Xevious is number 3 on my Top 40. Question is, do I still have this game, and do I have something physical with this game on it? The answer is yes and yes, but do I have everything? Here’s what I got and don’t got.

I miss Tower Records. I miss the smell, the loud music, the free postcards, the racks of CDs, looking at the different covers, and the listening stations. Whenever I had a couple of extra bucks and some time to kill I would always find my way into this store and maybe leave with a CD single, or an album. There were other stand alone music stores that I would spend a lot of time in but Tower was diffferent. This is one of the songs I remember playing at a listening station. It was silly, upbeat and fun. I taped it but never got around to buying the CD. Thank goodness I can through eBay or Discogs, and I probably will at some point. 

Tangentially related to yesterday's post, these two books deal more specifically with Japan. Chris Kohler's book Power-Up deals some with history but also the broader gaming scene in Japan, including interviews with well-known game creators. I have not had a chance to read this one yet. The other book here, which I have been slowly working through, is about hilariously bad game translations and, most interesting of all, the logic or cultural mores that lead to some of these seemingly brain dead decisions.

I’m trying to get my collection together based on my Top 40 list. I’m working on the Taito collections and related games right now, but what about number 2, Stampede. I looked up some stuff, and I’m glad to say, I still have several of the collections the game is included on.

I had a really good Monday. 

Ok so many many moons ago I was in the Disney College Program and my first year I worked on Main Street and this was the big parade for that season. I listened to it so much that I could recite the dialogue, hum all the music and I would point at the window right before the big fireworks display and say “daylight” (I worked at night up until closing). Funny thing is that I didn’t get to see the actual parade until the program ended and I came back as a guest. Here’s the parade. Have a good one!

Here's my Top 40 games/series. It's not quite complete but I'm sticking to 40. I also listed the devs where I could because I generally like other games by the same deveoloper. I ditched my other lists for this one. Maybe this will stick. 

Yeah, sorry, I just don't see why this thing is getting good reviews. It's exactly what the first batch of trailers made it look like, just with a better CGI look for Sonic. Don't get me wrong, I appreciated the references (I thought it was great Sanic made an appearance) and the end credits sequence is great. Otherwise though, the jokes didn't land for me, the plot was bland and I wasn't as impressed by Jim Carey as others have been. And he was my favorite celebrity when I was young for exactly the kind of character he plays here! 

So this is the final week of BaD. I’m a little bummed it’s almost over but we get a bonus day on Saturday. I really should write something on the 29^th as well. One of the coolest things I’ve done gaming wise on Feb. 29^th is get a platinum in Lego Pirates of the Caribbean. On my broken PS3 my game save still lives. I don’t have anything like that planned for this year’s 29^th unless I really grind on a game.

For those of us whose interest in games goes beyond just playing them, these two books are fascinating reads. Game Over chronicles the rise of Nintendo and its dominance of the 8-bit market (the tale of how Nintendo came to possess the Tetris license is particularly interesting) whereas Console Wars covers Sega's assault on that dominance with the Genesis. The book adopts an odd narative style, as if it were a novel rather than a historical account, but the information it purveys is great stuff. Neither book is perfect—Game Over, published in 1993, is colored by the Japanophobia of the time and Console Wars has a little hero worship going for Tom Kalinski, Sega of America's president during the majority of the Genesis era—but together they provide a great starting point for the amateur game historian.

I read a lot about Taito Corporation the other day and made a list of games I should have. Then i played some more Earth Defense Force 2025 and made some good progress. 

So there's a scene in the film Once Upon A Time In Hollywood where Leo DiCaprio's character, Rick Dalton, is describing the story of a book he's reading to a younger actor. The book is about a bronco buster named Easy Breezy who had a successful career earlier in his life. He has an accident that, while it doesn't keep him from being a bronco buster, it does hamper him a little physically and a lot mentally. According to Dalton, as Easy hits middle age he feels his best years are behind him and he's feeling more useless (and as he hits that last word, Dalton breaks down in tears). Now, this is mostly Dalton's insecurities and failure to grow as an actor (or person) talking more than his ability to act but I couldn't help thinking about that scene as I've been replaying Super Mario World. 

Some for not very long, but still 9. 

The game Song of the Deep holds a special place in my heart. I picked it up right before the birth of my first daughter (#3 in the overall line up) and my memories of it are tied to that stressful but happy time. For Christmas that year my wife got me the novelization and later I found the Pop figure and vehicle for way under market value and grabbed that too (game, novel, and Pop make a nice display). The novel (which I have read!) is aimed at a younger age set and is certainly not as strong as the game but I enjoyed it all the same, swimming again through those memories of when our family first became five people.

You know today I was going to be nice. It’s Friday, the weekend is here, I was going to just mess with my audio files, maybe sort through some cards or something and then I get back to back scam calls. I didn’t answer the first but when the second hit a minute later it was game time. Of course it’s one where it’s voice activated and I never say the first word so a lot of silence. Now I’m in game mode and I’m about to be called some funny words while asking them where it all went wrong. Good morning Pixlpeeps! Today for Quick Hits I’ll just go over mainly some pickups this week.