(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.
A week in the life for me in '96: I delivered pizza for Domino's Pizza 'til 2am five days. I'd watch Mystery Science Theater 3000 til 4am or so. I might then get up early to do a 10-5 shift. Then on my days off, I'd play music in a basement in Philly with a few friends I met at a night school jam session. We started a blues band called Bad Tyming and then a punky rock band called Lemonloaf. When I wasn't jamming with them, I'd be at my friend Mark's place to play video games. We would go to flea markets and pick up cheap games and consoles. We had PCs, Atari 2600, NES, SNES, Genesis, PSOne and N64. I was also getting into various "cures" like health food, accupuncture and vitamins thanks to the influence of my girlfriend. I was 29.
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.
Good morning Pixlpeeps! I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and for my peeps in other countries I hope Thursday treated you well. Turkey Day was fun because I got to eat a lot, spent time with the family, and watched The DALLAS COWBOYS BEAT THE HATED WASHINGTON REDSKINS. Yes that deserved to be in all caps. So a couple of days ago I talked about why I was absent from here for about a week and today I thought I would share some pictures I took. Surprisingly I didn't take as many pictures as I thought I would but hey I still got some cool shots.
Good Friday Morning Pixlbit Nation! It is a gloomy Friday Morning here in Rainy Southern California. Yes, it is true Southern California doesn’t deal well with weather that isn’t triple digit hot, or in the 70s. Anything that falls out of the sky people tends to forget the rules of the road. I blame Hipsters. So I am typing this while listening to my “Not Heard Christmas Music” playlist and I have to say some of the songs people write for the holidays are not that great, along with some of the covers of songs that I like. It’s an odd thing but that’s just me. Anyways so it is Friday, and I need to make a few calls this morning (I’m waiting for a couple of businesses to open) and I have to run down to the Post Office to mail out my stuff for the baby cousins, so we need to get this edition of Quick Hits up and running!
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome to the first weekly installment of Who Would Win! Today we have a fine bout between an armored titan with a drill-arm, and a colossal beast forged of steel and humanity. The rules are simple; this is a best of three scenario with each round taking place within an arena catering to each nemesis, with a third area selected as a neutral field. So Who Will Win? Will it be the Big Daddy who has an insatiable lust for drilling his opponents? Or will it be the Handyman, with incredible strength and agility? You decide!
Big news, everyone! I just got a new job working for SEGA. I’m going to be one of the heads of creative development for a new studio they’re opening up called Flicky Tails Studio. I’ve got big plans to revive some of SEGA’s forgotten characters in great new games, so I’ll be really busy and you may not hear much from me here anymore. But before I go for good, I thought I’d give you guys a sneak peek of what I’ll be working on over the next couple of years.
Without a doubt, Bioshock Infinite’s narrative is among the most sublime ever seen in the medium, treating gamers to philosophical conundrums and scientific paradoxes that most are still contemplating weeks after the game’s release. Indeed, one could devote entire essays to any one of its many weighty themes, from the traps of predestination to the nature of evil. But the game does more than challenge our conceptions of ethics and perceptions of reality—it also succeeds in critically damaging that long known fixture in digital storytelling known as the “silent protagonist.”
Irrational has honed their gameplay to new levels with each of their releases, from System Shock 2 to the upcoming BioShock Infinite. The defining elements of Irrational’s game design started off in a much more basic form with System Shock 2. When looking back at the success of that first game and its initially groundbreaking fighting mechanics, it becomes a little difficult to watch and replay today, considering how far Irrational games has come. However, the once simplistic mechanics from System Shock 2 has evolved into a refined railway shooter in BioShock Infinite. So let’s take a look at where Irrational has been as we look forward to where they are going.
I've thought a lot about what was the actual catalyst for my ending up a gamer. I did play Pong, my uncle and aunt got one as either a wedding present or a Christmas present from someone and they had it set up on an old black and white TV in the spare room at their first house. It was fun and exciting, for about 15 minutes. And then I'd wander off and either play cards with them or go do outdoorsy stuff. So it definitely wasn't Pong.
There are some rabid game collectors out there, and Ken Levine and his team over at Irrational Games are banking on that fact with two impressive special editions of BioShock Infinite. The Premium Edition comes with a staggering amount of swag, while the pricier Ultimate Songbird Edition includes a large and very detailed statue. If your inner Gollum is starting to mutter “precious” read on for all the juicy collector details.
While rumored for a few weeks at this point, Sony made official last night that PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale will be coming to Vita alongside its console counterpart. Like many games available on both platforms, the two will be interoperable in a few interesting ways.
Bioshock was not a game that needed a sequel. It told a story and concluded it nicely. It didn't leave the door open for a future tale – this was made all the more apparent when the second game didn't bother to continue from the events of the first. Instead, it creates a whole new cast of characters and retcons the antagonist of the story into the events of the first game. The poor, hackneyed story is only the start of the problems with Bioshock 2.
Despite the apparent quality of Bioshock, it has taken me nearly five years to explore the world of Rapture and the demented mind of Andrew Ryan. After initial hype painted the experience to be something more akin to a puzzler than a shooter, I was extremely excited… until I actually played it. It wasn't at all what I expected and that was enough to force me to shelve the game until the right time. Thankfully I did, because revisiting it all these years later has allowed me to have an immensely enjoyable gaming experience.