After much delay, Nintendo has mostly pulled the lid off of its paid online service. Let’s break down the good and the bad of what you could be buying into this September!
video games
Untitled Video Game Show Episode 0.3
We break down Nintendo’s new paid online service for the Switch, gush over Valkyria Chronicles, and share our memories of wrestling legend Rey Mysterio Jr.!
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I Got the Nintendo Labo Variety Kit
With age comes wisdom, gray hair, and sometimes, gifts!
My family and friends actually spoiled me with two Nintendo Labo Variety Kits. One got exchanged for something else, but I still have one ready to rock! Looking forward to trying this out to see if Nintendo’s latest creation is the next big thing! Stay tuned!
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Excited for NBA Playgrounds 2?
I really wanted to like the first NBA Playgrounds.
Appearing to be a spiritual successor to NBA Jam with a dash of NBA Street for good measure, NBA Playgrounds should have been a slam dunk. Instead, it stumbled horribly out of the gate with wonky shooting mechanics, a barebones single player experience, bad AI, a reliance on loot boxes to unlock players, and specifically for Nintendo Switch owners, no online play for the first few months of its release. Even though Saber Interactive gone a long way towards writing the wrongs of their base product, I still have a very sour taste in my mouth from that first experience.
Despite a lukewarm reception from myself and other online critics, the game sold well and the sequel is just around the corner. Is there anything in this new game to change my mind?
NHL 94 and NBA Live 95 Live Stream
This EA Sports double-header showcased the company on the rise with two of its biggest sports games: NHL 94 and NBA Live 95!
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Thinking Through My Approach to Retro Game Collecting Going Forward
Save for a brief moment in time when video game collecting was a coping mechanism for the harsh realities of adulthood, video game collecting has been more of a side-effect of being a gaming enthusiast. I bought what I wanted and didn’t really let stuff go. After moving into a house and getting a bunch of my brother and I’s Nintendo 64 and Gamecube stuff, I’m currently sitting on a pretty decent collection that looks really cool in my display units.
Now that I have all of this stuff back in my possession and a gaming setup that can capture and stream these old games, it has the gears in my head turning. What if I could build on this even further? What if I could make this the gaming collection of my dreams? Before I potentially veer deep into the game collecting rabbit hole, here are some of my thoughts before making the jump.
Piccolo is One Technique Short of Being a Great (or Maybe Broken) Character in Dragon Ball FighterZ
In the Dragon Ball universe, Piccolo has always been an impressive and resourceful warrior in his own right. No human fighter would stand a chance against him. However, he also exists in a universe where he’s outgunned by mythically strong fighters that could blow up a planet for the fun of it. Despite his best efforts to get stronger and smarter, he routinely comes up short against the best in the universe as he simply doesn’t have the raw power to keep up.
In the world of Dragon Ball FighterZ, where fighting game developers have to balance their rosters out as much as possible, Piccolo’s skills as a fighter come through with his tricky move set and devastating damage potential. However, one hole in his arsenal prevents him from being one of the best combatants in the game.
My Next Project: NES Surgery
My NES has suffered the same fate as the others. It doesn’t play games most of the time. Even after blowing into a cartridge for the 100th time (which I never should have done in the first place), I get a blinking red light and a flickering screen more often than not. Now that I’ve got an infrastructure in place to stream retro games, it’s time to give my old friend a tune-up.
Got the NES Working. Let’s Play Contra!
What better way to start NES streaming than with one of the console’s greatest games that hasn’t really made its presence felt on modern platforms? Let’s blaze through Contra!
…with the Konami code, of course.
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A Personal Retro Revival?
I’ve always had a soft spot for the classics. Having grown up through most of the history of video games, there’s a nostalgia there that gets me in the feels every time. That said, retro gaming is not a part of my day-to-day life. I have a few retro consoles on display in an entertainment unit, with all of the games tucked away in shoe boxes in the bottom compartment.
There are numerous reasons why this is the case. For one, I like to keep up with the zeitgeist, so modern gaming takes up the vast majority of my time. Two, hooking up retro consoles to a modern TV is a huge pain. Thirdly, there was a time in my life where I used retro game collecting as a means of avoiding the harsh realities of adulthood. Once I got my mind right, collecting moved to the back burner.
Due to recent events, the classics may receive a second wind in my world.
In Third Person 