Oh boy, oh boy, it's comics day again! I found some good ones this time. I even had some Hope's Cookies too afterward. It's been a while since I did that. I was a little bit afraid of the sugar rush, but gladly it didn't happen. So let's see what I got as well as my progress with Doctor Strange Epic Collection Vol. 4.
With the year 2020 and the MLB World Series well underway, there’s no better time than now to talk about Super Baseball 2020. In 1991, SNK- the famed developer of such blockbusters as Metal Slug and Aero Fighters- released their spin on America’s favorite pastime in the arcades. Two years later, it was ported to the Sega Genesis with NuFX and Electronic Arts handling the programming and publishing. With its futuristic setting and easy controls, the game offered a level of enjoyment missing from baseball’s more realistic interpretations on the home console platform.
Yes, I'm alive. Busy and burned out at work and it's not even June. More about that at the end. I've been gaming more these days, so I actually have something to blog about for a change. And yes, true to form, they are all "late to the party" games that I'm sure everyone else played ages ago.
Good morning Pixlpeeps! It is Friday (right?) and I am typing this up before I start my day with some leftovers for breakfast. Breakfast of Champions! I think I will continue with my rambling style from Monday to today’s Quick Hits, but I’ll keep the ramblings somewhat organized:
Mark and I beat the main story a few days ago. The game's far from done though. I'm still doing side missions and exploring for collectibles. At some point, I might try True Vault Hunter mode and replay the game, but maybe I'll just pick a different character and check out their moves.
Like so many other children of the ‘80s, I love Stranger Things. Booting it up is like taking a time machine back to my childhood. The pervasive synth music, the wardrobes and the cultural references instantly transport me, making it easier to get sucked into the day-to-day of Hawkins and the ever-creepy world of the Upside-Down. And just like a true ‘80s property, there’s also a tie-in video game to go along with the latest season of the show. Thankfully this tie-in isn’t quite as low budget as as the Atari 2600 and NES tie-ins of yesteryear, but the dungeon crawling brawler pales in comparison to the electrifying viewing experience offered by the show, especially this latest season.
It’s not Saturday but hey I’m here now so let’s recap my trip…and some cool stuff I found on CD Saturday.
So another E3 has come and gone, and it’s another year where I was denied a press pass. Ever since 1996, I was going to E3 pretty regularly, but for some reason a few years ago, they stopped letting me in. And yet somehow I was able to get a press pass last year. But not this time! They may say it’s because the numbers of the site I write for are too low, but I’m beginning to wonder if it’s really because I’m just too weird for E3. And if that statement has you intrigued, then please read on for my unique reactions and commentary on things I read and watched about this year’s show.
Let’s spring into Spring with more game reviews that I’ve recently written over at GamerDad.com. Please click on the links and read as many as you can, and maybe even please post a ‘like’ or comment or two. I’d appreciate it. OK let’s begin!
Sounds provocative doesn’t it, but they are just the two themes I’m using for March to guide my media choices. That is, besides the media that actually releases this month and makes my eyes pop out in excitement. Call these themes, tools to determine my backup plans.
Welcome, to a very special episode of Nerds Without Pants! Wait, wasn’t last episode special because we began the Great Game Giveaway? Yes, yes it was, but this time we’re unveiling our new third segment: Video Game Cage Match! We have a banger of an opening bout for you, too, as Sonic 2 squares off against Mega Man 2 in the Battle of the Blue Boys!
While GRIS is a short, 3-4 hour experience that doesn't take a whole lot of gaming skill for most of its run-time, don't be fooled into thinking there aren't legitimately challenging platforming and puzzle sections. Whether this immerses you more in GRIS's world or is just an interruption to your good time depends on what kind of games you like, but I'd say it's well worth the experience.
Alright guys, I'm going to try to get down with BaD this year. I have no idea if I'll be successful with it, but here goes nothing.
NIS America recently released a collection of some of SNK’s arcade hits on the Switch. While SNK is mostly known for their fighting games and NEO GEO, before then they made other arcade games, too, and that’s what this collection is all about. So no King of Fighters or other NEO GEO games. Mostly pre-90’s stuff here. But despite having a lot of army themed shooters, this is still a pretty good collection, so I thought I’d go over the games on it today.
I've been playing a lot of Castlevania lately and considering I've now played all of the 2D games (the former is unavailable period and the latter frankly is too expensive for me to spend on an original Gameboy game), I thought I'd make a list ranking these games. I'm going to keep it limited to the 2D games and exclude the aformentioned games. Before I begin, I'll be leaving these games out:
Following the crash landing of Solo at the box office you may have read of “Star Wars fatigue.” It’s a phantom illness that is being blamed for audiences’ alienation of affection for Star Wars movies after 41 years of wedded bliss. The fans are not tired of Star Wars—they are in an uproar over the direction that the president of Lucasfilm, Kathleen Kennedy has taken the franchise. The fans are centrally angry that after 30 years of waiting for the continuation of Luke Skywalker’s story, he never saw any action and died at the end (was killed by director/writer Rian Johnson). The other issue with fans has been the political shift from focus on authoritarianism/militarism toward identity and party politics. Snoke is Trump, Poe Dameron’s mutiny represents the Bernie Bros, and the leadership of the Resistance are all elderly, affluent women (Clinton, Warren, Pelosi). continued after break...
I’ve had some trouble sticking with Flipping Death. In between playing other games for review I slowly chipped away at it, making small progress over a pretty extended period of time. On the surface, I really love what it’s going for. This platforming-adventure has a great sense of humor, memorable characters, and a really neat and unique art style that absolutely leaves an impression. While all of the accoutrement is fantastic, solving puzzles and accomplishing tasks feels pretty consistently obtuse and rarely satisfying when you finally figure it all out.
Yep, we finally did it, we killed the Ender Dragon in Minecraft for, I think, at least the third time. One for the Xbox 360 version, one for the first Xbox One Version and now for the new and improved Xbox One version. It was definitely harder in this last version, and we both died a few times doing it, but we finally did it, and more.
One of my favorite things about playing strategy/role playing games is the sense of satisfaction that comes from executing on a well-laid plan. The thrill of deftly maneuvering units into place for a swift and deadly strike after multiple turns of meticulous consideration is something that few games deliver. I love strategy/RPGs, and I was excited to tear into Valkyria Chronicles 4; a return to form of sorts for a series held in high regard by a rabid fanbase, and a franchise I have little experience with. Sadly, instead of tearing into this game because I couldn’t get enough, I will now need to tear into this bizarre title that not only doesn’t reward sound strategy but does everything in its power to undermine player agency.
Good morning Pixlpeeps! It is Monday and I haven’t been around last week. I was going to write up a Quick Hits but on Friday I had a dentist surprise dentist appointment. I was on a wait list and someone canceled so I got their spot. I have one more appointment like that, and a regular appointment later this week. Hopefully both happen this week. I really like my dentist and his staff but it feels like I’m becoming a regular and that’s a little odd especially there. Anyways more on that later, let’s get started with today’s combo Quick Hits/What I’m Playing blog.
I'm sitting here waiting for fireworks. Immediately, of course, I think of a video game. This one is Rocket Mania. It's a fixed screen puzzle game I played way back in 2003 on PopCap.com. Reconnect the fuses as fast as you can and watch the fireworks. I just noticed there is a Deluxe version on Steam for download for $1.25. Yippie! But that's not all my droogs, I've been playing lots of other things too. Details!