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When the Evercade portable first released in 2020, there were many who scratched their heads in bemusement. Surely in this day and age of the Switch, the various cheap emulation portables, and now the Steam deck, a new cart-based budget portable game machine was unnecessary? What was this newfangled British toy, and was it fated to be another nifty but niche Game Gear or Lynx? Or a comical disaster by way of Game.com or N-Gage? Well, now that the Evercade has had a few quality of life updates and almost two years of cartridge releases, a better evaluation may be given. Especially now that the Evercade VS, a home console version of the Evercade ecosystem, has finally arrived here in the US. After spending a few weekends with the VS and the entire current library, here are my thoughts on everything Evercade.
Continue reading Thoughts on the Evercade Ecosystem, Including the VS Console
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Formulating a digital avatar, a representation of a player's interaction within a video game, is a construct often taken for granted. Given the importance placed upon player agency in many modern games, from customization and features in Skyrim to vehicle selection and colors in the Forza Horizon series, great effort is often taken to connect the player to what is on the screen. Upon reflection, four games I've played recently paint a fascinating picture of the evolution of where we started and where we are now.
Continue reading A Brief Tour of Avatars Through The Gaming Ages, From The Last Four Games I Played
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Posted on Jan 17th 2022 at 01:00:00 PM by ( slackur) Posted under coop |
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Now that we are a couple of weeks into '22, and since co-op is kinda my jam, I figured I'd do a quick recap on some co-op games you may have missed last year. This quick list excludes some better known titles such as It Takes Two, The Ascent, and Back 4 Blood, and instead focuses on some that may have slipped through the cracks. Oh, and I won't mention how much I enjoyed Aliens: Fireteam Elite because I've already mentioned it in a few articles, so I won't bring up how much fun I had with Aliens: Fireteam Elite again in this article and how you should find two friends and play through Aliens: Fireteam Elite. Also, I didn't get around to KeyWe or Very Very Valet, both of which I intend to pick up but have yet to do so.
Continue reading Some of 2021's Lesser Known Co-Op Games Worth Playing Into 2022
[img width=450 height=809]http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/games/U-033/bf/U-033-S-00030-A.jpg[/img] Pictured: Another mainstream media/futurist/political/conspiratorial lie. It is the end of 2021, and not only do we not have flying cars, no one I know has a Hydrosub either. I blame the supply chain breakdown. Giant birds, ornithopters, and 1970s TVs not included.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, fellow RFGeners! As we close out the last 365 24 hours together, let us focus on the positive, and not the errors I keep accidentally adding to the database.
Continue reading State of Play 2021 Wrap Up
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My dad was not a gamer, video or otherwise. He played me at chess exactly twice, handily winning both times and had no interest in playing again as he said he had nothing else to prove. When it came to the fairly new invention of video games, it wasn't as if computers and technology were foreign to him; he was one of the punch-card programmers who set up terminals for the Army's ARPANET, laying the backbone for what became the internet of today. His purchase of a Commodore 64 during my youth was completely transformative for me and shaped my future in many ways, including my introduction into the burgeoning world of video games.
Continue reading Gaming Generations Lost and Found
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Image from Wikipedia
I distinctly remember in 1998 when the G3 iMac, or what was usually then known simply as the iMac, was announced in a variety of colors. I had grown up on a C64, and later the X86 and Pentium line, and what I could not wrap my head around at the time was how Apple was making a major selling factor out of the ability to pick out a translucent color scheme for your new expensive desktop. At the time (and honestly, still to this day) I thought it was a completely absurd marketing strategy and I simply couldn't imagine buying a computer based upon the color. Yet I was baffled by how many people around me, even the tech-illiterate, suddenly had to have this new computer, as if the gumdrop shape and selectable pigmentation was all they ever needed to suddenly understand my youthful nerdy passions.
Continue reading A Reflection on Games as Events Instead of Consumables
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Over the years, I've mentioned the co-op adventure/survival/shooter as one of my favorite modern game genres. I'm not naturally very competitive, but I do have a strong enjoyment and desire for playing with friends and building comradery. I must not be alone, because there has been no shortage of new experiences for playing through a co-op game with two or three friends over the last several years.
Continue reading Thoughts On Aliens: Fireteam Elite
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It was two years ago that we had our inaugural 'Test and Repair Table' at the 2019 Cleveland Classic Console and Arcade Gaming Show. One thing I think most can agree on, that in-between block of time has been unusual and the time before it seems long ago. Finally, thankfully, this year's show came around and it was as excellent as we all hoped!
Continue reading The CCAG 2021 Test and Repair Table
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Wow, has it been two and a half years since the last Gaming Apologist article? http://(http://www.rfgene...logist-Volume-1-3841.php) Ah well, it only takes two to be a series, right? If the title or previous article was tl:dr, the idea is simple; here are a few titles that don't have the greatest reviews, and I'd readily admit have faults, but I have found well worth my time and I fully enjoy.
Continue reading Thoughts from a Gaming Apologist, Volume 2
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No, nothing on a Threshold Reboot/Remake. One can dream.
If memory serves (and at my age, sometimes memory drops the ball and just kind of wanders aimlessly) I think the first "shmup" I ever played was Threshold on my C64. It was on a combo diskette with headliner Saboteur, and I only got to Threshold out of curiosity after clearing Saboteur a few dozen times. When I finally did, I was hooked! Something about Threshold still really clicks with me. There are plenty of other favored games of its ilk from the early eighties, from granddaddy Space Invaders to other favorites of mine such as Spider Fighter. Yet there's always something about your first, right?
Continue reading An Amateur Shmup Fan's Thoughts On Some Recent Releases
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For us gamers who grew up between the 70s and the 90s, arcade machines often have a special place in our hearts. Fast forward to now, and there's never been a better time for fans of retro arcade games! For years (in some cases, even decades) some of these were only accessible to a few surviving arcades and those with decent computer know-how. As a teen, I couldn't imagine that my adult self would be able to literally go to a Walmart and buy a slightly scaled-down version of the four-player Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cab.
Continue reading Thoughts on the AtGames Legends Gamer Pro
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As I was staring at the computer pondering ideas for this article, I was contacted by a trucker buddy of mine. He had stopped after a long day and wanted to hop online and play, only to be greeted with the need for a significant download patch on the game. Between inconsistent internet availability, slow download speeds, and a limited window in which to play, his gaming was thwarted. It is sadly a common occurrence for him.
Continue reading Another Angle on History and Gaming Compilations And Rereleases
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Collectors of retro video games, as collectors of all media, stand against the ravages of time's arrow. Said arrow only goes in one direction and as it inexorably pushes all forward it simultaneously leaves all behind. As the the grand philosophers in Spaceballs once posited:
Col. Sandurz: Now. You're looking at now, sir. Everything that happens now is happening now.
Lord Dark Helmet: What happened to then?
Col. Sandurz: We passed it.
Lord Dark Helmet: When?
Col. Sandurz: Just now. We're in now now.
Lord Dark Helmet: Go back to then!
Col. Sandurz: When?
Lord Dark Helmet: Now!
Col. Sandurz: Now?
Lord Dark Helmet: Now!
Col. Sandurz: I can't!
Lord Dark Helmet: Why?
Col. Sandurz: We missed it!
Lord Dark Helmet: When?
Col. Sandurz: Just now!
Lord Dark Helmet: When will then be now?
Col. Sandurz: Soon.
Continue reading The Early Television Foundation and Museum
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Happy New Year! As we head into 2021, we all know it is a different world than even a year ago. Most brick-and-mortar retail, including for video games, has taken a very rough beating. Somewhat surprisingly, even online stores often had a short supply of many new games. If ever there were a catalyst to speed up our medium's transition to primarily digital download, it was 2020. Conversely...
The retro game market spiked in prices, as would be expected. Even PS4s and XBox One systems became hot commodities in some areas, not to mention the Switch. The massive increase in at-home workers using programs like Zoom meant less bandwidth for online play and slow download speeds. If anything, for me the last year was another reminder of why I enjoy collecting physical copies of video games.
Continue reading Thoughts on Gaming and Collecting Going Into 2021
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As a guy who has stood in long lines more than once for a new console, the impending release of the new gaming hardware generation this time around just had not lit the same fire. A combination of more strained finances, a gaming backlog of comical proportions, and a lack of day-one gotta-have-'em games meant while I would like to eventually own the new hardware, I was fine waiting. But it just so happens, I have a wonderful Beloved (and also several now-spent gift cards and rewards points) and after a sudden opportunity we now have a shiny PlayStation 5. As the title suggests, I'd like to offer my initial impressions.
Continue reading Initial Impressions On The Playstation 5 and Super Mario Bros. Game & Watch
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