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Save State

Save State is a bi-weekly column focused on the evolving nature of retro gaming. We dig into classic games all the way from the Atari to the PlayStation 2 era, dissecting how they were made and what makes them memorable. We aren’t just focused on the past, though. Save State looks at the intersection between modern games and retro ones, showing how old titles are still influencing how games are built today. New entries go live every other Thursday.

10/24 Save State Key Art

These video game engines are powering today’s retro revival

Bringing retro games to modern consoles may sound like a snap, but it's a more complicated task than you might think.
Save State promotional image with Backyard Sports key art.

You can thank ROM hackers for Backyard Baseball’s comeback

Backyard Baseball's return to modern PCs may look like a simple case of emulation, but it was much more complicated than that.
Save State promotional image with Tony Hawk Pro Skater key art.

Activision has ‘heard the demand’ for more Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater

The Tony Hawk's Pro Skater celebrates its 25th anniversary this month, and Activision says it has heard the demand for the series' return loud and clear.
Save State Promotional Image with UFO 50 Key Art.

2024’s most ambitious game recaptures the lost joy of the 8-bit era

UFO 50 captures a nostalgic gaming feeling I have not experienced for some time: discovering an excellent new game without any prior knowledge of it.
An arcade machine appears in Star Wars Outlaws.

Star Wars Outlaws pays its respects to a 1980s arcade legend

Star Wars Outlaws pays tribute to one of the best Star Wars games of all time, Atari's 1983 arcade adaptation. Ubisoft tells us how the Easter egg came to be.
Promotional image for Save State featuring key art for Doom video game.

Doom will never die — and modders are to thank

It took a team of former modders to make Doom + Doom II the fantastic remaster that it is, demonstrating how love for Doom will never die.
Save State promotional image featuring the Game Boy.

35 years later, the Game Boy still shapes how we play games

Nintendo's Game Boy launched in North America 35 years ago, but its impact on gaming hardware and the games we play can still be felt today.
Promotional image for Save State featuring key art from PowerSlave Exhumed.

Your favorite video game is retro now

What makes a video game retro in 2024? We asked developers for their take and came away with some complicated answers.
Save State promotional image featuring the observatory in the remake of Riven.

Riven’s upcoming remake is only happening because Cyan can do it justice

Cyan Worlds is remaking its PC puzzle game Riven: The Sequel to Myst. We spoke to the team to learn more about the challenges of modernizing a classic.
Save State promotional image featuring cropped key art for Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door got the remake it deserved

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door's remake on Nintendo Switch is a testament to the game's influence and the fans who wanted it to make a comeback.

As a Gaming Staff Writer at Digital Trends, Tomas Franzese reports on and reviews the latest releases and exciting developments within the video game industry. Tomas is passionate about sharing game developers’ stories, analyzing video game history, and contextualizing those things within the modern video game industry. He attends industry events like Summer Game Fest for Digital Trends and represents the gaming section of Digital Trends on podcasts like ComicBook Nation’s Quick Save. Tomas authors Save State, a bi-weekly column about the evolving nature of retro gaming.

Before Digital Trends, he was a Video Game News Writer at Inverse for two years. Prior to that, Tomas honed his skills at DualShockers for nearly four years, working his way up from Staff Writer to News Editor. As News Editor at DualShockers, he supervised and edited the website’s news coverage, and that experience still comes in handy at Digital Trends today. His favorite games include Star Wars: Battlefront II (2005) and Batman: Arkham City.

Based in Virginia, Tomas graduated from Old Dominion University in 2020 with a B.A. in Intercultural & International Communication. He returned to Old Dominion University in 2024 to pursue an M.A. in Lifespan & Digital Communication. Through his communication and media-related research, Tomas can better understand how video games and culture intertwine.