Luigi's dream vacation is a real nightmare

Welcome to the 7th Annual Chris Goes Awards Show, but since it’s the end of a decade I’m going to skip some numbers (it worked for the iPhone, it’ll probably work here) and go for the my best of the decade. A little disclaimer here: I can’t remember what I played during the early part of the decade but there are games that stood out to me so I’m going to call them the Best of the Decade. Sound good? Let’s get started!

Welcome to a creative edition of Nerds Without Pants! This week, we’re joined by Mike, the host of Games My Mom Found. We talk about our favorite created characters, a ton of games, and decide who wins when Resident Evil 2 takes on…Resident Evil 2?! I dunno, man, the listeners book these cage matches.

BOO!  OK so these reviews aren’t really that scary, but it is getting near Halloween so here’s my not-so-scary themed latest batch of reviews I’ve written recently over at GamerDad.com.  Please click on the links and read as many as you can, and maybe even post a ‘like’ or comment or two.  I’d appreciate it.  OK let’s begin…if you dare!

Welcome to another episode of Nerds Without Pants! This week, we talk about our favorite edgelords in video games! I don’t know about you, but I’ve been edging for the past two weeks and I’m about to pop. Wait…that’s not what edgelord means? Oh. Oh no. Um, we also have Joey aka Superstep on and determine who wins when Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon takes on Brave Fencer Musashi in the steel cage.

Welcome to an episode of Nerds Without Pants so exciting, so exhilarating, that you’ll…well, you sure will think it’s pretty good, we think. Probably. Ok, I’m not doing a good job of selling you on this episode, I know, but trust me, you’ll like it.

I got so long-winded last time when talking about the games in my last blog on the mini PlayStation Classic that I decided to split it into two blogs.  So if you haven’t read that one yet, I encourage you to please do so.  Anyway, here’s the second batch of games on the PlayStation Classic.  I don’t have as much to say about most of these games, so hopefully this will go by a little faster. 

If there’s one thing I absolutely adore about Dragon Warrior (aka Dragon Quest), it’s how much its subtle charms have influenced each sequel to come after it. There’s just something special about playing the latest game in the series (currently Dragon Quest XI) and still hearing the familiar sound cues of attacking an enemy, taking a hit, or the brief but satisfying victory chime and level-up fanfare. Additionally, the character designs by Akira Toriyama (Dragon Ball creator and illustrator) give a visual continuity throughout each game. Without question, the Dragon Quest series has laid down some deep roots that all started here. But although it's a beloved first entry for nostalgic fans of the series, newcomers might not warm up to certain gameplay elements that would not be refined until much later.

We've talked about novels and those books with visuals. Now there is just clean up. Early last year I read Blood, Sweat, and Pixels, which tells the development stories for a bunch of games like Destiny, The Witcher 3, and Stardew Valley. I love stuff like this and the book did not disappoint. Definitely look it up if you're into the real world side of game development. Something I actually did blog about last year is Empires of EVE, a history of the first few years of EVE Online. I've never played that game and have no real desire to, but the history of what happened was still remarkedly compelling. The second volume is supposed to come out this May and I am excited to see what happened next.

Earlier I skipped over one of the oldest books I read last year, Out of the Silent Planet, by C. S. Lewis. Published in 1938 as the start of a trilogy, Out of the Silent Planet imagined space travel before we really knew what it is like and it shows, but it is a fun adventure story with some moments of deep thinking. Like Clark after him, Lewis was adept at describing in rich detail the alien vistas and creatures he imagined. Later I read its sequel, Perelandra, which in some ways is the inverse of its predecessor. Perelandra is mostly a series of deep thinking moments sprinkled with adventure bits. I don't want to bash it because it is very good at what it is doing but I do hope that when I read the third book of the trilogy this year, it hews closer to the first one.

Wow, this year went fast! 2018 was a very busy year for me, which is why you barely saw me here on Pixlbit. I've been adjusting to a new place and life is moving in a very wonderful direction (as in marriage is in my future). But I tried to still make time for games this past year, so I will share with you my gaming experiences. As usual, there are some retro games here, and it's mostly Nintendo stuff. I finished 17 games this year (not bad at all). Really excited for the new year and what it has in store. Hope you guys are too. So let's get into it. Here are the games I finished this past year. 

At first pass, you may mistake Wandersong for a game about a bard who’s trying to save the world. I wouldn’t blame you, because while that is what it seems on the surface, more importantly Wandersong is a game about emotions and relationships. It’s about conquering your fears and adversity, doing what’s right even when everyone else is telling you it’s wrong. It’s about leaning on your friends when you can’t do something by yourself, and yes, it’s about singing your heart out even when nobody wants to hear you.

Wow, it has been a long time since I wrote a new blog post! I've been busy with work, Beau, gaming, and the movie watching project I started a couple of years ago.

SPOILERS AHEAD! SPOILERS AHEAD! IF YOU SPOIL THESE 2 GAMES FOR YOURSELF ITS NOT MY FAULT! I GAVE YOU A WARNING!

I managed to get every achievement but one in the game. That last one is for beating the game on the hardest difficulty. I think you only have to beat the final level at that difficulty, but I had a hard enough time beating it on medium. I did try it anyway. Even with all the upgrades, I got stuck in a room just before the final battle where you get mobbed by a dozen giant rock trolls. Not enough room and too much damage taken. It felt impossible. Fun game though. I enjoyed it's Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance style gameplay. Merida must have a wagon train of arrows following her. I probably shot them in the 10s of thousands.

I started getting obsessed with this list of games I can play on XBO and PS4. Through various free giveaways and backward compatibility, I have a lot of choices. So I looked up all their play times and listed them from shortest to longest. Part of doing this is to compete on the achievement leaderboards, if possible; but it's also to knock a bunch of stuff off my immense backlog list. 

Word hunting continues in Letter Quest. I've got 4 achievements left. I think I can finish the rest the next time I play.

I tried out Battleborn today, watched Mad Max Road Warrior (movie from '81), played Wizardry a lot and the got back to my rental, Odin Sphere Leifhrasir. 

Dissidia Final Fantasy was one of my favorite games on the PSP.  It was a fighting game featuring characters from the popular RPG series, and there were two of them on Sony’s first handheld.  I always thought it would be neat if there was a version of Dissidia on one of the big consoles, so I was excited when Square-Enix announced Dissidia Final Fantasy NT for the PS4.  I’ve been playing it recently, so here’s a blog about the characters and stages you can find in it, as well as some brief impressions of the game as a whole.

Egad, hope you’re ready for this hellacious edition of Nerds Without Pants: Halloween Havoc style! We are joined by Blake to talk about characters that spook us, movies that chill us, and podcast lengths that make us quake with fear. If you all get to the end of this, well…you’ll see.

Played the demo. Has a great look to it with a lot of neat details. I played the guy's quest, but after it ended it seemed like I could keep on going. I'm gonna investigate that. I'll check out the girl, Primrose, later. 

Hey folks, guess what today, Friday, Sept. 15 is?  It’s my birthday!  Yay!  Just for fun, let’s do what I do every year and you can give me pretend birthday presents in the comments section, please.  It’s the thought that counts…literally.  Plus the attention is nice and it’s neat to see what you come up with.  And even though it’s my birthday, I’ve got some presents for you!  More game reviews and things I’ve recently posted at GamerDad.com!  Yeah, just what you always wanted, right?  Right?!?  Anyway, please click on the links and read as many as you can and maybe even post a ‘like’ or a comment or two.  I’d appreciate it, thanks!

Today officially begins May, it hasnt been the best day but it is what it is. Im currently studying to get my license to be a Pharmacy Tech. While I love being a CNA, I am getting burnt out so I think a change in career is called for. If I could play video games and make money I would but alas its quiet hard to do that so I have to have a plan B. Study wise Im doing good, Its just a lot to take in. The nice thing is, you can get your Pharmacy Tech license without going to school. You can study for the test on your own and then pay to take the exam. Another way is going to a CVS or Walgreens and they help get you certified. Now from what a friend learned, they send you to school. However Im going to try and study on my own and pass it. If I fail, I might just go to school for the 6 to 12 months the program last. However saving money for now is the goal. Im hoping to take the test this summer between July and Aug. 

National StreetPass Weekend happens on Friday 4/12 and goes through 4/16. I checked all my Nintendo Zones in the area and will go to a few of them to see what pops up in Mii Plaza on 3DS. I finished with the Bravely Second demo the other day, so I need more Miis for the Mii Plaza games. I suppose some celebrity Miis will show up. There will also be special stuff for a list of specific games that use StreetPass. Unfortuneately, I don't have Dragon Quest VII anymore to check out the neat photo feature. Check out the full list and details at the official page. 

Part II is the peak and decline of arcades, years 1982-1985. I was in high school those years. Weekends I'd get on my bike, and with a friend, head down to the mall to play arcade games. 1982 was the absolute peak with just a ton of new games. After that the decline began as home consoles began offering more elaborate experiences to challenge the two and half minutes per quarter the arcade machines were giving. Here are my favorites.