II was quite different than Final Fantasy IV in Japan. The game was made easier for the folks in the US and many special abilities were removed entirely like Cecil's darkness attack and more. Final Fantasy IV Pixel Remaster adds a few quality of life improvements like a quick save feature to save anywhere you are as well as the ability to press A to speed up your movement, which is a life saver in long dungeons. Ultimately the game is harder and closer to the original with some incredible graphical improvements and a completely remade score. You can switch back to the original Super Nintendo audio if you wish, but for this playthrough I'm listening to the new audio.

If you love the Final Fantasy games this pixel remaster is well worth a shot and if you wanted to replay it this is the best way to do that. We'll always have the original Super Nintendo game from the 90's but if you wanted something more like the original Japanese release, this is it.

"The Kingdom of Baron sent their elite airship fleet, the Red Wings, to attack the surrounding countries. Distressed by his mission, Cecil, a dark knight and captain of the Red Wings, decides to fight against the tyrannical Baron with his trusted friend and his paramour at his side.

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