2013 is really the start Console Generation 8, but to me it's still Gen 7 because the Xbox One and PS4 came out late in that year, and I didn't get either one until maybe a year later. Yes the Wii-U was out in 2012, the 3DS and PS Vita in 2011, but it really felt like Gen 8 fully to me in 2014. So this is the last year I'll review until I get past all the Gen 7 systems in my retro journey this year.
It's fun to go down the Metacritic [MC] list, so I'm doing it again for the stuff I played in 2010.
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.
What it is: Stuff I played close to the year of release or at least during console generation 7, listed in order of Metacritic ranking for 2008.
This is the last of the OG Xbox games I played from my collection. It's all DS now for a while.
Thanks to the recently released Mario Galaxy movie, I’ve got a bunch of themed articles about it along with my usual GamerDad game reviews. So 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 blast off!
It’s time for my “Best Video Games of 2025 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!
An imagined library of games I would have from the best of the 2010s. In order of rank on the Metacritic list for those years.
I went over the Metacritic list of best DS games and made my own list with comments. There's certainly many more great games I didn't mention for various reasons.
I got a few new/old games from various trades as I clean up my 90s era console/handheld games collection.
I decided to go strictly with games released in the 70s next month. This really limits the video game landscape for me, but I made a list, and I'll see what I can do with it. Here's what I got so far.
I feel like I may run out of twin-stick shooters (and those closely related isometric shooters) soon and so I made a list of "blobbers" (games with a party of characters that move together) to check out. It fits my theme because it started in 1981 with Wizardry. Here's the list.
Two games I focused on, one handheld and one console, this week.
It was all Switch this week. I feel like i'm cramming in playing the systems I largely ignored during the year in this last month. Better late than never.
I finished Earth Defense Force: Iron Rain finally. I then picked up EDF 5 on a black Friday sale and started playing that. I'm debating whether to continue with it into December.
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).
(Sing the title to the tune of the Beach Boys' song "Surf City"). My sessions began with a gathering of Game Pass rewards, my retro list, angst over Game Pass, and more 2007-9 retro. Here goes.
Princess Peach is one of the most popular Mario characters and she’s recently getting her own game on the Switch called Princess Peach Showtime! And that’s not even the first time she’s gotten her own game either! And even though she spends much of her time as a damsel in distress waiting for Mario to save her, there are plenty of other times when Nintendo lets her shine and be a hero. So in honor of her new game, I thought I’d go back and look at Princess Peach’s best moments.
This is the last week of Switch and, for that matter, all electronic gaming for me but just for January. I'm going to explore gaming in the first generation of consoles, which is to say, no consoles, because I don't have much interest in Pong or the Odyssey. I've got a gaming related puzzle, some origami paper, and several board games I'd like to try. But until then, this is the Switch stuff I did this week, which wasn't that much because I got obsessed with old 1930s serials like Buck Rogers on youtube (watched on Switch).
I went through the game releases of 2023 on wiki and came up with a list of games I'm interested in for Switch (as if I could get to them all this month . . not). I looked for games exclusive to Switch, but some of these are also on PS4, PC or mobile. As long as they were not on Xbox or something I feel goes with Playstation like GrimGrimoire Once More (and I was strongly interested in playing them) I put them on the list. So here goes in reverse chronological order (the order I'm playing them in):
November in my year-long trek through the years brings me to the 2020s. Somehow I miscalculated and didn't make December the 2020s, but whatever. December can be 2023 and no other year. So what about 2020? PUBG wins the revenue war with 2.8 billion and Persona 5 Royal tops the critics charts with a 95 on Metacritic. About the only game I've played a lot on these two lists (sales and critical) is Dragon Quest XI. Here's MY list for 2020.
A dozen games as if I played one a month that year. What would I play now? I thought I'd share the list and make a few comments.
One billion grossers for this year were: Puzzle & Dragons, Candy Crush Saga, World of Warcraft, GTA V, COD: Ghosts, and Crossfire. Tops critically were: GTA V, Bioshock Infinite and Last of Us. My wish list below has little to do with these. The ones I'd like to play now in 2023, allowing myself only 1 game per month, are as follows.
2010 was certainly the year of the Wii even though it came out in '06. The top four spots for world wide sales are Wii games with Wii Sports being number 1. Microsoft and Sony tried to imitate Nintendo's success by putting out motion control devices this year with Kinect and Move respectively. Niether did much for thier respective systems. I started blogging this year at 1UP.com. Here are some stuff I played that I would replay and some stuff I missed I'd like to play.