It’s been far too long since we’ve seen a proper entry in the Castlevania series. After Igarashi was unceremoniously removed from working on the franchise, it basically went stagnant. MercurySteam worked on the three Lords of Shadows games, but even the last of that subseries was released twelve years ago. Enter Belmont’s Curse, the newest entry in the series, which now rests in the hands of Evil Empire, best known for their work on Dead Cells.
I'm not really playing any 80s games this month (I'm still trying to weed my collection) but I am doing the 80s in other media this month, so I thought I'd at least write something about the games I played from this decade.
When Star Fox Adventures originally released back in 2002, I skipped out. If you read my review on Star Fox, this might surprise you, given how much I love the series. But Adventures wasn’t really a Star Fox game, it was the Rare N64 game, Dinosaur Planet. It got an awkward Star Fox coat of paint, some poorly executed Arwing sections, and was dumped into the Star Fox universe, thanks to Nintendo leadership.
I started with just arcades but then got carried away with other interesting releases and facts of the later half of the 70s. This is the time I became more interested in games.
I’ve got another batch of GamerDad reviews I’ve recently written, including a trio of amiibo figures! Please click on the links and read as many as you can, and maybe post a ‘like’ or comment or two. I’d appreciate it. OK let’s begin!
That's right, folks, PixlBit has officially turned 17 years old. It's hard to believe that this little gaming site has been going for that long, but here we are. This year has been particularly special for the site, as it represents a full reboot of the site with new technology and a new direction.
I'd like my media project for the year include video games, or games in general, but they just doesn't work because video games are so new and what came before them isn't so interesting that they could take up months of free time. But let me back up. What is my media project for the year? It's to go through human history in twelve parts. This is September and I'm in the 1970s, finally a decade that includes video games. If I had made gaming match the project, I would've been stuck with board/card games for eight months of the year. That isn't going to happen, not even for one month. Truth be told, I couldn't even spend a whole month on 70s video games. Only by the 80s are there enough video games to keep me going for a month.
I was going to dig into this week's plays when I forgot about RetroCon. There are some videos up of it now but none of the cosplayers yet. There were some good ones I saw and I'm sure someone did a video that'll be posted eventually. Also, I thought I'd mention the first game I played this week, Demon's Souls and post a few vids that I like made by From Software that give me goosebumps every time I watch them.
Whether you asked for it or not, chances are, Generative AI is now a part of your day-to-day life. Increasingly, it’s been worked into every facet of, well, everything. If you’re like me, it’s become a huge part of your work life too, regardless of whether you asked for it. GenAI is changing our world; it’s deskilling workers, weakening labor power, increasing the surveillance power of institutions, and reducing our collective agency and intelligence.
Well, I refined my randomizer table and came up with something better and that works like a DnD Encounter Table. I also customized it for myself. This is a project for next year, I think. I'm so exhausted by my current plan (go through everything I own and weed out the undesired), I want to think ahead. So here goes.
I'm going to RetroCon here in Oaks, PA with MK this weekend. Not sure what I'll find there, but it's always interesting. We've been going to it for a few years now. Lots of old TV actors, voice actors, memorabilia, cosplayers, and games and stuff you can buy. I'll link a video below. But first, what I played this week on PS3.
The Nintendo Direct has concluded and Ocarina of Time was demonstrated for us by Aonuma-san, showcasing all of the new features and the slick new graphics. While I detailed my hopes in yesterday's editorial, unsurprisingly, the remake essentially amounts to a nice new coat of paint and a variety of quality-of-life upgrades. Of course, each area, NPC, and more, have been fully rethought and brought up to modern standards, providing lots of visual flourishes to feast your eyes upon.
Tomorrow, we're due to finally find out what Nintendo has been cooking up next for the Zelda franchise. There's no question that there are few games as beloved as the Ocarina of the Time, which puts Nintendo in an interesting position for this remake. As we all know, the Zelda formula has been totally shaken up with the latest entries, prioritizing emergent gameplay and sandboxes that allow players to explore and create, a total departure from the Ocarina-style that previously defined 3D Zelda.
I got to thinking about how to create a Random Encounter Table for PS3 games, because I always loved those things from my DnD days way, way back. Here are my results from the top 200 PS3 games on Metacritic.
Started PS3 gaming this week. Booting up worked fine, faster than even X360. Got youtube running on it too, also with less issues than 360. The PSN store lost its search option but you can still buy things if you add funds to your account from another device (I'm using the phone app). Also Device Sign In just popped up yesterday and had me apply another password to my account. I guess it's Sony's way of forcing two factor identification and to ensure a robust password. Kind of annoying but I got it to work. There's some good stuff in the store I want, so I'll be testing digital downloads soon. Anyway, here's what I played this week:
I can’t believe I’m turning 50 later this month. In a way I’m a little sad about it because my life is definitely not what I’d imagined it would be by now. I’m still single and living in a one bedroom apartment barely making ends meet with a job I don’t like that much. But at least there are some fun things we’ll be doing this month. My dad’s birthday is a couple of weeks before mine so I’m taking him to see the Coyote vs. Acme movie. And then for my birthday we’re going to see the Rifftrax Mystery Science Theater 3000 movie. And then at the end of this month some of my other family and I are going to Austin, TX to see my old college campus after 30 years, and to also see my best friend who has lived in El Salvador for a long time, but recently moved back here. At any rate, even though it’s my birthday, I’ve got some presents for you! Reviews I’ve recently written over at GamerDad. Please read as many as you can and maybe post a ‘like’ or comment or two! I’d appreciate it. And in the comments section, feel free to give me a pretend birthday present, too! OK let’s begin!
To be honest, I started Xbox 360 sometime in May. So it took around four months to go through everything in my physical and digital collection and play a few new ones too. Here's the list of stuff I ended with. Note that I've been playing in order of Metacritic rating, and so these are the lowest rated games I have (doesn't mean they're are actually that bad though).
I was fortunate enough to get an invite to the Network Test for The Duskbloods on the Switch 2 this past weekend. I was able to embark into the land of dusk over the course of all three days it ran and I walked away excited about what FromSoftware is cooking up here. Like every FromSoftware game, it feels built on the back of the last game, and the influence of Elden Ring: Nightreign is clearly apparent. But interestingly, it also evokes Bloodborne in equal measure, while offering something that feels familiar, but unique.
One of my favorite things about the original Splatoon was that while you were waiting for an online match to start, you could play a little 8-bit arcade style game. I even wrote an article about them here. I missed having them in the sequels, but I can understand why they took them out. I think most people would rather play in a practice arena doing what they’ll actually do in the match while they wait, and I think some of the extra arcade games were locked behind amiibo figures anyway. But I still liked them because I’m weird I guess. So I was pleasantly surprised that the arcade games made a return in Splatoon Raiders! I don’t even remember anyone talking about them in previews or reviews, so it was a surprise to me! So I’m going to talk about them here!
Meaning, I'm almost done with all my Xbox 360 games. I think there's less than 10 left both digital and physical. Here's what I got to this week.