GAME REVIEWS WITHOUT THE ALGORITHM

Explore the growing archive of Classic Game Room video game, arcade, and pinball machine reviews on our 100% independent website free from mysterious algorithms, tracking, and A.I. slop.

• Classic Game Room reviews are 100% original and produced by a human
• No A.I. is used in the production of Classic Game Room
• Classic Game Room's unscripted reviews are original and not lifted from other websites
• Classic Game Room video footage is 100% original

Celebrating its 27th anniversary in 2026, Classic Game Room is the longest-running Internet video game review show in the world that has produced thousands of gaming-related videos and reviews over the past several decades. Currently, the show focuses on the arcade experience and classic arcade games, pinball, and brand-new pinball machines. You can browse our archive of reviews for Atari 2600, Sega Genesis, NES, Dreamcast, Sega Saturn, Vectrex, Colecovision, and more.

Current videos are in production for Classic Game Room Year 27. Thank you for watching and enjoy!

*We no longer accept donations of any kind.

 

HISTORY

Classic Game Room debuted as The Game Room in November of 1999 on the Internet startup, FromUSAlive. Founded by producer, writer, and artist Mark Bussler, the original show is regarded as the first Internet video game review show. The first series ran for about a year until it was canceled in 2000 after about 80 episodes.

The Classic Game Room HD series launched in February of 2008 on the fledgling website, YouTube. The series ran almost daily until 2017, after running its course. No longer were professionally produced game reviews relevant in a landscape of self-produced smartphone videos and the dawn of influencer culture.

Before shutting down the production studio, Bussler produced the Classic Game Room 2085 series on Amazon for a year in 2018, which is now available in its 15-hour entirety on Blu-Ray

In 2017, Bussler changed the company from videos into print and design publishing and rebranded it as CGR Publishing, which continues to this day.

To celebrate the series' 25th anniversary, Classic Game Room returned for a few final reviews in 2023-2024. Plans for a second season of Classic Game Room 2085 were tabled as the show failed to find a home in the era of Shorts and TikToks. As of this time, Bussler has no plans to continue hosting a show or recording game journalism. <2026 update> "I decided to have some fun with the arcade and pinball videos again after enjoying producing the ComicBook.beer series. Don't expect the original CGR format again, though. It took too long to produce and doesn't fit well into 12-second chunks for the TikTok Shorts era."

The original Classic Game Room videos are all migrating to our website for easy cataloging and viewing.

In mid-2025 Bussler created an experimental animated series based on the CGR Universe. Though well-received by those who enjoyed it, the Engage Disco video series ceased production in October 2025.

*Thank you to everyone who enjoyed the series, but it cost a small fortune to produce, and we can't justify the production time for free streaming. The response to Blu-Ray was lukewarm at best. It was a fun experiment.*

The Engage Disco series may continue as a print series. <*2026 update> No decision has been made yet.

Subscribe to our NEW Newsletter to be notified.

<*2026 update>

New Classic Game Room videos resume as a limited-production series starting May 4, 2026 only at ClassicGameRoom.com - After producing the ComicBook.beer series, the "sloppy" on-the-go format seemed appropriate for arcade and pinball adventures. An avid biker, Bussler enjoys combining biking, exercise, and filmmaking with arcade visits and brewery adventures. But we do not enjoy hate-for-profit streaming platforms, so don't expect to see the videos there ever again.