Here we are, February first and I've got nothing special for Blog-a-Day. Oh well, I guess I'll give it a try anyway, against my better judgment. The response to my earlier blog was pretty encouraging. So here's BaD #1!
It's definitely a Platinum game. Don't know why I thought it was a JRPG before now.
2015 was kind of a slow year for gaming for me. I hope to change that in 2016. Anyway, for what it's worth, here's what I played:
Ranger stuff: Still busy at work. Spring cleanup is still ongoing due to the late spring and also lack of the usual volunteers who normally help us out. The next week is going to be long, as I want the place looking good for the holiday weekend and I plan on working whatever it takes to get it looking that way. The good news is that we are now fully staffed, and the new hire seems like he may not have an off switch. This makes me happy.
Work's been keeping me busy and very tired. We had our annual bird watching festival the last weekend in April (was that really just a week ago?!) and most of my time was spent getting the park looking decent for that and getting the plumbing issues sorted out so we could open the bathroom building in time for the festival. I can now say with no hint of uncertainty: I do not want to be a plumber when I grow up. I replaced the tank bolts in two toilets, replaced the tank to bowl gaskets for both of them at the same time because the old ones fell apart as I was wrestling with getting the old bolts removed, and fixed a couple of leaks from various valves. I was less successful up at HQ - the leaky sprayer in the kitchen sink was a pain to remove and then getting the parts to plug it off permanently was problematic at best. I thought I had it fixed, but when I checked for leaks today, the bucket I put under it was half full. It'll be back under the mouse-infested sink tomorrow. Could be worse, could have had a toilet explode and embed porcelain shrapnel in my forehead like the maintenance mechanic last week. Who knew plumbing could be so dangerous?
You may or may not have heard, but apparently Hideo Kojima, the mastermind behind the Metal Gear Solid franchise, and Konami, Metal Gear's publisher, have had some sort of falling out. If the reports are to be believed, then Kojima will be leaving Konami once MGSV: Phantom Pain releases later this year. As it is, he's classified as an outside contractor now. Kojima has always said he wanted to work on new things, but Konami's reliance on the series (and his inability to leave the series in other peoples' hands) has always led him back. When he said that Phantom Pain would be his last Metal Gear, many fans rolled their eyes and took it with a grain of salt, but it looks like it may be true. Not only that, but Konami has gone so far as to erase his name from everything he was a part of--his team, studio, credit on all of Phantom Pain's logo and marketing, even the game's twitter account. And today, Konami announced that they were searching for a team to make a new Metal Gear, when they should be focused on the one that isn't even out yet. This kind of stuff doesn't happen if there's an amicable split.
Good morning Pixlbit Nation, how are you on this fine Thursday morning? It is a cool 45 degrees here in sunny Southern California, and while I am enjoying a nice donut, I thought it was about time I talk about my absolute favorite console that I own, the Playstation 2. Let’s take a trip back to when I bought my Playstation 2. It was a year or so after it’s release (remember when everyone was hoarding them and trying to resell them on eBay?) Well I waited because I didn’t want to spend the crazy cash for it, and I was deciding on which console to buy, the X-Box, or the PS2. I loved the Playstation brand but I was willing to try something new, but it all came down to one thing: which one will play DVDs. See before this I had a DVD player but my brother moved into his own spot and I gave him my DVD player and watching on a computer monitor wasn’t the most ideal thing. The X-Box needed a separate remote in order to play DVDs and the PS2 not so much, so after class I went down to the local Walmart and bought a PS2. The first game I played on my new PS2? Madden 2002…for the original Playstation. Yeah I didn’t buy a PS2 game until the next week.
Hello Pixlbit! I hope everyone enjoyed E3 this week! Many games were announced and I'm very excited to get my hands on them. Only problem now is the patience that I don't have to wait for them to release!! From all the craziness that Nintendo announced, I think it's time to buy a WiiU. I probably won't get one until the Zelda or Mario Kart WiiU bundles drop or there's a Smash Bros bundle. Which ever comes first. But of course I'm really excited to play the games announced for the PS4 and Xbox One!!
I’m a proud Xbox owner. It’s my emulation powerhouse, my KotoR paradise, my Battlefront buddy, and it’s also home to some interesting exclusives that it would seem many people have forgotten. As a service to the community, and because I really just wanted people to know that the Xbox has a nice set of exclusives, I put together a quick list with some descriptions and prices for some of the best Xbox exclusives out there.
Video games try to tell you about themselves through their ads. Sometimes they tell you about their attitude, or their humor, or their special subject matter. Each ad tells you what's most important about the game in order to spark your interest. Here are ads for Twisted Metal Black, Worms World Party, and Zone of the Enders I scanned recently from some old Spectre comics.
Now that Microsoft has revealed the Xbox One, the stage is finally set and all the players have taken their places. I already talked about how excited I am at the prospect of a new knockdown, drag out console war, and it’s already begun thanks to some snarky comments by Sony on the big Xbox day. In just a matter of months, gamers will either be voting for their console champion of choice or taking a Switzerland approach and waiting on the sidelines to see who comes out on top. With all of this in mind, I think it’s important to talk about this next generation, and what it means to you as a gamer.
I was out to day doing the old waiting for the wife while she shops routine. I wandered over to EB Games for a look around and wound up coming out with one of these things.
March of 2003 saw some big name games released, like Pokémon Ruby and Saphire and The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker. The game that interests me today for this blog, though, is Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner for the PS2, a superb take on the old Japanese trope of mechs in space. An action masterpiece by Hideo Kojima, The 2nd Runner was the only game to stand toe-to-toe with Tecmo's Ninja Gaiden reboot on the Xbox, or so I've heard. I've never had a chance to play any ZOE game, let alone The 2nd Runner. Its fluid controls, intense action, and (at the time) astounding graphics cemented The 2nd Runner into gamers' hearts and, as a result, its fans have been bugging Kojima for 10 years now for ZOE3 (which, supposedly, is in development now). Fans were thrown a bone last year with the release of an HD collection containing the two PS2 games but we're still waiting for ZOE3.
Hey Guys,
Just got back from Spring Break with new content for my blog in hand! I am currently playing a couple meaty games so I am thinking about publishing mini-reflections on them instead of all out reviews. Alternatively, I may just blog on a bunch of miscellaneous content and save up content for in-depth reviews, so let me know in the comment section. Additionally, I am finally going to reveal said backlog to give you a taste of what is coming soon.
It's not uncommon for a company to forget about a great franchise, or ignore one that fans have been clamoring about for years, and it's not surprising that the company I'm talking about is one I spoke about before in Part 1. Konami seems to have forgotten about a little gem that I had on the Sega Genesis called "Rocket Knight Adventures." Yes, there was a lesser known sequel called "Sparkster" that for whatever reason changed the appearance of the main character, and the overall graphical style, in my opinion, was not up to par with the aforementioned. Also, there was a PC/XBLA release of a Rocket Knight game in 2.5D that was actually quite enjoyable, but was only published by Konami, not developed, so it just didn't feel like a Rocket Knight game to me, though it was fairly fun.
There are many games and franchises that we all wish would come back, and just last week I covered the first of many that I wish would return - Zone of the Enders, but today I've got a game that I'm not sure many of you have heard of, but you may have seen this game on the shelves at an Electronics Boutique in 1998.
**NOTE: This is the start of what will be a long re-uploading and re-releasing/tweaking of my previous articles. This doesn't mean I won't have new material coming out as well, but if you see something strangely familiar, don't be alarmed - I'm simply getting my article archive put back out on the web for everyone's enjoyment :D
We’re back! After a month long hiatus, the Pantsless Ones return to entertain and inform on a variety of topics. We begin by catching up, which leads to a lot of comic book talk. Rob’s made a new addition to his legendary Comedian shrine, and he also may have a slight Dark Knight Rises hoarding problem. Don’t worry folks—an intervention is in the works.