PC and consoles links

Grospixels
A true goldmine on the history of video games. A must-see!

Retro Archives
Game reviews across all platforms, confined to the 20th century. Different adaptations are compared and rated.

La faute à la manette!
An original blog devoted to retrogaming.

1UP
Reviews of ’80s and ’90s console games, very well written.

Nes Pas
More well-written reviews. Covers both consoles and classic microcomputers.

Pix’N Love
A mook on retro games. A mook is a cross between a magazine and a book. Yes, that’s right, a bookazine!

Bad Game Hall of Fame
Giving so-called “bad” games their chance. Extremely thorough reviews with an impartial perspective. These days, the author is more active on Twitch and YouTube.

Super Adventures in Gaming
Playing everything, finishing nothing, posting screenshots. Casual reviews presented in blog format. A wide and eclectic selection of games (all systems).

The Good Old Days
Primarily ’80s and ’90s PC games, nearly all downloadable and accompanied by thorough reviews. However, I find the navigation somewhat clunky.

Video Game Critic
Reviews of games from a wide range of consoles, spanning the 1970s to the 2000s. Opinions are bold and often poorly substantiated. Just like mine!

RPGamers
Everything you need to discover and, most importantly, replay hundreds of console RPGs. I’d love to find an equivalent for old computers!

Shmup
A site entirely dedicated to shoot’em ups on all platforms.

Planète Aventure
A vast selection of adventure games across generations.

Neo-Arcadia
A forum dedicated to arcade cabinets and their games (formerly a website, but it disappeared without explanation).

FantasyAnime
A beautifully designed personal site, primarily focused on RPGs for the Super Nintendo.

Home of Classic Role Playing Games
This site was invaluable when I revisited *Shining: the Holy Ark*. It also covers other Sega Saturn RPGs, including the Phantasy Star, Shining Force and Lunar series.

Indie Retro
A blog dedicated to amateur remakes of classic games, developed for their original platforms (’80s microcomputers and consoles).

Unseen64
Catalogues games that were cancelled before release. Similar to Games That Weren’t, but focused on consoles.

The Cutting Room Floor
This site reveals hidden content in games: unused music or graphics, messages left by programmers, or forgotten debugging tools.

Replacementdocs
Game manuals (mostly in English). Always handy to have around.

VGMaps.com
Maps of levels and regions faithfully recreated using screenshots (I assume). The amount of work must have been staggering, considering how many games are covered.

ScummVM
A program that lets you replay most classic point-and-click adventure games (like Loom and Monkey Island) on modern computers. You’ll need to own the original games.

Gamefaqs
A massive database of tips, tricks, and walkthroughs for games from all eras and platforms.

Sprite Database
If you’re looking for sprites from old games, this is a good place to start.

The Spriters Resource
More sprites.

TheGreatReview
Thoughtful reflections on modern video games, well-written and narrated. He loves Outer Wilds, but hey, nobody’s perfect.

EGO
Stories about the competitive gaming world (which I don’t care about at all), so compellingly told that I binged them all in one go. More, please!

Kombo
More great stories, peppered with speedruns, bullet bill glitches, and butterfly jumps. I suggest fining them every time they misuse the word “literally”.

Esquive la Boule de Feu
Reviews of games past and present, with a preference for Japanese titles.

Carrhotus
A different style, but still thoughtful, funny, and brilliantly produced. Be sure to check out his documentary on the Nintendo 64.

Kago HyperBrother (inactive since 2020)
A channel on sound design. How to describe it? “Shpffrrrt!” So, we have a very short, noisy, and full-bodied sound, with a sort of breath, a big impact, of course, but also a kind of crackling or friction, like a slightly crumpled resonance following the percussion of the shot itself…

Les chroniques de M. Plouf
Since 2012, M. Plouf has been reviewing modern games with independence and humour, without feeling the need to cram dozens of swear words into every minute to entertain his audience. It’s fun to compare his jaded early tone (which I love!) with his current over-the-top enthusiasm (a bit grating).

Joueur du grenier
Inspired by the famous Angry Video Game Nerd. This channel offers scathing reviews of terrible games, delivered with an over-the-top tone and gleeful bad faith. Very funny and a bit vulgar. Over time, unfortunately, the balance has shifted. I recommend watching the “Tests du grenier” playlist in chronological order.

Gros Nenesse
Showcases retro games, mainly arcade. Seems like a nice guy, but his humour is … unique.

Kim Justice
High-quality documentaries about retrogaming from a British perspective. You’ll learn about the history of consoles, old computers, game publishers, and key figures (like Peter Molyneux, among others).

Ahoy
More excellent documentaries on old video games, their cultural impact … and guns. Oh, how he loves guns!

Splash Wave
Similar to the previous channel, minus the guns, and focused on the development phase of 1990s console games. Personally, I can’t stand synthesised voices on YouTube.

ThatGuyGlen
Same kind of content, minus the robot voice. Highly recommended.

Zero Punctuation
Ben Croshaw’s (Yahtzee) show—the YouTuber who inspired M. Plouf. Sarcastic, fast-paced reviews of current games (spoken so quickly, it’s tough to keep up). For motivation: plenty of below-the-belt humour.

Update: In November 2023, the channel’s parent company fired its “editor-in-chief”, prompting mass resignations. The show now lives on under the new name Fully Ramblomatic, hosted on a new channel: Second Wind.

CircleToonsHD
He’s funny (and he loves to shout).

Wha Happun?
A documentary series spotlighting “difficult” developments, primarily in gaming. Think spectacular failures … but not only. Hosted by a former QA tester who knows his stuff.

Guru Larry
A treasure trove of anecdotes about the gaming industry from the ’80s to now. Check out his Fact Hunt episodes from 2015–2017. These days, product placements seem to take precedence over content.

Pat the NES Punk
A long-running channel celebrating NES games with humour and kindness. Think of it as the optimistic counterpart to the Angry Video Game Nerd.

Pixelmusement
Kris Asick’s channel. This indie game developer reviews vintage PC-DOS (and some Commodore 64) titles with cheerful efficiency. He also runs a website.

LGR
Lazy Game Reviews. Less succinct, but focused on hardware. Still a classic.

PatmanQC
Discover the history of iconic ’80s games. The host is a bowling enthusiast, of all things.

Slope's Game Room
His series “The Complete History” tells the story of famous video game franchises. He also talks a lot about questionable crowdfunding campaigns, for those who are into that sort of thing.

Command B
A relatively new “personal” channel covering modern games with sincerity. Loved the video on Borderlands. And yet another Outer Wilds fan…

Worth A Buy
Blunt, heartfelt opinions on modern games. Whether you agree or not, his candour is refreshing (though I can’t follow his love of Rogue-likes).

GmanLives
Focused on FPS games. The host is pretty easygoing. Is that an Aussie accent?

Decino
Specialized in classic first-person shooters, particularly Doom, for which he provides highly detailed analyses (it’s a Dutch accent).

Zade
Hailing from New Zealand, Zade delves into RTS games. And yes, I remember Grey Goo!

GhenryPerez
Primarily focused on run and gun titles, but explores other genres too.

Majuular
He is interested in role-playing games. I like his sarcastic tone and the selection of somewhat obscure games.

The Crawl
A channel dedicated to dungeon crawlers.

Htwo
Personal musings on modern games, most of which don’t even interest me—yet the passion is irresistible. But can they give Outer Wilds a rest already?

Game Developers Conference
More serious, but equally captivating. Professional game developers share insights into their craft (concepts, programming, writing, graphics, soundtracks, marketing…). Covers all platforms, old and new.

Digital Foundry
Explores recent games from a technical angle (especially graphics), along with interviews and hardware reviews. Hugely popular, though personally, it bores me a little…

Displaced Gamers
The Behind the Code series peeks under the hood of classic games (mainly on NES). I don’t understand any of it, but it’s a must-watch for programmers.