By Natalie Sit
The Hop in Brew sits between two extremes on 12 Ave. To the west, are hookers and others promising “a good time.” To the east is the poser-zone of 1 St., littered with 16-year-olds with fake IDs and others with fake tattoos. But, nestled in the middle is the Hop. The pub is a converted… Continue reading Jump to the Hop in Brew
By Jeff Kubik
There are some bars bound to remain legendary in any city’s nightlife. They’re large and they’re popular, the kind of place where you’re bound to run into any number of long-lost friends and regular drinking buddies on any given night. In Calgary, if straight-up nightclubs aren’t your scene, you’re eventually bound for the Ship and… Continue reading The Ship sails another day
By Jeff Kubik
They’re always loud, that’s a certainty. Certain too are the random flashing lights in scattered sections throughout the bar, shining on glistening skin covered in sweat and spilled alcohol. They’re built for dancing, drinking and sex and don’t make any pretensions about being anything else. So huzzah for the capital “C” Club, huzzah for the… Continue reading It came from the back alley
By Andrew Ross
I have to start with a disclaimer: I never shelled out the $30 for the full version of Wolfenstein 3D. Being a kid without an allowance, I didn’t have the means for such largesse, so I was restricted to playing the first dungeon. Of course, I played that first dungeon over and over, until I… Continue reading Wolfenstein 3D (1992)
By Robbie White
Released in arcades in 1970, Asteroids was Atari’s answer to Space Invaders. They must have done something right because Asteroids went on to become Atari’s all-time best seller. Asteroids took the “high score” idea and went a step further, allowing players to enter their initials when they achieved a high enough score. Asteroids was also… Continue reading Asteroids (1979)
By Robbie White
In 1993, Nintendo was feeling pressure from the various 32-bit consoles such as the Panasonic 3D0 and Atari Jaguar. Also their biggest competitor Sega had its new 32X system on the horizon. Nintendo’s answer was to push its Super Nintendo to the limits with the Super-FX chip. Star Fox was the first game to use… Continue reading Star Fox (1993)
By Вen Li
Though not the first video game, Pacman (originally named Puck-man, though renamed to discourage obscene graffiti) is the definitive video game in both popular and gaming culture. In movies and on television, Pacman is called upon to be any video game the producers desire, and deservedly so. The story of a little yellow head roaming… Continue reading Pacman (1980)
By Falice Chin
Capcom’s classic game that combines Tetris-style puzzles with Street Fighter combat makes Puzzle Fighter one of the most addictive video games of all time. With its theme inspired by Street Fighter Alpha 2, its characters are caricaturized to about one-tenth of their original height and three times their body width. Naturally, they are just adorable.… Continue reading Puzzle Fighter (1996)
By Вen Li
Q*bert is like Speed: They only got it right in its first incarnation. Having fortunately played the upright, LCD, PC and Atari (shudder) versions of the original Q*bert, nothing quite tops frobbing the joystick on an upright to get the orange tube-nosed thing onto a Flying Disk, away from the vicious Coily and his friends.… Continue reading Q*bert (1982)
Offered as the first game you would ever play on your Nintendo Entertainment System, the first kid on the block to get this puppy hooked up was suddenly at no loss for friends. Mario was unlike anything we had seen before. With its 32 levels in eight different worlds (!) it was the most massive,… Continue reading Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt (1984)