#last year i bought myself a ps2 and a copy of this game as a gift

[skeletalheartattack]

hi I like gelato a lot

[morgana-ren]

Alrighty, everyone mute me here cause I'm about to go on a tirade.

Look, I've been playing video games since I was young. Very young. Probably too young, if we're being completely honest. We had an old Nintendo 64 from my step-dad's youth that I used to play religiously. I played my ps2 for hours and hours a day as a way to cope with a.. shall we say unstable household. I had Gameboy Advanced, Gameboy color, all the way up to Nintendo DS to the switch. This is something I've been doing since I was barely old enough to speak. I used to get games at Blockbuster, okay? I played the OG Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights on a clunky old computer. Even when we were flat-busted ass broke with absolutely no money to spare, I would play at friend's houses. I would play old AV consoles on those fat ass TVs. It's my oldest hobby besides reading, is the point here.

My point is I'm old enough to remember when gaming was a niche hobby that you could actually get bullied for. It was back when studios made games mostly out of passion, and not to sell to a broader audience. There wasn't really even such a thing as microtransactions. You bought a full and complete game. Blizzard released good products, actually (unbelievable, I know.) Games knew their audience, and there wasn't necessarily an assload of money in it, so it was mostly made out of love for the games and their community.

Gaming has grown in popularity over the last 10-20 years, and that can be an excellent thing! Really! It can be! But Baldur's Gate 3 winning game of the year brought something to my attention that has been driving me mad for a few days now. It's a concept I've found myself repeating for a long time, but barely just sort of sat down to analyze it:

Not everything is for you.

The last few winners of GOTY have had some... sour people be very upset. Not that this is uncommon, but especially the last few years. People saying Elden Ring is 'too hard,' people saying that Baldur's Gate 3 is nothing but pedantic dice rolls, etc. People who, in general, were very unhappy that these games did not appeal to them in particular, and they were very vocal about how these games should be changed to appeal to them personally.

What I'm saying is that these people, along with most others, were not there during the days of niche gaming, where when you didn't like a game, you didn't necessarily throw a tantrum and stamp your feet and demand that these games aren't good and that they need to change, but rather, you just... didn't play them. They weren't made for you.

We live in an age where absolutely everything is being scraped for every last dollar. Games that used to be made out of passion for their communities are now being made to sell, sell, sell as many copies as physically possible to everyone. If it won't pander to every last person, it's not going to be made. Things are being 'streamlined' to make the games appeal to anyone and everyone who might play them.

'Streamlined' in this case, means 'dumbed down.' As Bethesda famously says, KISS: Keep It Simple Stupid.

Games that used to be a little bit more 'niche' and 'complex' like Morrowind, are now games like Skyrim, that are dumbed down to sell to everyone. They remove a lot of the aspects that made them beloved in the name of 'garnering a new and broader audience.' Older folks, adults, children, everyone. But this attitude of inclusivity isn't as great as it might seem initially. It isn't done out of community. It is done to get absolutely every last person possible to empty their wallet at the altar. To get every last fucking dollar out of everyone.

Games are passionless money pits. They sell you a half-baked, simple product that insults your intelligence. It's impossible to fail quests, because God forbid one person doesn't like that and asks for their money back. They won't touch on complex topics, because they don't want to cause a controversy that might drain their prospective bank account. They can't make things so intricate that God forbid a toddler might not understand them. They are milquettoast, miserable little games that appeal not even to people who enjoy games, but rather, people who don't.

Yes, they are making games to try and get money from people who don't even like them. They can't make anything nuanced or put a learning curve or put any actual work or fun into the game, because people who don't actually like playing games might realize "Hey, actually, I'm not enjoying this at all." and not give anymore money.

I'll get to the point.

Games being disliked by certain people is a good thing. It means those companies were unwavering on their vision and their loyalty to their fans. It means it was a game made from passion, and not just to be marketed and sold to literally every living person. They were made with their communities in mind, and no offense, but if you aren't one of the people that likes the things those communities stand for, maybe you should seek it elsewhere rather than trying to change something someone loves to suit you instead. You are not the demographic here.

You hear people that hate turnbased saying that Baldur's Gate 3 should not have been turnbased. Guess what? That's literally DnD. It's a DnD game. Don't like the lack of day cycles? Again, that's long resting in DnD. Pedantic dice rolls? That's fucking DnD, baby. Maybe you don't like it, but just because the game got popular does not mean it was made for you. Too much gay? Go away. Baldur's Gate was not made to sell copies to everyone. In fact, it was a relatively niche prospect that gained massive popularity near the end because of a scandal. I've been with them since Patch 2 of Early Access, and it very much was a passion project by people who loved DnD and TT games. They did not think it was going to hit this level of popularity, and they stuck to their guns even when it did. I cannot tell you how rare and remarkable that is.

Dark Souls is too hard? Maybe it's not the game for you. If you don't like certain design aspects, that's fine and okay! But Miyazaki and Fromsoft should not be forced to change their vision of their passion project because you personally do not like it. It was around before you, and they have a loyal community that does love the game just how it is. If you want a game with a difficulty slider, maybe you should play a game that has one. I'm sorry if you don't like the fundamentals of the game, but they exist for a reason, the community likes it, and no, it's not just for elitist reasons like I see all too often. You just do not understand because you don't like the game and do not like being told no for once by a company that has integrity.

I'm not trying to insult you. I'm being honest when I say that it's an attitude that is expected in the current climate where everything is changed when people complain the loudest because changing it means more money, and more money is the goal. These people are not your friends. Do not forget that. They are not changing it because they care about you. They are changing it because they think they can con you out of another dime.

People have a masochistic relationship with these companies. They have gotten used to being pandered to. They have gotten used to being sold a shitty game that everyone from their grandmother to their toddler niece and nephew can beat. And no, there's nothing wrong with games for everyone. But it's not because they wanted to make a game for everyone. It was because they wanted everyone's money.

People make hour long youtube videos about how Baldur's Gate would have been better if it was real time, and if it was more like this game and that game (namely games that pander to everyone) and then, in the same week, release a video bewailing that all games are so bad now and they don't understand why. They grasp that greed has a part in it, but they don't understand that they are directly contributing to the problem.

Games are bad because when everything is for everyone, nothing is truly for you. You won't have a chance to be passionate about anything, because on the off chance you find something you love, you will inevitably watch it die the same way that those of us who have been here forever did, because someone outside of the community doesn't like it, so it has to go because Christ forbid they don't sell two more copies.

And no, I am not talking about 'woke' or 'political correctness' so you alt-right weirdos can keep the fuck off of this post. I am talking about things like a lack of quest markers. Complex puzzles that you can fail. Political nuance. Things that take brainpower and are fun but not everyone likes.

Maybe not everything is for you. Maybe a game is allowed to exist even if you don't like it. Maybe communities are allowed to have their thing while you have yours. Maybe you have gotten so used to being pandered and catered to with every game being this blase, half-baked experience that is sorta liked by most, but... beloved by none. It's a forgettable, boring experience that garners no real loyalty, but at most a "Ha, that was alright." And then you put it on the shelf never to touch it again.

It means these companies aren't thinking of money; they are thinking of their communities. They are thinking of their fans and the people who love their games. Every time Miyazaki says 'no' to changing the formula that we love about his games, he is thinking of his loyalty to his community and his passion to the game. When Sven refuses to change aspects of the game to suit people who don't like DnD, he is staying loyal to the DnD community.

More companies should be doing this. Not less.

But consumers need to remember that one little creedo: Not everything is for me.

It can exist and I can exist. I do not have to play it and I do not have to enjoy it. It doesn't mean that it's bad. It means it's not for me. And that's fine.

[bahamutgames]

Games Played in 2023

New year, new post where I humiliate myself by posting everything I played this year! And actually? I'm pretty proud of myself this year! If you look at 2022, I bought a LOT of games! A crazy amount! But this time, I actually didn't spend nearly as much this year. My purchase list is pretty short, and I actually barely bought anything during Steam Sales! I actually did not buy ANYTHING during the autumn and winter sales and I'm genuinely proud of myself!

And I managed to play a BUNCH of stuff! I really tore through a lot of games and had a lot of fun even with the ones I had to play on super easy difficulties cause I suck at games lmao. If you're curious what I spent time playing, you can take a look under the read more!

Key

Present - Game was given to me by someone else

Gift - I gave the game to someone else, but I can still play that copy

Free - I got the game for free

And as always I only put games on here that I played for the first time or had the intention of beating for the first time or reached a big milestone in for the first time. I won’t include Super Smash Bros. Ultimate for example, I played it a lot this year. But I played it a lot last year too.

I also removed stuff like itchio bundles and subscription services because it bloats the list and... I'm a little embarrassed haha.

Games purchased in 2023 ��� Skullgirls Season 1 Pass (PC) ⦁ Tightrope Theatre (PC) ⦁ Asura's Wrath (Xbox 360) + All DLC ⦁ Halo 2 (Xbox) - Disc Only ⦁ Animal Crossing Wild World (DS) - Gift ⦁ Dead or Alive 4 (Xbox 360) - Gift ⦁ Dead or Alive 5 (Xbox 360) - Gift ⦁ Pizza Tower (PC) - Present ⦁ Ninjin: Clash of Carrots (PC) ⦁ Chenso Club (PC) - Free ⦁ Rotund Rebound (PC) - Free ⦁ Daily Dadish (Switch) - Free ⦁ Lila's Tale and the Hidden Forest (Switch) - Free ⦁ Portal 1 & 2 Bundle (PC) ⦁ Hatmania (PC) ⦁ Grand Hike (PC) ⦁ Dead or Alive 6 (Xbox One) - Gift ⦁ Mighty Switch Force Collection (PC) - Present ⦁ Super Mario Wonder (Switch) ⦁ Sludge Life 2 (PC) ⦁ Super Kiwi 64 (PC) ⦁ Dead or Alive Ultimate (360) - Gift ⦁ Fight Club (PS2) - Gift ⦁ Super Mario RPG (Switch) ⦁ Half-Life (PC) Free ⦁ Crystal Chip Collector e (Switch) - Free ⦁ Golf With Your Friends (PC) - Present ⦁ Donut Dodo (Xbox One) - Free ⦁ Sonic Superstars (Switch) - Present ⦁ Wario Ware : Move It! (Switch) - Present

Saints Row (PC) - Free

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Games beaten in 2023 ⦁ Megaman Legacy Collection (Switch) - All Games ⦁ Puyopuyo Tetris (Switch) ⦁ RPG Time: The Legend of Wright (Xbox One) ⦁ Marvel vs Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes (Dreamcast) Emulated - Easiest settings - Venom/Shuma Gorath/Amingo ⦁ God of War (PS2) ⦁ Tightrope Theatre (PC) ⦁ Kirby's Dreamland (Switch) ⦁ Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins (Switch) - Replayed ⦁ Gargoyle's Quest (Switch) ⦁ APE OUT (Switch) ⦁ Chained Echoes (Xbox One) ⦁ Scribblenauts (DS) ⦁ Cuphead (Xbox One) - Normal Difficulty/Ending ⦁ Fortnite Battle Pass (Xbox One/PC) - Reached lvl 100 woohoo!! ⦁ Cairn (PC) ⦁ Final Fantasy 2 (PS1) - Emulated ⦁ Pizza Tower (PC) ⦁ Kuru Kuru Kururin (GBA) ⦁ Pokemon Crystal (Gameboy Color) - Emulated ⦁ Yoshi's Story (Switch) - Replayed ⦁ Starfox 64 (Switch) - Replayed ⦁ Pokemon Snap (Switch) - Replayed - All Pokemon ⦁ F-ZERO X (Switch) - All Cups Novice ⦁ Dr. Mario 64 (Switch) - Dr. Mario + Wario Story Modes on Easy ⦁ Kirby's Dreamland 2 (Switch) - Bad End ⦁ The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog (PC) ⦁ Pokemon Stadium (Switch) - Gym Leader Tower ⦁ Pokemon Puzzle League (Switch) - Easy + Hard Mode ⦁ Pulseman (Switch) ⦁ Street Fighter 2 - Championship Edition (Switch) - Blanka Arcade Mode ⦁ Super Fantasy Zone (Switch) ⦁ Ristar (Switch) ⦁ Hi-Fi Rush (Xbox One) ⦁ The Pigeon Post Principle (PC) ⦁ Rocket Knight Adventure (Genesis) ⦁ Debbie's Diner Derby (PC) ⦁ Super Mario Advance 2 - Super Mario World (Switch) ⦁ Dragon Quest 2 (SNES) ⦁ Metagal (PC) ⦁ Kitsune Zero + Super Bernie World (PC) ⦁ Paradise Marsh (PC) - 100% Complete ⦁ Anton Blast New Demo ⦁ Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 (PC) - Arcade Normal/Very Easy with lots of characters ⦁ Marvel vs Capcom Infinite - Arcade Very Easy (Gamora / Venom / Power Stone) ⦁ Super Smash Bros. Melee (Gamecube) - Mario Normal Classic + Adventure Mode ⦁ Pikmin (Gamecube) - All Ship Pieces ⦁ Sonic the Fighters (Gamecube) - Sonic Easy Arcade ⦁ Pokemon Emerald (GBA) ⦁ Soul Calibur II (Gamecube) - Nightmare Easy Arcade ⦁ Super Monkey Ball (Gamecube) - Beginner Stages / Advanced Stages / Expert Stages ⦁ Wario Ware Inc: Mega Party Game$! (Gamecube) ⦁ Capcom vs SNK 2: Mark of the Millenium (PS2) - Easy Arcade (Morrigan / Cammy / King) ⦁ Guilty Gear X (PS2) - Sol Normal Arcade ⦁ Super Mario 64 EX CO-OP (PC? N64?) - 31 Stars ⦁ Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii) - Pokemon Trainer Normal Classic ⦁ Project + (Wii) - Charizard Normal Classic ⦁ Super Mario 64 Star Road (PC) - 80 Stars (Played in EX CO-OP) ⦁ Pac-Man World 2 (Gamecube) ⦁ Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Switch) - Charizard / Hero 2.0 Classic Mode (as well as some others on 5.0 which is SO hard to do with characters you don't know well let me tell ya) ⦁ Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS (3DS) - Charizard 4.5 Classic ⦁ Super Smash Bros. 64 (N64) - Mario Normal Classic ⦁ Super Smash Bros. 64 REMIX (N64) - Bowser Normal Classic ⦁ Super Smash Bros. Melee Akaneia Build (Gamecube) - Charizard Normal Classic + Adventure Mode ⦁ Project M EX Remix (Wii) - Geno Normal Classic / Hero Easy Classic ⦁ Super Smash Bros. Crusade (PC) - Heracross Normal Classic ⦁ Super Smash Flash 2 (PC) - Krystal Normal Classic ⦁ Super Smash Flash (PC) - Sonic Normal Classic + Adventure Mode ⦁ Super Smash Bros. For Wii U (Wii U) - Charizard 4.5 Classic ⦁ F-ZERO GX (Gamecube) - All Grand Prix (Novice Class) / Story Mode ⦁ F-ZERO CLIMAX (GBA) - All Grand Prix (Novice Class) / All Survival Mode ⦁ F-ZERO MAXIMUM VELOCITY (GBA) - Pawn Grand Prix (Beginner Class) / Knight+Bishop GP (Standard Class) / Hot Violet Championship Ghost ⦁ Street Fighter Alpha (PS3) - Sagat Arcade (Easiest Settings) ⦁ Street Fighter Alpha 2 (PS3) - Sagat Arcade (Easiest Settings)

⦁ An NPC's Odyssey (Switch) - NPC / Reversal Endings ⦁ Virtua Fighter 5 Online (Xbox 360) - Venessa Arcade (Easy) ⦁ Super Ghouls N' Ghosts (SNES) ⦁ Lila's Tale and the Hidden Forest (Switch) ⦁ Fighter's History (SNES) - Ray Arcade (Easy) ⦁ Magical Drop II (SNES) - The World Arcade (Easy) ⦁ Earth Defense Force (SNES) ⦁ Wild Guns (SNES) ⦁ Altered Beast (Genesis) ⦁ Zero Wing (Genesis) - Easy Ending 1 ⦁ Enchanted Arms (Xbox 360) ⦁ BlazBlue Continuum Shift Extend (PS3) - Ragna Normal Arcade ⦁ Rayman Origins (PS3) - Both Endings ⦁ Mortal Kombat 11 (Xbox One) - Scorpion - Easy/Novice Kombat Tower ⦁ Dracula X (SNES) ⦁ Sea of Stars (Xbox One) ⦁ Venba (PC) ⦁ Metroid : Zero Mission (GBA) - 3:17:01 - 52% ⦁ Punch-Out!! (Wii) ⦁ Sonic Frontiers : The Final Horizon Update (Xbox One) - Hard Mode (except for the boss rush) ⦁ Donkey Kong Jr. (NES) ⦁ Pikuniku (Xbox One) - Replay ⦁ Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA F 2nd (PS Vita) - All Songs Cleared (On Easy) ⦁ Super Mario Wonder (Switch) - All Medals ⦁ Digimon Story : Cyber Sleuth (Switch) ⦁ Paratopic (Switch) ⦁ Sludge Life : The Big Mud Sessions (PC) - 100% Complete ⦁ Mario Kart 8 Deluxe + Booster Pass (Switch) - All Cups Gold Trophies + 3 Stars on 50cc ⦁ Super Kiwi 64 (PC) - All 50 Power Stones ⦁ He Fucked The Girl Out Of Me (PC) ⦁ Sludge Life 2 - 100% Complete ⦁ Hello My Name is (Val)iant Or Val's Guide To Having A Broken Vag (PC) ⦁ Sonic 4 - Episode 1 (PC) ⦁ Sonic 4 - Episode 2 (PC) Base game + Episode Metal ⦁ Super Mario RPG (Switch) Story + Max Level Party + Boss Rematches ⦁ PORTAL (PC) ⦁ Fire Emblem Three Houses (Switch) - Black Eagles ⦁ Crystal Chip Collecter e (Switch) ⦁ Dead or Alive 1 Ultimate (Xbox) - Tina Easiest Arcade ⦁ Dead or Alive 2 Ultimate (Xbox) - Tina Easiest Arcade ⦁ Dead or Alive 3 (Xbox) - Hitomi Easiest Arcade ⦁ Dead or Alive 5 (Xbox 360) - Hitomi Rookie Arcade ⦁ Dead or Alive 6 (Xbox One) - Hitomi Rookie Arcade ⦁ Cthulhu Saves Christmas (Switch) ⦁ Little Inferno (Wii U) ⦁ Bayonetta (Wii U) ⦁ Wario Ware : Move It!! (Switch) ⦁ Sonic Superstars (Switch)

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Games played in 2023 ⦁ Fraymakers (PC) ⦁ Taiko no Tatsujin: The Drum Master! (Xbox One) ⦁ Theatrhythm Final Bar Line (Switch) - Demo ⦁ Pyo (PC) ⦁ Powerwash Simulator (Xbox One) ⦁ TetrisSweeper (PC) ⦁ My Familiar (PC) - Demo ⦁ Donkey Kong Land (Gameboy) Emulated ⦁ Duolingo (Mobile) - Spanish (does this count as a game? It's a self described game) ⦁ Toe II Toe (PC) ⦁ Bullet Bunny (PC) ⦁ Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine (Switch) ⦁ Sonic Spinball (Switch) ⦁ Omega Strikers (Switch) ⦁ Cross Impact (PC) - Demo ⦁ Rotund Rebound (PC) ⦁ Chenso Club (PC) ⦁ Evoland (PC) ⦁ Project M (Wii) - Charizard Normal Classic (It crashed before Master Hand lmao) ⦁ Brawl - (Wii) - Charizard Normal Classic (also crashed before Master Hand) ⦁ BEYOND MELEE (Gamecube) - Doesn't have Classic Mode yet ⦁ Street Fighter Alpha 3 (PS3) - Sagat Arcade (Easiest Settings) I couldn't beat Bison, I gave up lol ⦁ Go! Go! Hypergrind (Gamecube) ⦁ Sonic R (Saturn) ⦁ Star Soldier (NES) ⦁ Xevious (NES) ⦁ Wario's Woods (NES) ⦁ Collumns (Genesis) ⦁ Thunderforce 2 (Genesis) ⦁ Virtua Fighter 2 (Genesis) ⦁ Street Fighter 2 HD REMIX (PS3) ⦁ Resident Evil 4 (PS2) ⦁ Blazblue Cross Tag Battle (Xbox One) - Doesn't have an arcade ladder??? I played as Ragna and Hyde lol ⦁ Peggle 2 (Xbox One) - hated it so much I dropped it it fucking blows compared to Peggle 1 ⦁ Jojo's Bizarre Adventure : All-Star Battle R (Xbox One) ⦁ Gyromite (NES) ⦁ Stack-Up (NES) ⦁ GROUNDED (Xbox One) ⦁ Rogue Galaxy (PS2) ⦁ Ice Climbers, Balloon Fight, Wrecking Crew, Donkey Kong 3 (NES) ⦁ Slime Rancher 2 (Xbox One) ⦁ Headbangers: Rhythm Royale (Xbox One) ⦁ Dead Estate (PC) - Demo ⦁ Golf With Your Friends (PC) ⦁ Dead or Alive 4 (Xbox 360) - Hitomi Normal Arcade (couldn't win cause I couldn't play on easy u_u) ⦁ Disney Speed Storm (Xbox One) ⦁ Suika Game (Switch) - I MANAGED TO GET A SINGLE WATERMELON!! LET THE RECORD SHOW!! ⦁ Final Fantasy 3 (NES) ⦁ King of Fighters XIII (Arcade) - I didn't win but it was my first time playing so I thought I'd mention it!

===========

And there you have it! Everything I bought, beat, and tried through the year! As always, I'm certain there's stuff missing that I didn't intentionally axe. I keep track of this stuff kinda closely cause I'll completely forget otherwise but even I make mistakes or play stuff that's forgettable lol.

As for next year? There's a few things I'd like to play in 2024, a couple of series I want to continue and a couple of new things to try, as well as a lot of games I wanted to play THIS YEAR but didn't get around to it! My only real gaming resolution is to play less Fortnite. I'm serious!

Looking back at my goals for 2023 I actually did get through a lot of them. Megaman, God of War, and Enchanted Arms were all games I mentioned wanting to play. And I said I wanted to play more meaty RPGs and wouldn't you know it, my top 5 old games I played this year were ALL RPGs! So I think I did a good job!

I also did a lot of emulating this year and had a GREAT time with it! I experimented with a ton of consoles and it's interesting to see how certain things work for more complicated stuff like PS3/360. It really did open up what I can play and I can't believe I just stopped doing this for a while! Glad to be back! NOW I CAN MAKE GIFS!!

That should be that for 2023! Here's to a fantastic year full of fun and video games for everyone! Let's head into 2024 blazing!

[tomyo]

Pokemon Snap

For years now this had been one of those games I decided I'd buy for virtual console. I don't really see myself as a collector of games but the problem is is you fall into game collecting by virtue of wanting to enjoy an experience. Snap was one of those games I knew I'd be annoyed with if I didn't own and overall I've tried to avoid more consoles in my life. Outside of handheld consoles, I already live my life with a Dreamcast, Gamecube, PS2, Wii, Xbox 360, Wii U, and now Switch. I know for a lot of people that isn't a lot of anything but I do have a ridiculous amount of other collections, lots of odd electronics and old school toys and and figures and pokemon merch and an ungodly amount of books. Which in itself isn't actually that much when you see how people collect those things but fuck it, I am an independent artist who lives majorly in a 10x10 ft space. As much as I'd love to own a special edition 64, I try to keep my ownership to a minimum which is ironically why I bought my Wii U last year. It just takes up less space and gives me more right now. To be honest I still regret not buying snap on the wii when I had the chance for the sake of the wii board feature but oh well.

The actual game itself I'd say gives for what its worth. As suggested, I didn't actually grow up playing this game and by now it finally got the sequel everyone was screaming for it to be on with the Wii U. Honestly I think there was a lot missed that it in fact hadn't ended up on the Wii U. I don't think it'd be surprising to say based on the list of games in this backlog adventure that I'm much more involved with handheld than home consoles. Even most of my Wii U usage is through its screen. In some ways systems like the Switch have been a great means to catch up on a lot of those games I've missed growing up because it's often the grounding to a TV that stops me from playing many of them.

At the same time I've come to realize a flaw when it comes to the size of graphics now. Would I have played Snap if it wasn't basically handheld on my wii u? No, probably not. Is it an enjoyable experience from the handheld? Kinda also not. I think I could've made it a more engaging experience if I had been playing it on a large tv. Imagining what it would have been like if I had done so all this time or what it would've been like playing as a kid with a tube tv just sounds so much much more appealing.

Currently I'm not really invested in playing beyond the cave level. The biggest thing is knowing some photos aren't good enough to unlock more in it but I can't save the photos I've taken outside of the game. I adore the photo of Jigglypuff I've taken but I'm aware there are higher scoring photos I could take to progress. Again if I could've saved these photos outside of the game I wouldn't be as heartbroken as I kind of feel. In hindsight, the wii u one is the worst port for being the only one that can't allow it.

Outside of that, the experience is fun and easy to pick up. There's just things in my head now telling me how much more I likely would have loved it if I had played it when I was younger. Not as much to say it isn't an enjoyable adult experience as much as how used I am now to smaller screens. Might keep this in mind when playing earthbound and go for playing it on my docked switch more than through the 3ds copy I bought.

[astraphel]

Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly (2003)

[oldnintendonerd]

Prime Hunting Season Starting Soon

Official hunting season for 2018 is long over. With another season in 2019 just around the corner. I visited what was to be the final yard sale of the 2018 season on October 25th 2018. A brave older couple was downsizing and held a yard sale when it was 36 degrees out. Unfortunately, they were not gamers. Nor did they have any games from any kids or grandchildren. They did have some stereo equipment, and a surround sound speaker system. No music, or blu rays either though. The stereo was a shelf system, not a component type unit like I would be looking for to match the Sony TC-WE805S tape deck that I got at the start of the season. An all around bust of a sale for me. I wished them luck and headed on my way.

I closed out the last post with the PS3 find from 09.01.18. Giving me access to HD console gaming. A new era for this Old Nintendo Nerd. I do primarily game at 240p being that NES, SNES and N64 are the consoles nearest and dearest to my heart. GameCube and Wii weigh in at 480p at their absolute best, still falling short of HD. But now, with a PS3, we’ve got 720p gaming (mostly, some is 1080p). I have no problem with collecting a little for this system, I’ve heard good things about Uncharted, The Last of Us, and a smattering of a few other games that I will be looking out for.

Before we get into finds for the last, freakin 5 months, I have sold a couple things since the last post, and I should hope so, since its been forever! Right? Sorry. Life.

I had a bundle of 16 total PS1 games that I let go of. Titles were the likes of Syphon Filter, Driver, Test Drive 5, Rainbow Six, and a smattering of other luke warm titles. I’ve posted all of them up here at one point or another, so you have an idea. They were nothing I’d ever want to play, and since I only paid around $16 total for all of them at $0.99 a piece, I thought if I could average around $2 a pop on eBay id be doing OK doubling my money. They all added up to a value of about $95 on pricecharting. Now granted, that is fantasy prices, even those prices aren’t the prices the sellers MAKE when sold. Ultimately they all went for $52.99 as a lot. After fees and shipping it netted me $38.44, which comes to right about $2.40 each. 40 cents higher than I was hoping to get per game. Not bad!

The end of the last post left us with $9.73. Put that in with the $38.44 for a total of $48.17.

Additionally, I sold a disc only copy of Animal Crossing on eBay that I had laying around for $18.99. This came to $13.58 in pocket after fees and shipping. Tack that on and we now have $61.75 game hunting money moving into this post.

I’ll be honest, it’s been thin, it is cold here in the winter, there are no yard sales through the cold months at all. Places like Arizona or Florida where you could sale year round are lucky. Not here. Even donations to Goodwill slow down significantly as well, making the hunting quite a bit more difficult. I had zero finds for basically all of September. Which was surprising, it is really the last warm month here with temps still reaching 70′s and sometimes low 80s. But it wasn’t until the end of the month I ran across something at the Goodwill.

De Blob - Found 09.29.2018 at Goodwill

Disc, case and Manual all in pretty good shape, but nothing to write home about. If it were June and prime hunting season and I’d been getting finds, I probably wouldn’t have bought it.

But I did, and it cost me $3.21. Takes the total down to $58.54.

Next up was the first official game for my new PS3. Again nothing fantastic, but at least it rang up at the DVD price instead of the game price. Saved me $1.

Gran Turismo 5 Prologue Found 10.04.2018 at Goodwill

Minty fresh.

But, again nothing special, not even a full game. But I sat and played it for an hour anyway. Probably already had $2 worth of fun with the thing. Despite being labeled $5.99, they still only charged me the DVD rate of $1.99. Hah! So, $2.13 out of the till leaves us with $56.41.

The next find was literally the next day. Different Goodwill though.

Grand Theft Auto San Andreas on PS2 and Grand Theft Auto IV on PS3 - Found 10.05.2018 at Goodwill

This was absolutely minty fresh as well. Both of them were. Discs, cases, and manuals / maps. I wasn’t going to buy San Andreas but when I saw that it was in as good of shape as it was, and had a bonus inside, I couldn’t not get it.

First time I’ve found a game in Goodwill with a Memory Card inside. Those are $8 to $10 each right there, and I am a little short on memory cards, so I had to get it. The game was technically the bonus, I bought it for the memory card. Heh.

Great shape for two Goodwill games, they look brand new. Plus I heard that while GTA V is superior graphically, GTA IV is better with exploration, in that you can enter buildings, and enemy AI is a lot better as well. So I thought, what the hell?

Those two ran $6.42 together taking us to $49.99.

The next find was from 10.15.2018, from Goodwill, another few halfway decent games. Borderlands, Alice, Dante’s Inferno, Marvel Vs. Capcom 3,  and a Disc only copy of Skyrim. It was actually in the same case as Alice, just under the Alice Disc for some reason. I wasn’t arguing with that so I left it there.

PS3 Lot - Found 10.15.2018 at Goodwill

Sucks about the two basically disc only games. Marvel Vs Capcom and Skyrim. One being from Best Buy pre-owned. The other hiding under Alice in the same case. not that I’m complaining about that one. Free game? Nothing wrong with that. How Best Buy even gets disc only copies of stuff is beyond me. Game system trades or returns with games still in them? I wasn’t aware they did pre-owned anything.

In any case... They are all in good shape. Minimal labels and damage.

Especially Alice. I dig the art on this one, and it is in very good condition.

As for Skyrim, well, I had a spare case laying around for FIFA 09, and I figured, why not print out a cover for it. I couldn’t give a shit less about FIFA Soccer. You can see the print lines, but it’ll do to hold the disc.

All of this ran me $12.86 being I paid for four games at $2.99 each plus tax. This takes the hunting money down to $37.13.

Moving into November, I had a spectacular find. At least, for the hunting money total. Not so much on the video game front, because it was just a Blu-Ray movie.

Wing Commander Blue-Ray - Sealed - Found 11.08.2018 at Goodwill

This thing, just looks like cheese from the cover. I picked it up, and immediately put it back down and walked around the corner to where some more shelves are. Then I said to myself you know what? No, let me check that, immediately dismissing something out of hand like that loses people money. Pulled up eBay on my phone and about pooped my pants. A sealed one was listed for $180. I thought that has to be some looney toon’s listing. I kept scrolling and no, used ones were just under $100. Check sold listings and there were real sales for $80+. Suffice to say I bought it, of course. Listed that sucker up, and I was hoping to get over $100 for it since it was sealed, but, there was some damage to the corner. The plastic was not in tact anymore.

This made the listing go for a lot less than $180. However, I was still pleased to see it sell for $85.00. For a $2 item? That’s a home run! After fees and shipping it netted us a nice cool $68.67. To be fair I will pull the money I used to buy it from the game hunting money, it was $2.12 ($1.99 plus tax) dropping us to $35.01. Then, adding $68.67 gives us...

**** DRUM ROLL****

$103.68!

We are now officially above the original $100 I started this game hunting journey with.

Not a bad note to end this post on. I’ll post up the finds for the very end of 2018 in the next post. Hopefully I can cobble that together here in the next couple of weeks and have it up much faster than I got this one up. There’s a really nice co-worker find to detail.

2018.03.25

[dablesretrospective]

2008 - Dables - Slacker Pop

This album should of never existed. I never planned for it to.   Towards the end of Closet Monster, in the Fall of 2008, I came home from work one day to my trailer that my cousin Kenny and I lived in off of White Horse Road in Greenville, and discovered that we had been robbed. They stole quite a lot of stuff from us.  They got pretty much every single piece of musical equipment I owned as well as lot of other stuff.  The only thing they left was my acoustic guitar (THANK GOD, because it was my first that was a gift from my Mom, and the one I learned how to play on), my drum machine, one effects pedal, and the cassette deck Tascam Portastudio which they didn’t steal because they thought it was just a tape player or something probably.  That was all that was left.  They got 3 guitars, my new Tascam 8 Track recorder, which had about 20 or so songs on it that are all gone now that I had only owned about 2 months, two amplifiers, my PS2, all the games, and tons of my roommate’s stuff. Not only were we robbed, but they TRASHED our place too. They took a tub of butter out of our fridge and spread it throughout the house for some reason.  The couches were smeared with butter. The walls, the floors, the carpet, my bed…Every single drawer was pulled out and its contents scattered. They tipped over our bookshelves and dvd cases and basically ran amuk throughout our house. We both worked third shift at the time, and we figured it was someone who lived nearby that noticed both our cars are gone 5 nights a week, from 11 PM-7AM, so we never recovered any of our stuff.

They didn’t get my laptop though because my room was so messy and it was buried under a pile of dirty clothes. THAT is the reason that Slacker Pop exists. Although I had been recording songs as Dables since 2005, I hadn’t “officially” released anything beyond a few random demos and mix cd’s that I gave out to friends, but nothing that I was comfortable with giving out to the general public just yet. But that didn’t mean that I wasn’t recording and writing like a madman still, trying to make something worthwhile that people outside of my personal group of friends would enjoy.  I was working on what would’ve been the first official Dables release, “Pretending To Be Asleep” as well as “Powerglove Bitchslap”, and I had made considerable progress but wasn’t quite finished when I had been robbed, thus bringing any music production or playing shows to a halt.  I sulked for a while and even considered just letting Dables end because I had been at it for 3 years and had made pretty much no real progress as a solo artist, especially since I no longer had any musical instruments and I was too poor to afford new ones.

But then I figured, since I still have my laptop, I have a ton of songs on it (some not quite finished or just demos) already done, the songs that would’ve composed Pretending To Be Asleep as well as several other albums, and I thought, well I could just make a compilation of sorts and put that out as Dables first album! So that’s what Slacker Pop is.  It is the songs that survived before the robbery, and it was finished and put online as my first official Dables CD, released on Christmas Day and was the third official release on Slackerpop Records, which at the time was still named EES Records (Everything Else Sucks), but obviously this album became the inspiration for the name change of the label that wouldn’t come for another year or two.

The title came to me when I was browsing through a local band from Charleston, Ko’s myspace. The band is now called Company, but they had under their ‘sounds like’ section: “strummy, jangly pop rock by lazy slackers”. Personally I don’t think that describes Company’s sound all that well but it made me realize that my music was essentially pop music by a slacker and for fellow slackers, hence a new genre that I dubbed Slacker Pop. A quick Google search showed there was no band or anything using the term and since it fit my sound so well, I decided to use it.  The cover of the album is a double joke that most people don’t get. Not only was it a stick figure drawing of me at the time, but it was supposed to resemble a lollipop. A slacker guy that looks like a lollipop. A slacker lolliPOP that looks like me and also describes the genre of the album.  I also made the cover just black on white because it used less ink to print out, so it was a little cheaper to make copies which I made roughly 100 of entirely by myself. Printed it at home, cut out the cover art with scissors so it would fit in a jewel case, and burned and labeled the CD-Rs one at a time. It took forever but it gave me merch to give away (I rarely tried to sell my hand made copies, I preferred to just give them away at shows and record stores or wherever for promotion).

I started saving my money, and thankfully since it was the end of the year a big tax return helped me to eventually buy all new guitars and recording equipment, and Dables got right back on track within a handful of months and in a weird way the robbery gave me the motivation to continue to pursue my music.

While I’m at it, I may as well answer the most commonly two asked questions about Dables. First off, it is pronounced “Day-bulls”. If it was different it would have two b’s in it like the actual word dabbles! Secondly, it is a portmanteau of the words “David’s Bullshit��…DAvids BULLShit…Get it? No? Ok…well in early 2005, for the very first time ever, I tried to record a few songs by myself using Sound Recorder, Free Wav Editor, and the truly crappy built-in microphone on my computer monitor. I had about 6 terrible, horribly basic, nonsensical “songs” that I burned on a CD-R. Not knowing what to call it, I just wrote “David’s Bullshit” on the CD with a sharpee. Gave a copy to maybe 3 or 4 friends just for a laugh. It wasn’t until my birthday on Nov 8 later that year (turned 19) that my then-girlfriend bought me my first cassette deck 4-Track Tascam Portastudio. Took me about a year to learn how to use it and by early 2007 I made my first demo called “I Want to Vomit on You” and I needed a name for the project so I thought it would be funny and oh-so-clever to combine the two words I wrote on the last CD-R I made, David’s Bullshit into one and spell it Dables. I made it official by then changing all my online usernames to Dables too lol. I remember really liking that it was a one word band name, both because I thought it could double as a stage-name for me and that it was a single word band name like a lot of my all-time favorite bands such as Ween, Primus, Devo, Gwar, Clutch, Tool, Nirvana…I loved that aspect of it so it stuck. I recorded an absolutely absurd amount of songs on that cassette tape 4-track and made so many demo albums but it wasn’t until Slacker Pop at the end of 2008 that I considered my music good enough for an official release. All the best stuff (and just as much god awful stuff too) from those cassette tapes made between 2005-2008 were eventually released to the public in 2018 as a 4 volume series called The Early Days. I’ll do a write up blog for those albums too eventually.

Either way I consider Slacker Pop the first official David’s Bullshit album...Or you can just call it Dables for short.

-------------------------- Released on December 1, 2008

Slackerpop Records 2008

All music written, performed, and recorded by David Walker Track #2 written by Ween Tracks #10 and #22 Alex Murray plays guitar

1.Welcome To The Record 2.Love Will Conquer All 3.Paint The Town Brown 4.What You Think I’ve Become 5.I’m Sleepy 6.Stardust Memories 7.Celebrity 8.Nightmare City 9.Everyone Loves God 10.Brain Vice 11.In My Dreams 12.Brown Eyed Angel 13.Yeah Ok 14.Livin’ in A Dream 15.Nothing Should Ever Be A Big Deal 16.I Still Love You 17.Szandora 18.Half Off Jesus Face 19.You Must First Understand Pain 20.Nothin’ But The House Rent 21.Who Are You? 22.Vodka Jam

Download this album for free at:

https://dables.bandcamp.com/album/slacker-pop

[gaosaman]

I was tagged by this lovely creature called @renskataikkareni ♥

So tell 5 things about yourself and then tag 10 people!

I’m actually pretty good cook, in fact I love making food since its typical for a Finn like me to make food since if you want to go eat outside its fucking expensive as hell and the convenience food (is this even a word???) from the stores is somewhat bad to eat. Yesterday I made mashed potatoes and home-made meatballs ♥

When I was about 10 years old I did not know that Pokémon was based on the games of the same name. All what I know this franchise was the anime and the cards. Because of this, when I met my best friend, who had both PS1 and PS2-consoles I was overwhelmed by these machines so yeah. That’s how I pretty much started my playing games.

Currently so hooked on this one game-franchise called Jade Cocoon/Tamamayu Monogatari and holy hell guys. I found one copy of Jade Cocoon 2 for PS2 and it was only one that I could find in Finland’s game stores. Thank you Poromagia for this glorious game, I can’t wait to play this game asap.

More gaming related facts! I bought my very first PS2 Slim console when I was 12 years old and got to choose two games to go with. One of them was Final Fantasy X and the other one... was fucking Winx Club the Game. Latter one was a roller coaster ride of emotions and I was bad at it :’’D

Last year I started officially learning Japanese and I’m actually learning which is incredible. Now I’m actually questioning myself and want to abandon my dreams becoming a librarian to learn more of this language. I might sound a like weeaboo (gosh I hate that word and I’m still using this in this sentence), but I adore this language so much. The culture, food, people and everything inspires me so much that I just want to give kudos to the whole country. 

That’s all of them! so of tagging people which I won’t do you can do this if you want to *ww*

[fuffuster]

Harvest Moon saved my life.

It's weird that I want to share this to you people, which I have kept hidden from my current friends for years. I really don't why to be honest, but here's the full (long) story.

Harvest Moon saved my life.

I was bullied since I was a freshman in high school. I don't know the reason, it might be because I was fat, I was "weird", a nerd, a lesbian, take your pick. I was depressed, I was angry, I wanted to kill myself, and I tried but I seem to have a tolerance for sleeping pills. Soon I just gave up. I feel like I wasn't alive, I just existed. I sometimes cut myself or eat just so I can make myself feel better. Gaming was my only escape from hell. Everyday after school, I would play my PS1 and for that time, I was genuinely happy, where I can feel alive again. Well one day, some of this kids beat me up and locked me in the old janitor's closet. Now a lot of people know that I have claustrophobia, so I was terrified for hours until they let me go, I cried when they just left and making me feel worthless. I thought for that moment, I would hang myself.

No more pills, no more cutting, just tie a rope to my neck and end it all. When I went home, I passed by the game store I frequent and saw a game on display. "New Arrival" it said on the case, it was a copy of Harvest Moon: Back to Nature .It was a simple cover art, it has Comic Sans, yet it mesmerized me. Now I didn't know why I bought it, maybe make it like a "last meal".

So I took it home.

I put it in the CD, tearing up since I know this was my last day, and this was my last game.

I started to play.

As I played, I felt better just taking care of my farm, and helping the people of Mineral Town, getting to know them made me pretend I had friends. As night fell, I completely forgot I want to hang myself. It was like magic. I now ignore all those bullies, and just get excited on playing Harvest Moon when I get home.I was doodling pictures of them, planning my farm. In Mineral Town, I had friends, I have love interest, lots of animals and vegetable to take care and make happy.I won races, shows, I played the ocarina in church, went to festivals, got married and had a kid. It feels as though my real life is there inside the game. I was living my ideal life.

I loved the feeling that people need me, and I need them. I found my courage to stand up and believe I have the right to live. I was reborn in Mineral Town, and made my real back to the real world to be a new and better person.

A happy person. In time, I found my courage and because of an incident where I just punched a bully in the face, I was left alone. I grew up, and made real friend, a real love interest. I have self-confidence and self-esteem. I am happy. I moved on to the PS2, the Xbox, the 360, the PS3 and PC. Even though I still have some psychological damage and issues because of the bullying, like anger problems. I try to keep them in check for my sake and others. Now whenever I hear the soundtrack from Harvest Moon: Back to Nature, I cry. I cry because they made me realize that I can be happy, and I am. I realized that it saved me from death 10 years ago.

(Source)

[cyberwolf1989-blog]

Top 10 Games Of 2017

Almost the end of the year, YouTube is making people cringe with YouTube Rewind, so why not release my list of top 10 games of 2017? Thing is, I’m taking a Dunkey approach and one of the games on this list isn’t from this year, but I’ve been messing around with it. Also, I have not played anything on Nintendo Switch, or Cuphead, so don’t rage at me, I’m sure they’re good.

10: Injustice 2

Fighting games have always been fun for me, but hard to stick with. I lose interest and move onto something else. Injustice 2 found a way to keep players like me coming back, with its wide array of customization for each of its 24 (maybe more) characters, not including the DLC characters. It's also one of the most visually impressive fighters I've seen to date.

9: Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number

Several years later, I still find myself going back to this game, wanting to better myself. It's a love/hate relationship, but it's wrapped in this strong vibe, that I try to capture in my own life, with the colorful environments and the amazing soundtrack, using music from some of synthwaves biggest names, covering action movie-esqe shootouts, hazy drug fueled massacres, and can go from making you grin, to a dark, atmospheric song that makes you squirm in your seat, unsure of what's next. The ending? Yeah, it's a easy cop out, but the ride there is all good...except for the reporter levels.

8: Destiny 2

I don't care what anyone says, this was a step in the right direction. The free roam maps are so much larger than in the first, and the story has more presence (I don't even remember what we were doing in 1). But, what's most important, is how it plays. I'm glad to say it's very well done, if not meant to be enjoyed with friends. I'm currently waiting for my paycheck so I can get the expansion and play some more with my friends again.

7: No Man's Sky

Oh...you think I'm joking here? "You like No Man's Lie?" First off, wow, what an original comment. Bet you watch your Rick and Morty every night. Second, time to face facts: NO MANS SKY IS A MORE COMPLETE GAME NOW THAN STAR CITIZEN WILL BE IN A YEAR. You can build bases, get a vehicle, even roam with other explorers (if, you know, you can find them, so many planets), take jobs, there's factions, freighters, and there's an actual story now. It's still got a bit to go before it becomes that god tier game we heard about, but the team has shown they're committed to fixing their mistakes, so, can we STOP using the same cringey dead memes? Just go on spotify, throw on a playlist, and go out exploring.

6: Fire Pro Wrestling: World

When I found out this game was available on Steam, it was an instant buy. At first glance, this game seems lackluster. The roster is either japanese wrestlers you probably wouldn't know unless you were a hardcore fan, or some characters the dev made up. But, before you boot up the game? Check out the Workshop for the game, and you will find yourself in heaven. If someone created the character, you can download them into the game. You also could make one yourself...but come on, that system is way too complicated. Hell, even if the fighting system frustrates you, it's fun to set all the fighters to AI and watch Shrek vs Big Smoke vs Hulk Hogan vs Filthy Frank.

5: Uncharted 4: A Thief's End 

I finally got to play this game, finding it for 20 bucks at Gamestop. Uncharted is probably one of my fave Playstation franchises, and it's amazing how close all the games were released, but not one is a slip up. That said, 3 was the series weakest leg. The story was ok, but the villains were lackluster. This? This ramps up all the action to 250%, brings some of the most stunning visuals I've seen on the system TO DATE, and is a fitting end for the story of Nathan Drake, as well as a great cast of characters, old and new. I can't really describe it in text, you just gotta go play it. Also, you can dab in multiplayer.

4: Middle Earth: Shadow Of War

If you see me on facebook, you know this was coming. I'll be honest, story-line wise, this game is not great. If you're a Tolkien lore nerd, you'll prolly rage jizz 8 times in the first act. Hell, playing the story is a bit boring as well. They try, but the story missions STILL feel like shit you do to get the next ability unlocked. When it comes to playing the main missions, it feels like every basic free roaming games missions, where it's linear, the objectives range from go here to kill this. When you're just killing captains, though...that's where the stories start. You'll build armies, suffer betrayals, play orcs against one another, and build these intense rivalries! Some of these I will never forget, and I'll suffer through a bastardization as long as you make it fun.

3: Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus

This game...is just pure video games. You know how people describe video games in TV Shows, like they live a different life?  That's Wolfenstein 2. I'm not me. I'm BJ Blaskowitz, gunning down Nazi's with the dual wielding power of god in the form of the most devastating weapons known to man! The story, much like one, is better than what you would expect out of a gory violent shooter. I could go on, but honestly, I couldn't do it anymore justice. I'm going for a 100% with this game. Go pick it up, sit back, and embrace the primal side.

2: Yakuza Zero

I have always loved this series. I was in a nice place when I played the first on PS2 about 10 years ago. I think I didn't hear much about Zero prior to its release, but I saw Angry Joe review the game, and I remember how much I loved playing Yakuza 3. With my next paycheck, I picked up the final copy at my local Gamestop. You play as two characters, one being the series protagonist, and the other, a fan favorite secondary character. The first is framed for a murder, and the other is asked to carry out a hit, but complications arise. It sounds generic, but only because I don't want to spoil you, as this game is a trip. Think of it as if anime existed in real life. There's dramatic situations, with some serious themes, but at the same time, you and your enemies have goddamn fight auras, and can dish out these attacks that you say "Ok, that killed him." only to see him either get up or just be knocked out. I won't even get into the various side quests for each character. The downsides is it's not for everyone. Japanese only audio with english subs, the free roam is more akin to a town in a Final Fantasy game than GTA, although it fits.

1: Horizon: Zero Dawn

I didn't really start digging into this game until a month back. I bought it shortly after E3, Gamestop had a promotion knocking the price to half. I also bought a new computer monitor I needed to make my graphics card compatible. HZD languished a bit as I explored a bunch of new games. Then, last month, a few friends were getting into a talk about their game of the year. I said Shadow Of War, and a few others went against me, with this. I said that while it was decent, it felt like a generic overstuffed free roam game. I'm a fucking idiot. Upon replaying, I was treated to a beautiful open world that actually MAKES you want to explore it. I didn't get involved in too many side quests, sticking to those that branched off the main plot, and I was surprised with my progress. When a free roam game doesn't make me want to use a fast travel, it's a W, man. I'm nearly done, and look forward to picking up the DLC. There's other stuff too, but this list is gonna be too long to hold people's attention as it is.

[63824peace]

Monday, 21st of november 2005

Every morning I read the newspaper column "Vox Populi, Vox Dei." It has appeared in the morning edition of the Asahi Journal for a long time, offering some of Japan's finest writing for one hundred years.

No matter how busy I am, I never miss reading "Vox Populi, Vox Dei.”

I start reading "Vox Populi, Vox Dei" on the front page whenever I read the newspaper. Then I browse the table of contents to survey the whole issue. I remember where to find the articles that attract my attention, and then I turn to the second page. I move from the General Articles to the International News Articles. I read everything in the order of its presentation until I get to the TV schedule, which I rarely read these days.

I don't dwell for long on the Sports section, but I give a good part of my attention to the International News Articles. I also take time to check out the advertisements that run along the bottom of the page for recently published books. I catch the movie ads that run in the evening edition too, of course.

I used to read the newspaper backwards when I was a boy... I would start with the TV schedule and move to the National News Articles. I was an unusual boy who just liked to read backwards, as they say.

"Vox Populi, Vox Dei" actually got me to read the newspaper from the front-page forward. School entrance exams always included something from "Vox Populi, Vox Dei," so the students forced themselves to read the column while cramming for school.

They write a new "Vox Populi, Vox Dei" column every day. The writing focuses on current events and seasonal topics, with a variety of intellectual and cultural slants taken on the given topic. They condense current affairs into the short essay format really well. It's a concise, interesting, and useful column. Sometimes it even invigorates the mind like a masterful short story.

The Asahi Journal collects its columns every season and collates them into a book. The English language edition appears at the same time as the Japanese.

Newsprint is an informative medium. A journalist applies his subjective point of view to his story of course, but he does so without emotion. Our digital age can easily drown us in a sea of information, and that's because none of the information has any character. It lacks the force of human passion.

Humanity needs more than merely information. We express original ideas, humor, and our personal wills. We express passions and emotions. A person's point of view conveys all of these aspects of identity.

"Vox Populi, Vox Dei" never names its authors, but there's such a huge difference between their writing and the meaningless news bytes that infest the Internet. A pageant of emotions runs through "Vox Populi, Vox Dei." I anticipate each day's article as personal reading material, rather than cold news.

I have longed to become a writer or novelist ever since I was a boy. I thought, "I want to grow up and write for 'Vox Populi, Vox Dei' one day!"

HIDEOBLOG is an official blog. I write as though it were a diary, but I can't deny that it becomes part of the ruck of media sent into the world. I suppose it will have its readers as long as it remains dispatched media.

I feel peaceful when I read "Vox Populi, Vox Dei" every morning. I know that it sounds presumptuous, but I would like to convey the same experience through HIDEOBLOG.

I saw an advertisement in the Sunday paper. "Attention high school students! Challenge 'Vox Populi, Vox Dei!' Write for the column in the 'Vox Dei, Vox Nova' contest!"

The advertisement called for participants in a contest created and sponsored by the Asahi Journal Company. Entrants must complete an original "Vox Dei, Vox Nova" contest entry using their own words. They must write a continuation of the "Vox Populi, Vox Dei" paragraph that appeared on the front page. That's the subject for the given contest.

The contest will run in January. It sounds interesting... I would participate if I were a high school student.

Gucci and Ryan returned from their business trip to America. Gucci brought me the PS2 version of GUN, and Ryan brought me the Xbox version of Stubbs the Zombie.

I've been really eager to play these foreign games. I had considered waiting for GUN until its Xbox 360 release, but I couldn't help myself and opened it. I last played up to the part when you board the steamship. The atmosphere is good... it looks interesting.

I really enjoy both legitimate Western cowboy films and the Italian Macaroni Westerns. I naturally supported Red Dead Revolver when it hit the stores a few years ago. A game with nothing but a Western theme won't sell very well though. I'd like to make a Western game myself, but I haven't yet hardened my resolve.

I'd really like a game like GUN to become a best-seller.

I had ordered Director Teruo Ishii's film Feudal Pornography: Bohachi Bushido over the internet, and at last it arrived. Director Ishii has unfortunately passed away, but I'm pleased to see his works released on DVD. The Tokyo Fanta's ten-year anniversary event had been dedicated to Teruo Ishii's memory, and it was a huge success.

Feudal Pornography: Bohachi Bushido stars Ms. Yuriko Hishimi, and it's one of my favorite films for that reason. More to the point, I love the fact that she doesn't wear a stitch of clothing!

Ms. Yuriko Hishimi was my first love as Ultra-Seven's Agent Anne. I like Director Ishii's movie for more than just that reason, of course. The story's setting in Yoshiwara, the narrative development, and the perspective are all quite interesting. It's a film made to entertain, and it doesn't leave anything out.

However, it's an adult movie, so I can't recommend it to minors. Naturally I only saw it once I had become an adult.

The military equipment for our OOOO Training arrived at the office. We received all three of the styles that we had requested: Shin-chan's, Murashu's, and mine. We checked how well they fit by trying on the equipment that we'll wear over our other supplies.

We each felt like the bounty hunter from Domino.

We're going to apply professional camouflage during training, and we'll use this as the base for our outfits. Shin-chan and Murashu plan to make Ghillie Suits to prepare for training. We'll have cold weather during training, so we'll wear our fatigues underneath our flight suits. That ought to warm us up.

Rettsu tried it on. He looked like the monster Woo from Ultraman.

Murashu tried it on too. He looked like the monster Zazaan, also from Ultraman.

Phantom has provided all of this equipment. The Aggressor Group provided the holsters, gloves, and chest rigs. Phantom will lend us a big hand while we produce MGS4.

I had browsed through Phantom pretty frequently when I lived in Kobe. That was over fifteen years ago. I would visit their stores in Sannomiya and Umeda. I was crazy about military stuff back then. Phantom also supplied my very first camouflage and dog tags. My camo was the woodland pattern, and my dog tags had "Solid Snake" engraved on them.

I ate Gingjiao-rousi for lunch at the restaurant Fuuton San Raakyo.

I played a little bit of Stubbs the Zombie in the afternoon. The zombies shuffle through a world depicted in a retro-futurist aesthetic, kind of like Metropolis. It's awesome! I can't help myself when it comes to this type of imaginative world.

The game has an outstanding concept too. "Those who have been eaten by zombies soon zombify themselves!" I had wanted to make a zombie game like this! This is exactly the vision I had in mind!

My film buddy Director Yudai Yamaguchi had also recommended Stubbs the Zombie.

This is the ideal zombie game, hands down! This is the real thing! The game probably won't make it to Japan though, regrettably.

I have wanted to make an online game that utilizes this genuine zombie aesthetic. The core idea is that everyone zombifies who has been eaten by a zombie. I've talked about this more than once during interviews, and I've written about it in serialized articles.

Here's the basic idea.

First, a player logs on as a Zombie Hunter in a necropolis. He goes through the whole login process, including setting up an online payment account. The player will then hunt zombies. The game ends when all the zombies in the city have been destroyed.

However... if a zombie bites the player's character during the hunt, the character zombifies and wanders the city himself.

The player can't control his zombified character, but he can still manipulate the camera. The zombified character must live disgraced in the digital world.

And the online gaming fee will continue to tally while the zombie wanders the virtual streets.

If the player isn't happy with this, he can create a new Zombie Hunter. He can hunt down his former, now-zombified character. However, if zombies bite the new character then he zombifies too. The number of zombies associated with the player's payment account increases, and the fees continue to tally for the second character. This is real zombie simulation!

I want to make that game someday.

Mr. Nishimura bought me a copy of the CD soundtrack to Sympathy for Lady Vengeance. Unfortunately, they haven't released a Japanese version yet. We're stuck importing it from Korea.

I asked Mr. Nishimura since I couldn't find it anywhere, and then he got it for me! Wonderful! He is the king of soundtracks.

The CD includes some scenes from the movie, and it comes with a deluxe booklet. It has colored photos and the score's sheet music. The musical instruments intone the sentimental melodies in ways that really fit the Christmas season. I recommend the soundtrack as well as the movie.

I saw many Hangul characters (the Korean alphabet) after I finished transferring the music to my iPod. I felt refreshed to see that my iPod had become trilingual.

In the evening I re-read the Asahi Journal's morning edition. I stumbled across the "Vox Dei, Vox Nova" contest for general public entrants. The earlier contest had required that entrants use the concept of a river (or rivers in general) as their theme.

A forty-year-old housewife from Ibaragi Prefecture won that contest. She wrote a fantastic piece that interwove the ideas of a river, the family, and other aspects of life together.

The next contest will require entrants to use movies as their theme. The deadline is November 30, and it should have a word count between 620 and 680 characters. Should I submit an entry?

Then I heard my own personal Vox Dei....

"What are you thinking!? You don't have time for that. You need to make your game!"

[smartstartblogging]

Massive Retro Gaming Monthly Pick-Ups – September 2018

It’s that time again, to take a look at all of the things that I have managed to add to my retro gaming collection in the past month or so. Recently, these posts have been rather short because of budget constraints… But this time, thanks to some great deals, finding a new retro gaming shop (which you can read about here) and some very nice people, I have a lot of things to feature!

So, without further adieu, let’s all take a look at what retro gaming pieces were added to the 16-Bit Dad collection this month!

Grand Theft Auto London – PSX

We’ll start this month’s retro gaming pick-ups with an absolute classic for the original PlayStation; Grand Theft Auto London, the mission pack expansion for the original Grand Theft Auto game. I loved this game, or rather the expansion, as a child (even though I really shouldn’t have been playing it back then). The top-down, 2D version of the GTA games will always have a special place in my heart, but the London missions hold so much more.

This might be because of the Brit in me, which could also explain my love for The Getaway and its sequel. However, there was just something so much fun about the game that I had to get it as soon as I saw it in Mobile Game Exchange!

Music 2000 – PSX

Now, this is the first game we have from the great box of games that I was given by a colleague (they make up most of this list, to be honest). I have never played Music 2000 before, nor do I know anything about it, if I am to be honest. Apparently, it can allow you to create some great pieces of music using the original PlayStation… So maybe I could use it to make some new music and sound effects for my YouTube videos…

Honestly, I don’t know how much time I’ll actually put into Music 2000. However, I will do a review of it in the future, so I’ll need to play it for a while at least.

Athens 2004 – PS2

Another game from the big box of games, Athens 2004 is an Olympic Games official game. I, generally, don’t really like sports-related games as I find them repetitive and boring. However, I’ll be giving this one a try as I have huge respect for the Olympic Games and all of the athletes who take part in them.

I may even stream it, as it would be the very first time I have ever played the game, so it could be an entertaining stream. Especially since I would most like fail completely.

Final Fantasy XII Platinum – PS2

Funnily enough, I already have Final Fantasy XII for the PS2, but not the Platinum version. So when I found this in the box, I did chuckle a bit. I now have two copies of one of the best Final Fantasy games ever made (and yes, that is my real opinion). There’s not much more I can really say about it, other than the fact that Final Fantasy XII is a huge game that is very much a marmite game; you either love it or hate it.

Gran Turismo 4 – PS2

If you’ve watched my video on my PlayStation 2 collection (which is now out of date already), you’ll know that I have had Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec for a while and said that I was planning to get Gran Turismo 4 at some point. Well, now I don’t need to since I already have it, don’t I?

I never actually managed to play Gran Turismo 4 when I was younger, so I’m actually really happy to finally have it in the collection.

Ring of Red – PS2

For those who don’t know, I’m currently counting down my top 101 games on Twitter, using the hashtag #16BitDad101. On that list is a certain mecha-based tactical RPG (of sorts) known as Ring of Red. I adore this game, even though many people didn’t enjoy it because of the relatively bad translation from Japanese to English.

However, that really shouldn’t put you off trying Ring of Red, at the very least. It’s a really deep and tactical game that makes you think with every turn!

Soul Calibur 2 – PS2

I have some great memories of Soul Calibur 2, since my wife, her sister and myself used to play mini tournaments on the game years ago. It was so much fun, but unfortunately, the disc got badly damaged and no longer worked. As such, getting my hands on it again is a wonderful feeling!

Now I’m looking forward to playing some competitive matches with my wife once again.

Xenosaga Episode 2 – PS2

This one was another game that I bought in Derby. When I saw it sitting in a shop window, I just couldn’t resist. Xenosaga is a truly incredible series, but sadly, we only got Episode 2 in Europe. Much to my surprise, the discs in the one have no scratches on then at all, and it is complete in box. So that was a brilliant find, as far as I am concerned.

Every single thing about this game stuck with me since I first played it, because it is such a great J-RPG. Now I just need to get the NTSC version of the other games.

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 – PS3

I’ve actually gone off Call of Duty for the most part, not really enjoying the more recent games (except for World War 2). However, I will admit that I have not played Modern Warfare 2 before, so I am looking forward to giving it a try.

Gran Turismo 5 – PS3

This really made me laugh when I saw it in the big box of games… After all, I had been planning to get Gran Turismo 4, but now I have both 4 and 5, which is awesome! Slowly but surely, I’m going to get my hands on the entire Gran Turismo series. However, there are other games that I want to get before focusing on that (most PS2 Survival Horror games).

God of War Ascension Special Edition – PS3

I’ve been a fan of God of War ever since the very first game on the PlayStation 2. The whole series is outstanding, so when I saw Ascension Special Edition (in a steel box) sitting in Mobile Game Exchange, I just had to get it! It even has a demo of The Last of Us included as well, which is awesome.

Resident Evil 5 – PS3

Now, I will admit, I don’t like Resident Evil 5 that much. Yes, I am in that camp. It isn’t a Survival Horror at all, as far as I am concerned… Instead, it is an action game with Resident Evil characters added to it. Nevertheless, it is pretty cool that I have it now. This is another series that I want to collect every game for, so this just helps me along the way.

Age of Mythology – PC

Now we get to a whole host of PC games, starting with my wife’s second favourite game of all time (Diablo 2 takes her number one spot). Age of Mythology is a really nice spin-off from the Age of Empires series that mixes a number of different cultures and their mythological creatures and beings. It is a really entertaining RTS that can really suck you in.

Arma: Armed Assault and Queen’s Gambit – PC

I’ve put these two games together because, honestly, there isn’t much I can say about them. This is because I haven’t actually played any of the Arma games, so I don’t know that much about them. I am looking forward to trying them out, though.

Battlefield 2 and Special Forces – PC

Thinking about it, in order to stop this post from being boringly long, I’m going to put expansion packs and sequels together. So, with that in mind, Battlefield 2 and its expansion were both in the big box of games. I loved Battlefield 1942 but missed out on Battlefield 2 at the time, so I’m looking forward to playing these ones.

Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon – PC

I used to really enjoy the Broken Sword games on the PlayStation and PC (who can forget that damnable goat), but never got around to playing The Sleeping Dragon. I always wanted to, but kept forgetting about the game entirely. Shame on me. Now I don’t have an excuse anymore, so this will be played (and probably streamed) in relatively short time.

Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth – PC

If you like Survival Horror, or rather a Psychological Horror, then you really need to play Dark Corners of the Earth. It’s one of the best Cthulhu inspired games that I have ever seen and will really get under your skin. The scene in the hotel when you are being chased is insane!

Commandos 1, 2 and 3 – PC

Yet another game series that I sadly didn’t get to experience in my youth, Commandos always managed to evade me (which is fitting considering the title). Thanks to the big box of games, though, I now get to play all of them! It should be a lot of fun trying to get my head around each one.

Company of Heroes – PC

There was a time when I used to love the Real-Time Strategy genre. This was driven, of course, by the likes of Command and Conquer. However, when I first played Company of Heroes I was blown away by how much I enjoyed the game. Because of this, I’m really happy that I’ll get to play it all over again.

Dark Messiah: Of Might and Magic – PC

The Might and Magic games are such great fantasy games that are fun, enjoyable and exciting. Yet, for some reason, I never managed to play Dark Messiah. I’m really looking forward to trying this one out since it has been on my backlog list for so long!

Dawn of War GOTY Edition, Dark Crusade and Winter Assault – PC

Here’s a bit of an admittance; I used to collect and play Warhammer 40,000 religiously. I spent so much money on the figures and even made my own battlefields out of polystyrene. Then, Dawn of War came along and I could enjoy Warhammer 40K digitally, instead. Dawn of War is such a great game, and now I have the expansions as well.

Deus Ex and Invisible War – PC

So what do I really need to say about Deus Ex? I mean, it is one of the best games ever released for the PC. It is just phenomenal (maybe even more than A.J Styles). Sadly, the second game isn’t as good but it is still entertaining.

Dreamfall Limited Edition – PC

I’ve heard so many great things about Dreamfall, but I never actually played it. The people I know who have played it only ever sing the game’s praises, so I’ve wanted to try it for ages. Now, I have the limited edition version with the art book as well. So yeah, that is really cool!

Evil Genius – PC

This is a game from the big box of games that I have actually never heard of! After a little bit of research, I have found out that it is a Real-Time Strategy game mixed with a simulator type experience where you have to and achieve world domination. It has been compared to the original Dungeon Keeper games, which I really enjoyed, so it should be a fun game to try.

F.E.A.R – PC

As a young adult, I never really thought that First-Person Shooters could be mixed successfully with the Horror genre. Part of this may have come from the utter failure that was Resident Evil: Survivor. Then F.E.A.R came along and changed my mind entirely. The use of Japanese Horror tropes actually worked really well and helped to turn F.E.A.R into a multi-game franchise.

Fable: The Last Chapter – PC

Despite all of the bad press that the Fable games get these days, because of the over-hyped promises made during development, they are actually very good games overall. However, I never did play The Last Chapter because I had moved onto other games. So I’ll now be able to see how the story plays out first hand.

Fallout 3 – PC

Fallout 3 is probably my second favourite in the Fallout series, beaten only by Fallout 2. I already have it on the PS3, but now that I have it on the PC, I can enjoy all of the crazy mods that available out there. It’ll be interesting to finally have a look into the mods and see what kind of game I end up with.

Gangsters 2 – PC

One of my all-time favourite movies is Goodfellas and I just generally enjoy Mafia movies (and games). So when I saw Gangsters 2 in the big box of games, I was very intrigued as I had not played it before, as is the case with quite a few of the games in that box. Visually, it looks like it is an isometric game similar to the older Fallout games or Syndicate.

Grim Fandango – PC

One thing I can definitely say is that I really enjoy games that are either experimental, downright weird, or both. Grim Fandango definitely fits into the “both” category. It was very much an underrated game at release but has since become very popular as people started to see the genius in the game. So I am really happy to manage to get my hands on it!

Haegemonia: Legions of Iron – PC

Haegemonia is a Real-Time Strategy game for the PC that I had never heard of before. It is apparently available on Steam, but there was a physical copy of it in the big box of games. From my quick and limited research, it seems like the game features a war between Earth and colonies on Mars. This is a big draw from me as that is also the most common plot basis for the Gundam anime, which I absolutely love.

Half-Life 2 – PC

This is another game that really needs no introduction. Every game out there knows what Half-Life 2 is, and the fact that we are probably never getting a Half-Life 3. I do own the game on Steam already (naturally), but now I have a physical copy of it. This is great news for me, personally, as I prefer having physical media over digital copies of games.

Hammer & Sickle – PC

Interestingly, Hammer & Sickle is a tactical role-playing game, which if you have read my blog for a while, you would know is one of my favourite genres of video games. You take the role of a Soviet commando during the Cold War, with a plot that is open-ended and changes depending on your decisions and choices.

Hidden & Dangerous – PC

I originally tried to play Hidden & Dangerous back on the original PlayStation when I was younger, but I was terrible at it. In fact, I think it may have been the first game that I ever rage quit. So now I have a chance to redeem myself and use my gaming experience to finally be able to play through the game.

Medieval Total War 2 – PC

You may have noticed that there are a lot of Real-Time Strategy games in this month’s pick-ups. The big box of games given to me by my colleague and friend was full of them. It seems as though he certainly enjoyed them a lot. The Total War series as a whole is a brilliant example of the genre, and the Medieval games within the series suit me perfectly. So I am very excited to play this one.

Rise of Nations – PC

To finish off this list, we have one more RTS game; Rise of Nations. I actually own this digitally already, which is probably a good thing as this came in the big box of games without the disc. So I have the case and manual in physical form, but the game is digital. One day I’ll buy the disc itself from somewhere, but honestly, it is pretty low on the priority list.

And That’s All Folks

That was, by far, the biggest monthly pick-ups post so far. In fact, it’ll probably stay that way for a very long time. But there are some true gems in that list, and overall, I’m really pleased with all of the games added to the collection this month.

What have you managed to get your hands on this month? Let me know in the comments below!

from More Design Curation https://www.16bitdad.com/massive-retro-gaming-monthly-pick-ups-september-2018/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=massive-retro-gaming-monthly-pick-ups-september-2018

[jonathanraychapman]

My Look in 2018 at the Xbox One

At first glance, Xbox One's library seems to be made for several types of gamers (or maybe just general gamers with shallow interests).  Some of these archetypes seem to succeed at fulfilling desires and some are lacking enough for that kind of gamer.  I've recently gotten an Xbox One S and looking through the catalog of what is supposedly a mature system at this point, I was taken aback compared to my experience with the Xbox 360 or the PS3.  For this generation, Xbox One’s library isn't nearly as diverse or rich as the PS4's.  And the Switch is quickly catching up as the go-to system for gamers with interests like myself (which I'll get into later).

The first type (and really the bread and butter audience of modern consoles) are the people interested in the big multi-million-dollar extravaganza type games - The Witcher series, Grand Theft Auto, or Assassin's Creed type games.  If you want to get lost in a big open world then this is your type of console for sure (but so is PS4 or even Switch with Zelda).  There aren't a ton of games like this (because they are so costly to produce) but there's definitely enough (and they're deep enough) that if you just want to play those games, this system is a worthwhile investment for you for that alone.  Even while the PS4 still gets its own exclusive titles (i.e. Yakuza 6) on top of common mainstream console titles, there’s a lot of fun for Xbox One users.  And I think racing games kind of fall into this in-depth world-building as well to some extent (and the Forza games are exclusive to Xbox One).

The second type of gamer (which I really fit into) are the quick-experience (maybe retro-niche) gamers.  I'm into playing Pac-Man Championship 2 or many of the quirky indie games that offer a short arcade-like experience.  Unfortunately, you might find the amount of content for this style kind of lacking compared to Switch or PS4.  Most of the games I like from this style are actually from the Xbox 360's XBLA, but the Xbox One does offer backwards compatibility.  Plus, there are compilations out there like the Megaman Legacy games and Rare Replay that really bolster this style.  But compared to Switch or the Playstation Vita, the Xbox One is more sparse (outside of mobile-games that are just ported).  And - unlike Steam or the Playstation store - these are priced somewhere between full retail physical games and cheaper games.  

Expect to pay $20 per game for quality titles like Wonderboy: Dragon's Trap, Cuphead, or Sonic Mania.  The physical games go for $40 initially and seem to drop to $30 (this is relevant because there are Street-Fighter/Spyro/Crash/Sonic/Bomberman collections/remakes coming out in the near future).  For comparison on the price, I was able to pick up many many quality PS3 and PS Vita digital games for under $10 .  There are a couple of Pinball collections (another quick-format game genre enjoy) in physical form, but unfortunately not some massive collections classic tables as a compilation (like the William's collection done on the 360).  The Stern Pinball collection is decent (though half the tables are of subject matter I don’t care for).  I think Pinball FX3 is coming (or maybe already out), but not as a huge collection (there’s already the Marvel Pinball games).  

The Xbox One is certainly import friendly this time around, but it seems like Japanese developers don’t have much interest in it.  So don’t get this expecting to import shmup games or fighters we didn’t get in the west.  We pretty much have the entire library here (that we can potentially get).

The Switch's digital bread and butter is of course this type of gamer I just mentioned above and they're knocking that out of the park (lots of colorful, super-fun games that go more for fun than realism).  If you want gaming on the go and are prepared to pay for digital, you can’t go wrong with that.

The last group of games that I'm going to discuss in regards to this console are the indie exploratory games - like Gone Home or Firewatch (maybe even Layers of Fear).  These are cultivated, hand-crafted story-telling games that are more about the atmosphere and setup than any actual gameplay.  And - to be honest - these games really aren't my thing.  But there are enough of them that they definitely made an impact on my experience looking through the digital store (so I thought I'd mention them).  If you're into these (and they extend out to action/platform games as well as 1st-person), there are at least a enough to entertain you.  

The difference is that PS4 lets you get these physically much more often than Xbox One.  I'm not particularly a fan of Limited Run Games and the like (who put out a paltry 5000 or less copies usually which sells out in minutes on their site), but there hasn't even been an attempt by publishers to put out these games on the Xbox.  The Switch is actually getting some of these already-digital games in physical form - even though it's mainly LRG publishing them (which is unfortunate - given their low-print-run strategy leaving many gamers - that don’t want to pay scalpers - out in the cold).

So the Xbox One is sort of a jack of all trades system.  It does have one more strength (one trick up its sleeve) - which is the reason I bought into it.  It has an ever-expanding catalog of backwards-compatible games (for which if you own the original disc you can play it on your Xbox One) - and games from both the Xbox 360 and the Xbox.  Now these are only specific games and the real motivation of Microsoft here is to resell these games (say if you’re missing the disc) to a new audience rather than adding any real backwards compatibility.  You'll notice that Skyrim on 360 is absent (even if you own the disc) and that you must rebuy it as the Xbox One version (which is really probably more on Bethesda).  But if you can’t find your physical copy of Panzer Dragoon for Xbox you can buy that digitally for $10 (and it's arguably better than any $10 indie title they are selling).  This is a great thing and I'm really happy for gamers taking advantage of this setup.  I wish PS4 could do the same with some of the physical PS3 or PS2 games (maybe they do in some regards).

As far as the Xbox One X is concerned, I don’t really care about 4K or greater resolution.  My TV is around 10 years old and maxes out at 1080.  For the games I enjoy, I just don’t care about high resolution beyond that.  That’s why the S model was just fine for me as a budget choice.

[gamerestart]

My Personal History with Electronic Games: 4 of N

Previously on Game Restart: [it’s a series]

The thing about arcades is that arcades are expensive. 

Adjusted for inflation, a quarter in early 80s money is approximately 63¢ in today’s money at the time of this writing. Most people probably aren’t used to spending money after the initial investment in the console and then the game for their home, but imagine spending that for every three tries, lives, or continues.

And some games in the 1980s were 50¢ (or $1.25 as of 2018). Many remember Dragon’s Lair (I certainly do), one of several LaserDisc based games which rocked arcades back in the day, and games like these certainly commanded a pretty high price. I have to admit, my total investment in that particular bit of entertainment probably amounts to no more than $1.50 in 80s money. Nine lives all ended in failure, and then the bank was broke.

I didn’t investigate any of the others, though I was morbidly fascinated by the gory bits present in the attract mode for Bega’s Battle standing in the entryway to the base exchange in Yokota.

Still, on occasion, I’d spring for Pac-Man, but since most of these games demanded a lot more than home console versions, they tended to end pretty quickly. I was more keen on spending my video game money on books, specifically game books, specifically, books, like, for example:

Among others. Modules were $5.50, rulebooks for the Moldvay/Cook Basic/Expert were $6.00, and I want to say boxed sets were something like $12, but that included dice and sometimes another module, too. The hardcover books ranged from $15 to $18 (for the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons Dungeon Masters Guide). I was also into Star Frontiers and paperback game books like Joe Dever and Gary Chalk’s Lone Wolf series.

Arcades got a little play, but I spent much less time in them than I spent in libraries. And clearly, I could certainly kill some time gazing at the books at the Stars and Stripes bookstores over the summers (or at Waldenbooks, stateside). 

When it came to money, what I wasn’t spending on Zoids, I was saving for books, which frequently came to me used. I spent a lot of time amassing my collection of role playing game materials, and most of it I’ve kept since those days. Virtually everything else, like the video games, Commodore 128, and toys, were either lost or sold somewhere along the way. Moving a lot meant regularly purging; I purged books absolutely last and only if it was absolutely necessary. I did my best to keep the books, but the Vectrex and Atari 2600 never properly belonged to me anyway.

Moving was big, and was done every two years without fail—even if it was literally down the street on base. Once our stuff was packed up and shipped out, we had a short empty stay in our former residence—always as empty as it was whenever we first arrived two years prior—and then either drove or flew out to the next destination. Often, there would be extensive road trips regardless, because that’s when the vacations would be timed: between Dad’s assignments, over the summer so we missed as little school as possible.

May, 1984 involved a trip to pick up some cousins and we hied forth to Orlando and Disney World and—with the greatest possible anticipation by myself—EPCOT Center. I might play games in medieval-styled fantasy worlds, but at heart I’ve always been a futurist, and this marvelous new place promised to speak eloquently to me of better futures.

I voraciously consumed science fiction in print and whatever I could get on television or in theaters and home video. Star Wars at the drive-ins had been a favorite of mine since I was seven. The Empire Strikes Back made a greater impact, but was more downbeat, and I’d seen Return of the Jedi only the year before in an outdoor theater in Antigua. Anything else was delayed to home video. Living abroad often meant missing or being otherwise behind whenever it came to pop cultural stuff. Base TV (AFRTS) also didn’t have commercials, so we only saw local programming, not the stuff people were being subjected to stateside.

I was more a fan of our space program, and NASA. My elementary school in Antigua was named after the astronauts of Apollo 1 (Chaffee, White, and Grissom), and there was a small mural of the astronauts inside the building. 

Heck, it was a small building, holding grades 1-4 in one room, and 5-7 in the next. There was a small library—read Watership Down for the first time from there—and a few bathrooms and closets but that was it for the most part. It was a very small school. Eighth graders were sent elsewhere, I forget where, but it was moot in my case, since I would be repeating seventh grade when I got to Japan. Being held back for “developmental reasons” always struck me as bullshit. I could have been out of school one year earlier. I got back at everyone by failing the ninth grade, but that backfired and I was moved into the tenth grade on Adak anyway. I may have honestly earned a bit of my opposition to establishments which practice hypocrisy back then. The world of adults made no sense, and they were too inconsistent with the rules to be trusted.  

But this was a trip to remember, and I was looking forward to it.

Apart from the long drive with cousins, there was always entertainment. Reading in a moving vehicle was still something I could do at that time, so I did that a lot. There were also a very few portable electronic games. Crazy Climber (from Bandai), a “Monkey Business” wristwatch (also by Bandai), and an VFD (vacuum fluorescent display) game I’d resurrected from dead—purchased for about a dollar at a yard sale on Antigua. It came with considerable battery corrosion from four AA batteries, and I actually spent a lot of time trying to recover it to a working state. Some soldering was required (my Dad helped with that part) and I was able to get it working again. It was Star Hawk by Mattel, the first electronic game I would ever fix. Anyway, these saw some use, but these would be mostly forgotten when we arrived at the campsite.

KOA campgrounds were all over the US (near as I could tell), and we’d spent a lot of time in them, driving all over the country, saving money (I assume) on hotel bills. We set up tents, visited bathrooms, gazed at the swimming pool,  and … and then …

And then it rained like a swimming pool poured through a sieve for almost the entire week. I didn’t care: Disney World/EPCOT were too nearby to feel anything but slightly dampened anticipation.

The only dry spot was the KOA laundry and check-in building where the snacks and vending machines were and—

And there it was. One arcade console by Atari—still close enough to the heyday to inspire excitement even in a jaded, dampened, and world-weary twelve-year-old—and no mere upright cabinet console this, and certainly not the blocky-chunky pixels of the Atari 2600 home console but the clean vector graphics I would later associate with the Vectrex; this was a cockpit to climb into to save the rebel alliance from the Death Star. (And it had some early voice samples from the film itself.)

Star Wars was fifty cents to play. Half a dollar. Cripplingly costly. 

Objectively I knew I needed to save money for the Disney experiences which were the entire basis for the whole trip, but I also must needed to play it. It’s one thing to grab a friend’s X-wing (er, with permission—I never had my own), and run around the playground like a lunatic blowing up the enemy, one gets tired of that kind of exercise. Also there are compromises like Luke technically being unavailable so a Micronaut Time Traveller had to step in and save the day, but imagination is as fierce and unyielding as it is malleable.

This was the summer of 1984, and I probably spent 70% of my budget into that damned machine. The parents did not object. It was rainy, and we had been holding out for better weather, and it was warm and dry nearer to the glow of the screen. X rays are like that. And what was I going to do otherwise? Go swimming? That was like walking.

The rain relented slightly, and I had a fabulous time at EPCOT and Disney World (adventures to recount later), and it turns out, even after coaxing one last play before we packed up camp and left, I was unable to end the Death Star. That fight would have to continue later.

Back to 2003, at a Tacoma Fred Meyers, I wander into electronics, just to see if there was anything new. I may have been killing time for the next bus home. Fred Meyer doesn’t seem to do this any more for home consoles, but they had a video game kiosk set up for the Nintendo GameCube.

Nintendo. I’d heard of them. Why not. The demo is playing Rogue Leader: Rogue Squadron II. I grasp the controller, and feel my way around playing for a bit.

And I’m back in 1984, sitting in the cockpit of an X-wing, trying to ‘splode the Death Star.

In 1995, graphics like this would have been mind-blowing. But I regularly used SGI hardware far more capable than any video game console, and there wasn’t that much difference between this and the PS2. Perhaps the GameCube was better overall, but that’s not the whole experience. Running down TIE fighters and crashing into walls is.

I bought the game. I bought the GameCube (Indigo, because, reasons). I bought a copy of Luigi’s Mansion. And I bought a wireless Wavebird controller all on the same day.

It would take a few months, and I certainly didn’t know it at the time, but this machine would put dust on the Sony PS2.

[fightitemrun]

Dragon Quest VIII

RNGesus has provided unto us… Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King!

Stephanie: My copy of Dragon Quest VIII for 3DS arrived right as we started playing FFTA, so it’s not inaccurate to say the game’s kind of been on my mind all last week anyway.  I just didn’t think we’d get to it so quickly.

Rich: I’m pretty sure that I bought my original copy for PlayStation 2 on your recommendation back in the day.

Stephanie: It was a sure thing to recommend because, even if you weren’t into Dragon Quest, it came with the Final Fantasy XII demo.  And really, how can you not love DQ8?  The voice acting alone is enough to warrant a buy.

Rich: I put more than 30 hours into this game back then. I don’t remember why I stopped, but I’ve always been meaning to get back to it, and was really excited a couple years ago when it came out for iOS. But that version had really bad controls, and no voice acting, which killed it for me. The 3DS version that just released a couple weeks ago solves both those problems, so big win.

Apparently, the voice acting was exclusive to the North American release, and the Japanese version had no voices as was standard for a DQ game.

Stephanie: That makes sense; I’ll never quite understand how popular the series is, given how conservative Enix is with the franchise; their games always seem to lag way behind technologically.  But Level 5 really did great work.  

I put 10 hours into the PS2 release myself, which is pretty good for me.  In fact, the only reason I stopped playing was that my wife was playing Radiata Stories at the time, and took over the PS2 to finish the final stretch of her 100% run of the game.  

I guess this game is a bit of a ringer, given how much fondness we know we still have for it, but it’s good to get a game like this early to set the bar for other JRPGs we’ll be playing.

Rich: It’s funny that the first two games that random.org has selected for us are representing the two biggest JRPG franchises. Although FFTA is a spinoff game…

Stephanie: Between the two, there have to be 15+ games represented.  Odds were in their favor.

Rich: It’ll be interesting to see how the franchises stack up against each other. The main DQ series games stay true to formula for the most part, only changing slightly, while the main FF series games are constantly re-inventing themselves.

Well, let’s get started!

Fun Facts!

This was the first game in the main Dragon Quest series to be released after the Square/Enix merger.

This was the first game in the main series to see a PAL release.

This was the first game in the series to be released in North America as Dragon Quest and not Dragon Warrior.

This was the first game in the series to have a subtitle: “Journey of the Cursed King”. The earlier games in the series were given subtitles when they were remade on the DS.

[oldnintendonerd]

Pickup post #4 - It’s Sony weeks

So the last couple weeks were slow after the last GameCube find at work. Very slow, so much so I didn’t even find anything else Nintendo related. I am talking to someone about a GameCube game on OfferUp, so we’ll see how that goes. There is also a possible small NES and Game Boy game lot from another co-worker that is in discussion. So I have some things simmering, hopefully I’ll have something more to post about soon, but no more Nintendo finds. Everything I found in the last couple weeks was at a Goodwill, and was Sony related.

I have no problem with this, while not really collecting for Playstation per se, I do have some fond memories of playing many Playstation games growing up. Twisted Metal 2 was fantastic both one player and two player. I would play with friends, my dad, my brother, it’s just a great game. The sound effect you get when you get a kill is so satisfying. Will never get old.

Another series of games I spent a ton of time with was the Gran Turismo series. I had the original one first, as most did, and really enjoyed the experience. Starting from the bottom, buying cars, winning races, upgrading your cars or buying new ones and moving up the ladder. I eventually bought the second one and enjoyed it just as much. Essentially a racing game RPG.

All three of the items I’m going into now were picked up across the end of the month of May, and the first week or so of June. I was hitting dozens of garage and yard sales, combing OfferUp and LetGo. Nothing. I literally hit at least 12 yard sales in an hour span one day and got “Nope, my son took all those” as an answer at 3 of them when asked if they had any older video games.

This was why I couldn’t pass it up when I spotted Gran Turismo 4 on the PS2 at a Goodwill. Just needed to get something, anything to have a find at this point, and I was so fond of the first two. So I bought it. I don’t even have a PS2.

This game is near mint. Only a couple minor dings on the outer case, still very shiny. Manual is in very good condition, and the disc looks like it’s never been taken out of the case.

Snagged this one for $2.99.

Just immaculate condition, I was stunned for a $3 game sitting in a thrift store. I mean just look at the disc, look at it! Absolutely pristine.

I’ll be honest, I’ve never been a huge fan of the PS2, even badmouthed it on numerous occasions. Maybe even right here in this blog saying I’d never collect for it. It all stemmed from when I played Twisted Metal Black back in 2001, and the steering for driving in reverse was backwards from the first 4 games on the PS1. I loved those games. However, on Black I got so frustrated going the wrong way every time I tried to back up. I’d try to turn one way, the car would go the other and screw up what I was trying to do. Did you ever see those videos of the guy trying to learn how to ride a bike when the steering is inverted? It’s a Smarter Every Day episode. Click here if you are curious. Essentially what it comes down to is muscle memory. You’ve done something so much you now no longer THINK about having to do it, you just do it. While not as complicated as riding a bike, doing a rookie turn in Twisted Metal was something I’d done over and over again. It was automatic. Having it reversed, completely broke the game for me to the point where I almost couldn’t function. I know backing up is maybe 20% of the time in that game, but that still puts me at 80% effectiveness, because I was useless backing up. You have to be able to move in reverse, and aim at the same time. Not easy with steering opposite from everything you’ve known for the last 5 or 6 years in a series.

It crushed my love of the Twisted Metal series. The developers completely ruined the game with one simple direction change that was counter intuitive. Turned me off completely. Never had a desire to buy a PS2 after that. Because that was the ONE game at the time I was anticipating on the system.

Now though, heh...

In the thick of a retro gaming hunt, I figured there was a real possibility I could eventually get one, if for nothing else, to play my old PS1 games, and test any PS1 or PS2 games I pick up and intend to flip. I thought it couldn’t hurt to have a few choice games in the collection for the PS2, it was the best selling game system of all time for a reason.

Don’t get me wrong I am still a Nintendo fan boy at heart, and the vast majority of the content you should see in the blog will still be for Nintendo, but, good games are good games. Might as well enjoy them. If I find a good deal on a system or game that is not Nintendo, I’m going to go for it, whether I intend to sell it or keep it I’ll still post it up here for everyone to read about. Heck, I’d even be willing to give Twisted Metal Black another play if it comes along for cheap. Overall, I am game hunting, and Nintendo is not the only manufacturer and developer of video games. So with that out of the way, on to the next bit of the find.

Next up is Hot Shots Golf 3, I have played the earlier ones on the PS1 back in the day. They are good. Not blowing anyone away, but good fun games.

It is essentially a platform agnostic Mario Golf. So I figured it couldn’t hurt to have. I love my copy of Mario Golf Toadstool Tour. This one reminds me of that a lot, right down to the “Nice Shot!” it says after getting the markers lined up for  a swing. When the girl at the Goodwill rings you out at the DVD price of $1.99, instead of the video game price of $2.99, no complaints here either. Especially since it was a little bit of a gamble. Admittedly, because it was pretty scratched. But I didn’t see any real deep ones, so it should play. If it doesn’t, eh, it was $2. Still, it was complete, and in good shape otherwise. Would I have bought it had I not been on a dry spell? Probably not.

Lastly, the Goodwill by my work had a PS1 on the shelf in the electronics section. If you read my blog regularly I have mentioned this one before as being the more robust in the video game department of the two I normally visit. Had the PS1 come into the one by my house it probably would have went in the auction case. If it was cheaper I may have picked it up, but it was a relatively high $14.99. This for a stand alone PS1, just the system, no cables, no games, no included controllers, no guarantee it works, nothing. However, it did have a dual shock 1 controller sitting there with it, with its own price tag of course. The sticks and buttons all felt great, tight and responsive. So I snagged it.

$3.99.

I took it home, cracked it open, and cleaned it up. It was in really good shape under a bit of the grime that was there. I hooked it to my PS1 to USB adapter and tried it with ePSXe on the PC. Works fine. Even the joys don’t have any grooves worn in them or anything. They did have that plastic “dust” under them that comes from use, but it cleaned up and looks fine.

The shoulder buttons are responsive and clean as well. Just an all around good controller. I couldn’t pass it up.

So $9.61 total for two games and a controller.

Apparently Goodwill is charging tax where I live. I’ve seen it be no tax before, but I think it depends completely on the region they are in. Wish it was tax free here, but alas it is not.

Kind of terrible that it took almost a full two weeks of hunting just to come up with that. I’m struggling for content on this blog as far as hunting goes. But, I’ll take what I can get. I’m going to keep at it, I’ll keep hitting yard sales, garage sales, flea markets and thrift stores as often as time allows. Obviously when winter hits, yard and garage sales wont be options. Those will certainly be slower months. Though, to be perfectly honest, I haven’t found anything at a yard sale or garage sale yet, so, what difference do those make, at least thus far? Dozens of sales this season under my belt with not a single find at even one of them. The prices are always much higher on other avenues, like OfferUp or LetGo. Everyone always checks eBay before listing anything, and usually wants close to that number.

The luck I’m having with co-workers and Goodwill I may just stop going to yard/garage sales.

I’m kidding, you won’t know whats there until you get there. So I won’t stop going when the opportunity arises.

Official business:

$11.09 - $9.61 = $1.48 game hunting money remaining.

YIKES!

Knowing we were very low on funds, like critically low, I sold the Game Boy Player from the last find. The auction was running when I bought Hot Shots Golf 3 actually, so I had a plan for funds. Even though we never actually went negative. YAY!

I had to use eBay, I had no other choice. Here’s the completed auction.

As you can see, it sold this weekend and it went for $67.00, plus $3.99 shipping. Totaling $70.99. Ebay is kind of terrible to sell on, you really feel like you get fee’d to death. But it works for quick sales on desirable items. Generally you get a little more than you could do in cash face to face with someone so it evens out somewhat. Not all the way, but somewhat. I figure if I sold this to someone locally for cash, I would get somewhere between $45 and $50 since they will likely want to haggle. On the auction, it sold faster than it would to find a buyer on a local site, and after Paypal took their fees, eBay took their fees, and I shipped it, I actually walked away with $52.88. So a couple bucks more than I figure I would have gotten. It feels like you are getting bent over, but in most cases the prices are higher BECAUSE of how much you get bent over and it sort of evens out. Lets put that back into the game hunting money...

$1.48 + $52.88 = $54.36

Whew! Close one, almost went negative. I mean I don’t mind if we go negative. You can’t know what’s going to happen though, if the right deal comes along, it may force your hand. As long as there is something to sell in that lot, or on hand from a past one to bring it positive again, I’m OK with extending myself some credit if I have to.

$54.36 game hunting money remaining. Happy June guys. Hoping to find something else soon so I can post some more content.

2017.06.14