Last week I looked at 8- and 16-bit Batman games. This week I’m going to cover 32-bit and the sixth console generation, which actually presents some titles worth revisiting for more reasons than just nostalgia. I also have a few revisions to make to last week’s post, and I’ll cover the latest video update from FoxMaster and his AI Lara ‘bot.
Continue reading ⟩⟩ “6th Gen Batman Games: The Gates of Arkham Island”
– Shamus, Friday Dec 1, 2006
Continue reading ⟩⟩ “DM of the Rings Remaster XXXVI: Hates the Dice! Hates Them Forever!”
So, we’re up to Hiccup, my favorite of my cars.
I was on my way to a four-in-the-morning flight to go see my parents when he just chugged to a stop. We called in an emergency ride so I would make my flight, and I awaited news about what was wrong with him. Elliot texted me half a dozen times a day with updates. We had our own place by that point, but money was very tight, even $500 wasn’t an amount we could handle and I knew it. I was only able to visit my family by a mix of careful saving and help from them to even afford one round trip ticket in the off season.
After a few days of waiting for news, the mechanic finally takes a look at him. The oil change place had put in the wrong filter, instead of filtering it just hung there uselessly, letting anything through. We could have gotten lucky and it just needed it run through with clean oil, but we didn’t. Some bullshit got through and ripped up the inside of the system. The engine was shredded. Hiccup goes no more. Fuck. Dude. That was my car.
Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Mercy, Hiccup, and Jellybean II”
This week, instead of my usual Sims content, I’ve just gotten home from a one-day eight-hour drive (four hours each way) to go buy myself ‘my’ ‘first’ car. I think because of this, I’ll take a break. Instead of writing a thousand words about the Sims, I’ll write…two and half thousand…about my cars up until this point. Right. Makes sense.
This’ll have to be in two parts. I’ll do one today, and one tomorrow. Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Mercy, Hiccup, and Jellybean I”
This week I am playing Raft with Bay, Elliot, and Charlie, which is pretty fun. I have some (many) issues with how the machines are supposed to work or how we get the parts, but the gameplay is good. I am also still playing Slay the Spire at every moment of spare time.
What are you guys up to?
A big part of my retrogaming experiment was to experience entire franchises and series. As I have shared, classic RPGs like Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest are on the list. On a whim, I decided there are major, important titles I have never played that I would like to try, like the Metal Gear games. And while I’ve always been a big fan of The Legend of Zelda as a whole property, I’ve never actually played any Zelda games other than the first, gold-cartridge TLOZ and Link’s Awakening on the original Gameboy. I’ve even added all the main-line (I think) Mario Bros. games, and Sonic games from the original Genesis release through the GameCube generation. But naturally, at the last minute, I decided I *really* wanted to play a different “series” of video games I’ve only barely dabbled in: Batman.
– Shamus, Wednesday Nov 29, 2006
Continue reading ⟩⟩ “DM of the Rings Remaster XXXV: A Dubious Victory”
A novel-sized analysis of the Mass Effect series that explains where it all went wrong. Spoiler: It was long before the ending.
I wanted to take the file format of a late 90s shooter and read it in modern-day Unity. This is the result.
Few people remember BioWare's Jade Empire, but it had a unique setting and a really well-executed plot twist.
Let's ruin everyone's fun by listing all the ways in which zombies can't work, couldn't happen, and don't make sense.
Be careful what you learn with your muscle-memory, because it will be very hard to un-learn it.
This is a horrible narrative that undermines the hobby through crass stereotypes. The hobby is vast, gamers come from all walks of life, and you shouldn't judge ANY group by its worst members.
A breakdown of how this game faltered when the franchise was given to a different studio.
Let's count up the ways in which Bethesda has misunderstood and misused the Fallout property.
Crysis 2 has basically the same plot as Half-Life 2. So why is one a classic and the other simply obnoxious and tiresome?
Lists of 'best games ever' are dumb and annoying. But like a self-loathing hipster I made one anyway.
T w e n t y S i d e d
