Do you like reading Armchair Arcade retro feature articles, loaded with hard-to-find information and first-hand experience? Do you get giddy reading articles that you know only a truly dedicated (some might say obsessed!) retrogamer could ever dream to write? Do you say "AMEN" when you see something in our articles that you know you would never read elsewhere, because those other youngster "critics" have never actually played the games they attempt to write about? If so, keep your eye on this site this weekend. Better yet, just open the site and leave it up! I'm rolling out what I honestly think is my best-ever article, period! In fact, it's going to be so monstrous, so gargantuan, I'm scared I'll never be able to top it! Keep your eyes peeled, because this beast of a mega-article is hitting this site this Saturday. Be warned, though--the traffic might be so thick it might be Monday before you can login to this site to grab it yourself!

What's the most collectible of all NES cartridges? Perhaps it's Nintendo World Championships 1990 Gold, an extremely rare game that was given out as official prizes. According to the auction page, there were only 26 gold editions, and only 90 "gray" editions.

A site called Radar Online has a hilarious, must-see feature up called Pray for Coal: The most dangerous toys of all time. If you're worried about getting your tyke an unsafe toy for Christmas this year, maybe you should consider how safer things have gotten since the days of the "Atomic Energy Lab" (includes radioactive materials) and the "Johnny Reb Cannon." It's a great article with lots of pics and clever writing.

I just got a newsletter from X-Gaming that contained a startling announcement: The US Copyright Office has legalized abandonware. Or has it? I went to the US Copyright Office website and recognized at once that this claim is a bit exaggerated. Actually, what's happened is that the anti-circumvention part of the DMCA has been relaxed a bit regarding certain types of works. That's the part of the DMCA that makes it illegal to reverse-engineer or to do anything that attempts to bypass the copy protection schemes introduced by software companies. Here's the part about "abandonware":

David Taylor of Gaming Target has an interesting article up about whether the Wii can save adventure gaming. Taylor's argument is that the Wii's much-discussed controller setup makes it ideal for point-and-click adventure games like the beloved Gabriel Knight, Sam & Max, Space Quest, and Tex Murphy series. Furthermore, a slew of top-quality adventure games might distinguish the Wii further from the FPS-heavy competition imposed by the 360 and PS3. While I'm not sure that the adventure game "needs saving" (there are still plenty of adventure games released for the PC every year via The Adventure Company, and Cyan's latest Myst entry was only last year!), I would like to see the genre better represented in the console market. I could even see some unique puzzles based on the Wii's controller; perhaps a door could be opened only by tracing a certain pattern in the air, or perhaps a game could feature a magic system based on a similar scheme.

Well, as you can plainly see, Armchair Arcade is back to constant "max connections errors" (we love you, Modhost!). Anyway, we've decided to get very serious about moving to another CMS or blog package, and I'd like to get your advice about which one would work better than Drupal, which, unfortunately, needs much better hosting than we can afford to work properly. In Drupal's defense, it seems to do everything we need fairly well (though not perfect), and I'd sure hate to end up with something worse.

Who invented PONG? Better yet, who invented the video game? Most people would say "Nolan Bushnell," and a few others "William A. Higinbotham." Or was it Steve Russell? It's a tough enough question for any serious videogame historian. However, if you asked Ralph Baer, he'd tell you that he was the first person in the history of the world to "come up with the idea of playing games on a screen" or some such nonsense. At any rate, although an avid self-promoter, Ralph Baer truly hasn't gotten the credit he deserves for his hard work and ingenuity with the "Brown Box," the first home game console and the progenitor to the Magnavox Odyssey. Now, thanks to Coin-Op TV, you can see Baer in his domain, and get his perspective on how videogame history REALLY begins with him. (Note, if the link doesn't work, try here.)

I realize that most fans of Armchair Arcade appreciate in-depth editorials and feature articles, but sometimes it's fun just to see what's going on in other sectors of cyberspace. It's also a good idea to start thinking about gifts for the holidays (if you haven't already), especially for those "special someones" who write great blog posts for you to read each week!

Do you remember the infamous Power Glove for the NES that was featured in the movie The Wizard? Some clever guy has adapted his old Power Glove to use on on his Wii (yeah, this kind of double-entendre is never going to get old!). See the video below and let us know what you think! Personally, I'm not sure I like the idea of modding a classic piece of gear like this--but it also makes me wonder if the Wii's default controller setup won't soon suffer the fate of the Power Glove...