In console gaming, there is a legend known as the Third Console Curse. Most consoles are not successful enough to receive a follow-up. If they are, then a third console is still not guaranteed. It is a hard industry not only to break into, but sustain a market share in. Yet something happens with the third console every time. It fails to meet the company's initial goals. Maybe it still sells fine, maybe the console has a wonderful library of games. Even if that is the case, the company loses market share and is in a worse spot at the end of the console's life than they were going into it. It could be arrogance from success. It could be a lack of perspective from being too used to success. Maybe it's just rotten luck. But it's consistent.
When a game console is considered “dead,” I like to write a tribute blog about that console and its games. While most people would probably consider the PS4 ‘dead’ for a while now, I’m still reviewing games for it. I guess a game console is really only considered ‘dead’ once you stop playing it. But since recently I wasn’t able to get simple games like LEGO Batman and Mega Man Star Force Legacy Collection on the PS4, I figured it was about time. I’ll probably do a similar blog with the original Switch later towards the end of this year. Most of the games on this list you can play on other consoles as well, I mostly used the PS4 as a third party machine if I couldn’t play or review it on the Switch, or if I’d rather play it on the PS4. Anyway, there are so many games I’m going to split this up into two parts. And the first part is going to be all about classic game collections, and remakes of classics and styled games.
I know I've kind of dropped off the face of Pixlbit for awhile, but I'm still lurking. I recently posted two videos to my YouTube channel. Check them out.
Merry Christmas! I’ve got some presents for you! Game reviews I’ve recently written over at GamerDad.com! Just what you wanted, right? Anyway, 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. And let’s keep up the tradition of pretend Christmas presents! In the comments section, give me a pretend Christmas present and I’ll give you one, too, when I reply. It can be anything you want, it’s the thought that counts…literally! OK let’s begin!
New game reviews I’ve recently written are blooming over at GamerDad.com, so here’s a bouquet of them for you. 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!
My Twin-stick shooter fascination has branched into a genre that is similar but not exactly the same. What I played this week is more along the lines of isometric multidirectional shooters. Really, the only substantial difference is that you use a trigger to shoot instead of using the right stick to both aim and shoot. Overall, it kind of feels pretty similar but maybe with less of a bullet hell feeling. Anyway, here's what I got into this week.
It’s time for my “Best Video Games of 2024 Awards Show!” Keep in mind that this is my list only and no other outside opinions contributed. And if a game isn’t on this list, it either just didn’t appeal to me as much or I haven’t had a chance to play it yet. Ok with that out of the way, let’s begin!
It's November and another shift to a new range of years I want to focus on in gaming. This month is 2019-2021. Nothing special about that, just 3 years in the history of gaming. I guess you could say the transition to our current consoles: Xbox Series X|S and PS5 in 2020 (Switch out since 2017).
A majority of this batch of GamerDad reviews I’ve recently written have to do with Japanese myths and legends and other related themes, so hence the title. 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!
It's February and I have begun reviewing Console Generation 2, or rather, the years '77-'83 and all games both arcade, PC and maybe even board games. Here goes:
It's almost August when I will be focusing my retro gaming on the 90s. That's NES, Genesis, SNES, PS and N64 for me. I don't have a Saturn anymore, never had a TG-16 or Neo Geo, and I didn't play handheld games until the DS. However I do now have the option to play Game Boy and GBC games on my Gamecube's GameBoy Player. So I may break that out too. Here's a list of stuff I'm interested in from 1990, more or less.
Watched this 1983 one season bomb of a show called Wizards and Warriors and played a bunch of retro games and a few more modern ones.
80s retro gaming is the topic today. Here's what I played last week (or earlier this week) on various collections I have.
Another year has come and gone. 2022 was a great year for games! I was able to beat 29 games this year. Keep in mind that some of these were old games that were fairly short (such as the original Castlevania and Castlevania III for NES). There were some standout games this year. I'm going to talk about my favorite games that I beat this year (some of which didn't come out this year, but some certainly did). Then I'm going to give 3 awards: Best Game Collection, Best Soundtrack, and of course, my Game of the Year. So let's get on with it.
It’s the end of the year so you know what that means? It’s time for my “Best Games of 2022 Awards Show!” Keep in mind that this is my list only and no other outside opinions contributed. And if a game isn’t on this list, it either just didn’t appeal to me as much or I haven’t had a chance to play it yet. Ok with that out of the way, let’s begin!
A couple of months ago I reviewed the PlayDate, a new handheld gaming device that has a crank on the side that you can wind to control some of the games. The other unique thing about this device is how you get the games. They come two at a time and are downloaded automatically on the handheld each week on a Monday. I talked about a few of them when I wrote my initial review, and then another batch of ten more about a month later. And now I’ve got my final batch of ten from season one, so we’ll go over those as well as my final thoughts on the PlayDate.
Konami recently came out with a collection of their licensed Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles games they released back in the late 80s and early 90s, during the first round of the Turtles’ heyday. Since a lot of people grew up with and enjoyed these titles, this collection is a pretty big deal. Especially since for a long time, it would’ve been hard to get the rights to all these games again! But I guess since Nickelodeon has all the rights to TMNT stuff now, maybe that part was easier to do? Anyway, of course I got this collection so grab a slice of pizza and let’s take a look at the games on here as well as my personal history with each title.
These past few months have been shaping up towards being rather hard on my gaming budget. There are too many upcoming games that I really want, and me being me, I'll probably end up getting all of them even though I am currently working my way through the Xenoblade trilogy. Incidentally, unless Bayonetta 3 really, really knocks it out of the park in October, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is likely to be my GOTY.
I played Switch, X360 and XSX systems. I'd like to make that Switch, PS4, XSX sometime. I always wanted to get to all three major systems during play sessions.
With the 2022 NBA Finals set to conclude this week (possibly tonight), now is as good a time as any to look back at Double Dribble- Konami’s take on professional basketball initially released in 1986. Like many of their arcade hits arcades, the game was forever immortalized when it was ported to the NES a year later. With its accessible gameplay mechanics and realistic presentation, Double Dribble quickly became known as one of the best sports experiences on the home console.