My first stereo was my parent's as well, an even older setup from the 70s without a cassette player, just an integrated turntable/receiver. You could stack multiple vinyl records on the center spindle and watch them drop after each record finished playing. Some fun for us kids.

I traded it and all my games. I had trouble getting the UMD discs to read consistently. The door seemed a little flimsy. I always had problems with it. I guess I didn't like worrying about it breaking all the time. Plus the batteries would wear out and expand. I used to plug mine in instead.

I only played Car Wars 'cause my roommate in college would play it with me. It's not for solo play, even though I used to play Squad Leader solo all the time. I've been looking for a copy of Car Wars. I think it was reissued recently. I remember seeing it at Barnes & Noble once - should've bought it.

That's a cool story! I guess I was a little bit older at the time. I was writing up DnD campaigns.

I wish DK jr was easy too.

I have arcade memories all the way up to the late 80s but none after that.

Perfect. "accessible to any one" is exactly me, especially when talking about souls-like games. haha.

I definitely like the world design in this game.

There's always something I'll miss. I liked Ms. Pac-Man more than the original.

Yeah, I didn't even know about G&W until I saw the G&W collections for GBA!

I always keep trying the Castlevania games 'cause they look so great, but never get far (well, I get a little farther each time). However, I tried Dead Cells a little while ago and really liked it. One of those great indie games I got a hold of when I was on Xbox Series last year. I'm interested to try their take on Castlevania when I get back to current systems. I miss finding cool indie games like this.

Looking back, I guess so, although I didn't think about it at the time. I miss making music mix tapes probably the most of anything.

I like playing Returns & Tropicla Freeze too, but yes way hard. I can't believe you finished the first three though. Good for you. I haven't the patience. Those ice levels drive me crazy.

Interesting. It's a Japan-only game I think though. I'd love to play it.

The creation of NAMCO?

Sneakin' and snipin' isn't really my thing but the controls are solid.

Well, I'm glad about that. I could never get past about 50% of DKC and even less in the two sequels.

I wonder if the battle system is a little different in the DS version?

R&C Tools is very good. I haven't a single complaint, just that I'm skeptical about motion controls when they are used.

Was it Cutie-Q?

Well, I loved doing all the side stuff, bounties and such, but grinding isn't what I want to do. I really need to read something on battle strategy.

I've dabbled in the Sniper Elite games. I'd like to dabble some more.

I remember playing this on GameCube back then. I was really interested in the world and exploring it with Star Fox, however, something disappointed me and I never finished it. I forget what but it was probably one of the things you mentioned in this article. I think I played the next one, Star Fox Assault too, but my memory is very vague. I still have a yearning for a good Star Fox adventure game (like do a Ratchet & Clank style game with Star Fox). I wish they'd remaster or reboot one of those.

I've been reading The Associated Press coverage of AI. Some interesting articles there.

If Marsupilami is like DKC, I might be interested and I Boardwalk Empire is an interesting concept but I'm not all that keen on the graphics.

What a mess. It was going so strong and now I have no interest in Zen or FX. Pinball FX3 was my favorite. I wish they had just done improvements on that formula.

I didn't even know about those until much later. After the Mattel handhelds from the 70s, I didn't play another handheld until the DS in 2004!

I like the vehicles that come with some of those recent amiibos.

Super Woden Rally Edge looks interesting.

I never got into electronic build-at-home kits just plastic model building. I remember reading the Steve Wozniak autobiograhpy (I, Woz) where he talks about starting out building these kits for early computers at home.

"Crunchy"