I don't know about y'all, but in late December, the year 2016 didn't feel very memorable. There were very few games I could even remember playing, so I scrapped the idea of a "Top" list of games and moved on. However, as I reviewed my post on the "Beaten in 2016" thread, I couldn't help but reconsider this notion. Pretty much all of the nine games on my list were awesome, and I was somehow able to finish them, despite my severe lack of time. So, here is my end of year list, but re-written with a new angle - Top Four Games of 2016 I Didn't Blog About (Well, Mostly).
[img width=700 height=397]http://www.technobuffalo.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Nintendo-Switch-Plushie-5-1280x727.jpg[/img] Pic from technobuffalo.com, puppyface from Nintendo
This is a transcript of an actual text exchange from a friend:
Him: I was in no way excited or have any interest in the Nintendo Switch. Having watched all the videos and read multiple articles I can confidently say my interest sits at 0%.
Me: Got one reserved, looks like a lot of fun
Him: I figured you'd be into it. Pass but have fun
Me: We do B)
This conversation can be an example of more than just a lack of interest juxtaposed with an expectant happiness. Here we have a beautiful component of modern gaming; the wide range of options, opinions, and interests spread over a massive and growing gamer populace. One man's Dark Souls is another's Splatoon. And our gaming industry is big enough for it all.
Happy New Year and welcome the January 2017 edition of RF Generation's Site News! In this issue, we present February's community playthrough title, announce the results of our December racing competition, check in on the goodies received during December's Secret Santa, announce a new site member promotion, set a reminder for our upcoming site Donation Drive, and thank those members who sent in submissions to our site and registered approvals during the month of December. Thanks for tuning in to this edition of the Site News! PLEASE be sure to read this month's edition, since there is some cool and informative content, as well as an important upcoming event announcement.
REMEMBER: If you have any news about upcoming events or topics that you think the site needs to hear about, please PM singlebanana and put "RFG Site News" in the subject line. Who knows, maybe your news will make our front page! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted on Jan 11th 2017 at 01:00:00 PM by Pam (Pam) Posted under video, top 10, 2016
Happy New Year everyone! I think 2016 was a great year for gaming - of the 30+ games I played that released last year some were great, most were enjoyable in some way, and few were disappointing. My top 10 list runs the gamut from first person shooters, to rhythm games, to small narrative exploration games. I think gaming is in a good spot right now. We have such a wide variety of games that there's something for everyone, and indie titles are really offering up special gaming experiences.
As I sit and reflect upon my gaming experiences over the past year, I marvel at the fact that I played a number of great games. I feel a bit of shame, in not having played more games, and I look through my Game Boy blog and shudder at the ratio of games I played that were just not good, as compared to the 2 or 3 were. It's a strange feeling, coming up upon the end of the year, realizing that, as I write this, in just a few days' time, I'll be starting from scratch in a sense. I begin the new year as I have the last several, with a renewed vigor, a sense of hopefulness, and a commitment to play even more games than I did the previous year. Sadly, it rarely seems to work out that way. Still, what's wrong with at least striving toward that goal?
Although few in the West are aware of it, Ninja Jajamaru-kun was one of Jaleco's most prolific franchises. The little Ninja was Jaleco's mascot and like Sega's Alex Kidd, would star in so many different game styles that there is barely any consistency among them. Today we will be taking a look at Ninja Jajamaru: Ginga Daisakusen. It is the fifth and final Ninja Jajamaru-kun game for the Famicom. Released in 1991, Ninja Jajamaru: Ginga Daisakusen (Epic Galactic Battle) sees Jajamaru & friends leave the confines of cartoonish Japan for an adventure in space. A group of vegetable themed planets have come under attack and it's up to Jajamaru and Princess Sakura to save them. The game is clearly a love letter to Super Mario Bros 3 as it tries to clone the same gameplay and art style. The status bar looks almost identical to the one found in Nintendo's classic. A hack of Ginga Daisakusen was released in 2014 by Bishop Bros with Jajamaru replaced with Reggie from the YouTube channel Metal Jesus Rocks. A NES release was planned under the name Squashed, but development was stopped in the prototyping stage.
Rabble rabble rabble, 2016 was a dumpster fire of a year and I'm glad that it's over.
Ok, now that I've gotten that out of my system, I'd rather focus on the positive, because the fact of the matter is that on a personal level, 2016 was actually a pretty great year for me. Not perfect, of course, but one in which I did some travelling, including a nice long vacation to see some family in Phoenix I haven't seen in years, and some road trips for concerts and other things. I had an unexpected career change that has so far turned out to be a wise and vindicating move. I was able to find the time to read a lot more in 2016, which is definitely my other great love aside from games. And finally, I bought a nice, new gaming PC and have been loving falling victim to more Steam sales just to see what games I already own look like on a big, beautiful monitor. I didn't get nearly enough time in for gaming as I was hoping for this year (as I seem to say every January these days), but continuing the trend from 2015, there were a ton of fantastic games released in the last 12 months. As I look over the list of games I had the most fun with this year, there's plenty of older titles not listed here that I only just recently discovered for the first time, and even more that I hope to catch up with in the next few months.
The last thing I think is important to mention is that 2016 was, at least for me, the year VR finally sold me. The software is still trying to catch up a bit in terms of making fun, compelling, long-term experiences, and the high price point isn't quite enough to make me shell out for anything more than a Gear VR just yet. However, between my own limited experience and what I've heard and seen from people I've come to trust, the concept of VR in 2016 is finally coming together. It truly can be as immersive and believable as people say, all we need now is that killer piece of software and a tad more affordability to bring it all together, and I can't wait to see where things go from there. So without further ado, let's celebrate some great games!
[img width=500 height=530]http://s3.media.squarespace.com/production/465215/5339598/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Amazing-Threadless-T-Shirt-Chronicles-The-Coming-Gaming-Revolution.jpg[/img] Image by GeekTyrant.com
This blog entry is gonna be quite different than my usual ones. I'm looking for help from you guys this time around. I was recently offered a position to write for a local magazine. It has a small area of distribution, but regardless, I'm very excited about it. I get a whole page to write about gaming once each quarter. I can discuss something new, something old, board games, video games, RPGs, card games, and basically, whatever gaming related topic I want. The book will have an overall theme, and I have been asked to try and make my topic relevant to the theme for the issue.
My first article is already printed and out in public. I would like you guys to read over my article below and throw your brutal and honest feedback at me. I had very little time to put this one together, so I fully expect future articles to improve with more time to plan and revise. The theme of this issue was "Revolution." I used this broad topic as a way to introduce myself as a writer and my relevance to the subject matter. Please let me know what you think:
Join RF Generation Playcast hosts, Rich (singlebanana), Shawn (GrayGhost81), Floyd (Fleach), and special guest, year-round playthrough participant, douglie007 as they discuss the games they played during the December racing competition, F-Zero, Road Rash II, and Burnout Revenge. The guys also discuss their five favorite playthroughs of 2016, as well as, their least favorite and a few other recommendations. This is a fun and light-hearted episode that even your Grandpa Jebediah will enjoy....as long as he's on at least his third brandy....oh, and his hearing aid is turned all the way down....and of course, you tell him it's football. Why does Shawn keep texting us photos of his meat and two veg? And why does he have a pet howler monkey? Be sure to listen to this episode of the RF Generation Playcast to find out!
As always, we are happy to hear your thoughts on this games on our discussion page (linked below). We will respond to your comments and are always happy to discuss these games more. We hope you enjoy our show. Please be sure to rate and write a review of the show on iTunes to help us increase our listenership. Thanks for the listen!
The staff at RF Generation would like to wish all of our members and friends of the site a happy and prosperous New Year! Thanks to all of our members and staff who work so hard to make this site a wonderful community to be a part of and the best resource for video game collectors on the Internet. May all of your collecting goals come to fruition in 2017!
Many longtime fans of the Final Fantasy series have lamented the direction Square has taken with their beloved franchise, forgoing the classic turn-based battle system (or rather the active-time battle system) in favor of a more action-oriented approach featuring real-time combat. While this rapid evolution of the series is no doubt an attempt by Square to garner new fans and compete with other AAA titles currently on the market, it has left some diehard fans feeling alienated and disinterested with the series. Enter World of Final Fantasy, a new title in the Final Fantasy series that harkens back to the games of old, featuring a slew of familiar characters and mechanics that should make any old-school fan of the series feel right at home.
Dragon Quest V is one of the most important role playing games to ever be released. Despite this, it has been a near unknown outside of Japan. Enix struggled to establish any sort of long term foothold in the North American gaming market. They were a bit more successful in Europe, enough to keep the doors open through the mid-90s. Translating RPGs is a long, expensive process, and Dragon Quest was the company's flagship series. The first four games on NES were all localized and released, but the process likely started too late. Japan got to see the full, natural evolution of these early Famicom RPGs, while the Western games were jumbled. They released a few years after their initial release as well. Japan originally saw the first Final Fantasy releasing two short months before Dragon Quest III. In the timeline of Western releases, Final Fantasy actually beat Dragon Quest II to market. Being a full game behind made Enix's games look that much weaker once they released internationally.
A big promotion with Nintendo Power got a lot of copies of the first Dragon Quest game circulated in North America, but the sales of each subsequent game in the series just fell. The later games in the series were also hurt, since they were released after the Super Nintendo's release. The early games in the series were like building blocks, introducing more core mechanics with each subsequent game. By the time that Dragon Quest V was getting ready for release, all these pieces were in place, and the focus on telling the personal story of the heroes became even more prevalent.
Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house, all the gamers were stirring, with a click of the mouse. The Pylons were constructed, by the Protos with care, in the hopes that a Zerg rush soon wouldn't be there.
[img width=580 height=435]http://mission17.org/exhibits/unfinished/images/Unfinished_card_web.jpg[/img] *pic from Mission17.org*
Towards the end of 2011, I had a discussion with my late friend Jesse about gaming in general, as this was typically all we ever talked about. We were talking about the age old balance of gaming versus collecting. At the time, I was all about collecting and spent way too little time actually playing games. I was persuaded and inspired by Jesse to start enjoying my collection for more than pieces of plastic that look nice on the shelf. I decided to lay down and follow some "rules" for myself for the year of 2012. I would play no more than two games at a time (this allowed me to play one console game and one handheld game concurrently). I would finish every game I started. Lastly, I would remove at least one game from my collection for every new one that came in. The last rule helped me trim a lot of fat in collection, but it's not something I strictly adhere to anymore. However, I still try to follow the first two rules to this day.
