This site is starting to misfunction [not really, just me hitting wrong keys]. I just lost my blog for an unknown reason. That's about it for me. Can't take the lost time. So here's a list of what I just played. Don't think I'll continue. I started a Reddit account and will be commenting there as aiwithwarpdrive. (can't copy most images either. It's a waste of time to screen shot them and bounce them to my Onedrive just to share).
So recently I played through Kirby’s Return to Dreamland Deluxe on Switch. Knowing that I’m a huge Kirby fan, you’re probably wondering why I didn’t get this game back when it released in February. Well I don’t really like paying full price for Switch re-releases and remakes, especially when I already paid for these games back on the original console. So I waited and asked for it for my birthday, which is what I usually do for games I want to get, but don’t have to play right away. So since I had already played this one back on the Wii, I decided I can wait and put it on my birthday list. After playing it, I have to say that unlike a lot of other Switch rereleases, this one’s actually pretty good and adds a lot of extra content. One of the extra things is an amusement park with ten Kirby mini-games from past titles! And since I like to write blogs about games that have a lot of mini-games, especially if they are presented in a museum or amusement park, let’s take a tour of Merry Magoland!
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.
Looks like I'll be watching Phillies baseball next week too as they move on the NL championships. It's usually after video game time though, so I'll still have a report to make. Here's this week's by hours played as far as I can estimate since I didn't take exact notes.
What if I could return to 2012 and do it all over again? What one game would I buy each month of the year? Here's what I came up with.
The 3DS was released this year. Minecraft came out of beta. The highest rated games were Batman: Arkham City, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, and Portal 2. Here's a list of what I put the most time into that year followed by stuff I played later and then a wish list.
The Philadelphia Phillies baseball club played its wild card playoffs this week and the play times fell on days I could actually watch them. Other than that, there were the games. I think I'll go in order of time played this time.
Halloween is this month, so here’s some treats for you! Reviews I’ve written recently over at GamerDad.com. 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!
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.
I just got two of my favorite TV shows of the 2000s from Amazon, Venture Bros. and The Mighty Boosh, that I wanted to watch but now there's no time for them. Instead, my regular goto without a tv show to watch during meals at game time, is Fail Army on youtube. Why this is endlessly entertaining, I'm not sure. The psychology of it elludes me. But it is constant source of hilarity even topping other distractions like sports highlights, hobbyist vids, and miscellaneous trivia. It's like the sauce on the sandwich of gaming. Details below.
I remember this year mostly for the being disappointed with the World of Warcaft MMO. I wanted another another strategy WoW. But there was also the release of the DS, which got me back into handheld gaming, and cueing up for my first midnight release for Halo 2. The rest of the world was buying GTA: San Andreas and Pokemon FireRed/Leaf Green, numbers 1 and 2 in sales respectively. Half-Life 2 was a notable winner on Metacritic. Here's some stuff I played and want to play.
There’s a fishing game in Japan by Namco called Ace Angler, and you view the screen horizontally to the ground like you’re looking into a fishing pond. It’s pretty popular, and I think I even played it once at Round 1 arcade here in the US, or at least an imitation of it. And now you can play a home version of the arcade game on the Switch with Ace Angler: Fishing Spirits. It was available digitally in the US last year, but I imported a physical copy of it because I’m a freak about stuff like that. But the game is entirely in English so there’s no language barrier here. I asked for it for Christmas, but since imports can sometimes take a while, I actually didn’t get it until around Easter this past year. And I finally got around to playing it recently. The cool thing about the Switch game is that they made the arcade game like it has its own amusement park and aquarium. So it’s like a cross between a Namco Museum game (albeit for only one arcade game) and Animal Crossing. You even create your own avatar that looks like something out of Animal Crossing, and since I like the aquariums in those games, as well as Namco Museums in general, this game really ticked off a lot of boxes for me! The game says it’s Ace Angler’s 10th anniversary, which I didn’t realize it had been around that long! But anyway, let me take you on a tour guide through the Ace Angler Aquarium and Arcade Amusement Park found in the Switch Fishing Spirits game!
"I dont' need no stinkin' badges" you might say, but they're really nice to get in video games, and they have cool designs. I got several this week I'd like to share in addition to making comments on all the others things I played this week. It's self indulgent, I know, but maybe one of these games will spark some conversation. Onward.
Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire retook the sales crown in 2003 making it five years since '98 that the franchise won it. Mario Kart Double Dash, a game I always wanted for its co-op but never got, was #2 in '03. Steam was fully released out of beta and Call of Duty began. Here are the games I'd like to play again or for the first time.
Pokemon finally got topped in sales by Grand Theft Auto this year with Vice City #1 and GTA III #3 in the U.S. . Critical acclaim went to GameCube's Metroid Prime and Zelda: Wind Waker. The Sims topped all-time PC sales beating out Myst this year. Microsoft bought Rare and Gametrailers began online. Remember Gametrailers? I used to check out that site all the time. Now for games I wouldn't mind playing again or for the first time.
Specifically the Irkens from Irk, and more specficially, Invader Zim, voiced by Richard Horvitz (Chaos in Skylanders). This 2001 animated TV series didn't even make it through its second season, but its still pretty good. It especially appeals to me for its angular design, wild humor, surrealism, and sometimes dark tones. Zim is assigned to take over Earth and he assumes the disguise of a middle schooler to hide his secret. Dib, a fellow student, is not convinced and seeks to expose him. Another selling point for me was the voice of Kevin McDonald from Kids in the Hall as one of the Almighty Tallest, co-leader of the Irks and Zim's boss. Oh, and there were more aliens in the games I played this week.
September 15 is my birthday, but the presents are for you! More recent game reviews I’ve written over at GamerDad.com for you to read and post ‘likes’ and comments on. And thanks for doing that. And since it’s my birthday, in the comments section here, please give me a pretend birthday present! It’s the thought that counts, literally! And it’s fun. OK let’s begin!
GameCube, GBA and Xbox were all released. Pokemon games won all sales awards across the board, again. Amongst the highest critically were: Halo, GTA III, Grand Turismo 3 and Final Fantasy X. Dreamcast was discontinued this year, which was probably when I got one on the cheap as GameStop started shipping them all back to their warehouses. I probably got a Xbox on the strength of Halo, Gamecube for the Rogue Squadron sequel, and a PS2 for the Red Faction port. Here's a bunch of games I played around that time, then alter, and then ones I'd like to play now.
I watched some Mobile Suit Gundam Wing and MSG SEED on youtube. I only found a few episodes dubbed into English, most are with subtitles, which I like to avoid. It's a neat show. I'm constantly reminded of US IPs like Halo and Pacific Rim while watching it. GUNDAM just basically means the neural interface with a robotic battle suit, like with Master Chief and Cortana or the piltos and Jaegers of Pacific Rim. Seems this show, just like the hair styles, like their robots all spikey. Fun stuff, and complex. The stories in MSGW are deep in polical intrigue, Earth vs. Rebels, not unlike the colonial uprisings in the Halo universe. I enjoyed it in between lots of gaming that happened during Labor Day weekend as outlined below.
2000 was the year of the PS2. Remember the lines as people wanted not just a game system but a DVD player? I got one later. However, Pokemon still ruled home game sales: Red, Blue, Yellow, Gold, Silver and Pokemon Stadium all contributed. Microsoft bought Bungie and PopCap was formed. Mad Krammer and I were really into the Dreamcast, and I bought a PC I could finally call my own. Here is a list of stuff I've played or want to play today in 2023 (darn it, that's 23 years ago!).
The 90s TV this week was The Pirates of Dark Water, a gorgeously animated production that reminds me of animation I saw in Heavy Metal, Ralph Bakshi's Lord of the Rings and Don Bluth's Dragon's Lair laserdisc game. Almost immediately I said to myself, "darn this show has a wealth of interesting graphics, it must've cost a fortune to make". Turns out it did, half a million per episode according to wiki. The story isn't bad either, the characters are good and the voice acting very good. Mad Krammer and I are enjoying it sandwiched in between the following games.
If you can get the reference in the title, you win a tasty RAM chip. Anyway, here’s my latest batch of reviews I’ve written over at GamerDad.com. 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. OK let’s begin!
Playstation won the console wars. Super Mario 64 won at home worldwide. Firaxis, Valve and IGN were all founded this year. Coolness! That year I and my friend Mad Krammer were playing mostly FPS games ported from PC to PS, N64 and Saturn. Over the years, though, I've discovered quite a few others.