all the gamers were stirring, with a click of the mouse.
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Greetings bipedal organisms. It has come to my attention that we as human beings (or you as whatever you are) need food to live. While eating a few meals a day typically sustains us, we often crave something more: a snack! We also like to combine our snacking with doing things we love, such as playing video games. Woe is us, however, as many of us fall into bad snacking habits while playing. Since the holiday season is upon those of us in the good ol' US of A is mainly about eating (don't let anyone tell you otherwise), I figured it would be a good time to address the pressing issues about safe snacking.
One of the biggest drawbacks of the NES Model 2, or the "Toploader," is its lack of AV out. Being tethered to coaxial output these days seems almost barbaric, especially since the Model 1 Nintendo has it standard! Thanks to the wonders of the internet, and a neat little circuit board, I fixed that issue in short order.
As a bonus, I did some repair to my GBA SP, which warrants some attention in case any would be handymen decided to undertake the job themselves.
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Extra Life Day 2016 is less than two months away (November 5th 2016), and I thought it may be interesting to give the community an insight on what it takes to run a successful event...and also, so that I can have a space to vent about how much work / craziness goes into setting up one of these ridiculous events.
First, for those of you not familiar with it, Extra Life is a fundraiser similar to events such as walks for cancer or bike-a-thons. Essentially, you sign up via their super user friendly website and then get friends, family, and people on the Internet to sponsor you. You then play games instead of getting all sweaty and exercising (ewwww). Most events go for 24 hours, but you make your own rules regarding the length. Finally, all the money you gather goes to your local children's hospital (through Children's Miracle Network). What is not to like?! Play games, Raise money, Heal kids!
Continue reading Extra Life 2016: Part 1- Planning
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Game: Tecmo World WrestlingDeveloper: Tecmo
Platform(s): NES
Average Member Rating: 70%Recently, I had a run in with one of my favorite NES games as a kid, and thought that it might be worth a closer look.
Tecmo World Wrestling or
Gekitou Pro Wrestling!! Toukno Densetsu (that is a mouthful) is the premiere choice of wrestling games on the NES, which is surprisingly a pretty crowded category. Not to spoil things, but of them all,
TWC stands far above as the clear winner here.
Continue reading Tecmo World Wrestling
[img width=640 height=400]http://image.dosgamesarchive.com/screenshots/rogue2.gif[/img]
What is Rogue?
Recently, there has been a flood of games touting to be "Roguelikes" in both the Indie and AAA design spaces over the past few years. Even more perplexing, the titles claiming to be Roguelikes seemingly spanned all genres. With the new update of one of my favorite Roguelikes (more later), it seemed only fitting to really examine what a makes a game a Roguelike, and more importantly, what a "rogue" is.
For the full version, you could always Wikipedia it, but in brief,
Rogue is a PC dungeon crawler with ASCII graphics. The premise is pretty simple: go from the top floor of a dungeon, get an item, and then escape. The game features turn based combat and movement; for every action you take, all the enemies get a turn, similar to a game of chess. Each level of the dungeon is semi-randomly generated, and populated with a myriad of enemies, items, and interactable objects to make each delve unique. Being simple in the graphics department,
Rogue could also go much deeper in item interaction than most games, as not having to animate things saves considerable time. Other things that make
Rogue different from most games is that items do not come identified, and the user usually needs to figure out what they have via trial and error. This generally leads to some hilarious situations, like drinking a potion of fire when you badly needed healing instead.
Continue reading Much Ado about Roguelikes
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Over the past couple of weeks, you have undoubtedly heard people talk about a new IP from Blizzard called
Overwatch. Blizzard usually has a pretty good track record (
World of Warcraft,
Starcraft, and
The Lost Vikings, to name just a few) so a handful of my friends and I decided to check this game out during the beta. What we did not know at the time was that this weird mash up of Valve's hat simulator,
Team Fortress 2, and the snorefest of the MOBA genre would take over our lives so completely.
Overwatch is a typical team based objective-centric FPS with a twist. All of the characters have different abilities that are on cooldowns, similar to a MOBA or like some RPGs. This cooldown helps to balance some of the more powerful abilities, and allows for vastly different play styles between characters. Instead of worrying about a loadout, like so many FPS games have been so fond of, each character has their own weapon and set of abilities, and you only have to customize a few tidbits of cosmetics, like pallet swaps and some extra dialogue choices, which are all earned through "loot boxes" (pronounced "crack").
Loot Boxes are packs of 4 cosmetic items that are dropped for a player at every level up, and during a few other instances. You can also buy them (YAY MICROTRANSACTIONS!!), but since they are cosmetic only, they really have no effect on the game.
Since the bulk of what makes Overwatch great is its roster, I thought I'd take you through each of the main characters and give a few brief thoughts from what I have played so far:
Continue reading Who Watches the Overwatch?
Hey Interwebs! It has been a long time since I've posted (seems to be a pattern). I have two main reasons for checking in. First, I'm sorry to have neglected the blog for so long. Between Real Life (ick), Work (double ick), my new hobbies of Warmachine and Twitch (more on this later), moving, and all sorts of other stuff, I haven't really had the time to update things.
Second and more importantly, I'd like to discuss a little thing a friend of mine got me into a little thing called Twitch. For the 5 of you still living under the rock, Twitch is a way to broadcast your games in a fashion similar to (and exportable to!) Youtube. With the proper equipment, you can send yourself playing games over the web, and interact with people as they watch you. I know I'm over simplifying things, but I'm sure you know most of it by now...or could just take a look for yourself (twitch.tv).
So right now, all of my game systems are hooked up into a video capture device and whenever I feel the need to play a game, I hit a little broadcast button on my PC and send my game over the series of tubes to your homes. It is really quite simple once everything is setup, but knowing how to set things up can be a little daunting. Fortunately, the Intertubes are full of info on how to do it!
I've been doing this for around 6 weeks now, and figured it would be time to write something about the experience. First off, let me say that i am not the social media butterfly. I JUST started on Twitter (mainly to support Twitch), and I barely keep up with message boards (because they are generally blocked at work). That said, I think I have been doing pretty well for myself. So far, I have 19 total followers, many of which are friends in RL. A few are not, however, and that is the truly interesting part! People have randomly stumbled onto my streams of KOF '95, Mister Mosquito, and Dark Souls, and said "Wow, this guy doesn't totally suck!" Even more odd...people keep coming back.
With the large amount of entertainment available everywhere else, there are still people in this world who think I am interesting enough to hang out with for a bit while I try and beat Eggs of Steel. Just as mindbogglingly crazy, I've made friends...not just viewers.
Most importantly, (at least I think so anyway) is the fact that I get to spend some quality time with parts of my collection that I otherwise would not have grabbed, and with friends and family members who I usually wouldn't sit down to games with. I beat Dark souls on my stream, a game I figured I'd never have even come close to finishing. I played Nintendo with my special needs brother and cousin. I kicked ass on the bug toss in Lion King. My family piles into my room to play Quiplash with family in another state over the channel Monday nights! I got attacked by a Wasp in the basement....and all of it is recorded!
I now have a catalog of glitches and special moments that I can look back on like a gaming scrapbook. It's been pretty cool to see myself evolve in skill (presentation and games) even just over the course of the the month. Even more special is the fact that I probably wouldn't be playing half as much if I didn't start streaming my games, both with and without the family.
I hope to keep it up and see what the next few months can bring along. Hopefully, I'll also be streaming more of our Community Playthrough games too (Dark Souls 3 may push Y's off the gaming shelf though....). I highly encourage anyone interested to just take the plunge and go for it. It's a blast, even if it seems slow at first. Just find a game you want to play and eventually people will come watch.
Speaking of which, if you ever want to hang out and see what I mean, you can find me at Twitch.tv/neomagicwarrior every Monday through Wednsday and most Thursdays from at least 7 till 9pm EST. Come hang out, as I always enjoy the company! Till next time (which I hope to be sooner than this)!
Edit: having trouble embedding the videos in the post right now....hang tight! or check out youtube.com/moustacheman90 to see them now!
Hey guys! I know this isn't too game related, but I started a new podcast!
As Someone Who Doesn't Read Comics - a podcast from the perspective of newbies to the comic world. Come join Becca, Paul, and Myself as we delve into the world of comics in a non-jaded manner!
If you are hurting for something to listen to in between the amazing RFGen podcast and community wrap up, come give us a listen!
P.S: I'll have more video game retaliated things soon!
https://www.youtube.com/c.../UCSzxf1vyW8hBBnd0i1o3dnw
Hey everyone!
Recently, life has sucked. Growing up sucks and I don't know how some of you
have dealt with it. I have been sooooo busy since the last time I
posted...but i assure you, unlike the last time, I'm back to stay (hopefully).
Since last post I:
Graduated
Moved
Got a "real" job
A bunch of personal life stuff
....all of which have taken up a great deal of my time. But now that i am
finally back to where i need to be, i can get back to what matters most:
video games. To kick things off, im gonna bring back the Summer Game Challenge!
Assuming you dont already know, the SGC is an event created by someone on
RFGen (who exactly is something I forget) and was a way for the community
to get together and collectively clean out our backlogs. To participate,
all one needs to do is set a list of games to beat, and then do so over the
summer....and usually blog about it (but i assume you could play and not
tell anyone....but that ruins the "collective" part.)
With that in mind, ive set the goal to finish the following before
September 1st:
Zelda: Wind Waker (playing the HD remake)
MGS: Snake Eater
Zone of the Enders 2 (Also in HD)
Mega Man 6
Metroid Prime
The Legend of Dragoon
3-4 of the games were on my previous lists, but for whatever reason, diddnt
get done. (In the past, I had much more free time over the summer, so I set
more ambitious goals.)
If i wanna get this done, Ill have to work quickly, seeing as my new job
takes up 11 hours a day between work and commute...thinking everything but
Dragoon needs to be done before august to stand a chance.
So far, progress has been slow, with the release of Mario Kart 8 and all. Just got through Tomahawk Man's stage before bed, and have 7 more robot masters to go.
Till Next Time!
~ Neo
Official Backlog count: 317 (62% complete...although I'm sure I forgot to add some steam games here)
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Well, preparing to graduate stinks! Research projects stink! Geothermal wells REALLY stink!...
Know what doesn't stink....indie bundles!
Ever since my last blog, I have been super busy with school and work...and building a new computer! I was going to buy one, but decided building one was way cheaper for what I had wanted. I'm quite happy with the decision, and only regret not splurging on a higher power graphics card (even though my NVidia 610 GT is really fine and it is just an insecurity issue...I mean everyone else has better ones, why shouldn't I?!).
With the recent aquisiton of a desktop, as opposed to my crappy laptop, I've been sucked into the world of Steam sales, Free to Play, and Indie Bundles (indie gala Collossus and Humble bundle Android 5). And since my consoles have been left to collect dust this past few weeks, I figured these games deserved a bit of blog attention.
Team Fortress 2
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First off is everyone's favorite hat simulator. Not much to really say here, except that I have an uncontrollable urge to get more items. Interestingly enough, the economy outside the game is almost more of a draw than the game itself. Then again...it could just be that I'm going through withdraw from my days as an item merchant on Maplestory....
Beat Hazard Ultra
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If there is a surefire way to get me into a game...add music dependence. Not sure why, but I am addicted to rhythm games. Beat hazard uses your music to create a crazy seizurefest....er i mean twin stick shooter. So far, the power rangers theme has been the most intense level i've been able to generate. As of right now...it's 3.50 for the complete pack on steam. Go buy it....I'll wait.
Dungeon Defenders
[img width=640 height=360]http://www.gametrailers.com/side-mission/files/2012/01/Dungeon-Defenders.jpg[/img]
I haven't gotten nearly enough time to play this (mainly because my girlfriend doesn't have it...but she has TF2, so see above). It's a quirky tower defense / shooter/ thingy. I'm sure I'll have more to say about it once I get far enough in, but so far it has a steep "you need to max your level or play with people to stand a chance" curve....which sucks, cause I generally dont play with random people. Other than that, I'm having fun.
Super Hexagon
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This runs on a flash drive, so it has gotten played far more than any other game on this list. It's an "impossible game" type of maze game, where the only goal is to dodge walls along a hexagon. I'm terrible, but the music is awesome so I don't mind.
Uplink
If I could get one game to run on my flash drive, this would be what I would wish for. This hacking simulator has been a blast so far. You have to preplan your hacks, everything from buying new computer parts and security programs to bouncing your connection through multiple computers. The simplicity really lends well to its mood, as it really makes you feel like you are breaking an old school computer network. Totally recommend. Also, if anyone has a portable version lemmie know!
There are a bunch more games to talk about, but I really haven't gotten to play too much of them, so i'll leave them for another blog post.
As a side note, I picked up a few console games from a sale at best buy, so I'll prob have a post up soonish about Red faction: Armageddon and Farcry 3 (or as I've been calling it, "cabelas dangerous hunt").
Till next time, Smell ya later!
~Neo
Collection (not counting cpu games...gotta do them later): 741
Backlog count: 274
% complete: 63%
Welcome to what I hope to be a recurring series of blog posts. As i finish games, it seems fitting to throw my 2 cents out to the world....so without further adieu...!
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Geometry Wars: Galaxies ~ Nintendo Wii
Average Used Price: 4$
For anyone who hasn't played it in one form or another, geometry wars is a twin stick shooter that revolves around the idea that bright lights and flashing is fun (if any game needs a seizure warning, it is this). Galaxies takes the original game, which had a square arena and a few different enemies, and added more arenas and more enemies. It also brings a new game play element in with a new "companion". You now have a pod that follows your ship around. Depending on what you pick for it to do, it can fly around and collect "geoms", the game's new currency, attack stuff, defend your ship, etc. The game has a ton of levels and has a neat mechanic, where if you have the DS version, you can link the two games together and unlock a special world in both.
[img width=368 height=380]http://imageshack.us/a/img145/1122/dronefq0.gif[/img]
Graphics:9/10
Geometry wars has simple graphics, but what it does have is done well. Lines are sharp. Colors are bright. Even more important is that, even on the wii, there is no slowdown when the screen is swarming with literally hundreds of bullets and enemies.
[img width=700 height=393]http://firsthour.net/screenshots/geometry-wars-galaxies/geometry-wars-galaxies-large-hd.jpg[/img]
Audio: 6/10
The soundtrack consists of generic techno music on a loop....which gets pretty repetitive. The actual sound effects feel very generic as well, and come out sorta "muddy", even on a nicer sound system.
Control: 15/20
The game gives you the option of playing wiimote+nunchaku, or with the classic controller. While playing with the wiimote is "possible", i wouldn't recommend it...ever. Twin stick shooters need two sticks. With the classic controller, the game plays and feels great.
Gameplay: 40/50
Geometry Wars is fun. Period. What are you waiting for? Go play it!
In all seriousness, the game is fun on its own...and the addition to a leveling system for your pod, as well as a ton of levels should keep you playing for days.
With enough time, it'll get stale for a bit...you'll put it away...and then later on pick back up and have as much fun as you started...but the same could be said for many classic arcade games.
Replay: 10/10
Geometry Wars is a game that you will keep on picking up and trying to beat that high score. It has the same addiction level as tetris or pacman, with the game being simplistic, and having a large focus on score. Multiplayer support is great too!
Total 80/100
Geometry Wars: Galaxies is defiantly one to own if you have a wii sitting there collecting dust. At an average used price of about 4$, it's a steal!.....go play it already!
[img width=425 height=590]http://www.blogcdn.com/www.joystiq.com/media/2007/10/asteroids-on-steroids-1-dsf.jpg[/img]
Till next time!
Neo~
Backlog: 271 (63% completed)
P.S: just redid the gameroom! expect a full report eventually!
