Editorial: The Death of Game Hunting

I was unexpectedly given a WiiU for Christmas this year and my mind immediately started making the checklist of games and accessories I would want.

One of the games toward the top of my list was a puzzle game I thoroughly enjoyed on the Gamecube, Pikmin.



I added Pikmin 3 to my Amazon wishlist, and I was astounded to find a game that was only two years old was going for $120 on Amazon. I know Nintendo first party games have a reputation for holding their value, but I had never witnessed a game double in price while it's system was still on sale.

So I started digging around and I found if retailers had copies of Pikmin 3 in brick and mortar stores, it would only cost me the normal $60.

Wolfenstein: The New Order and The Old Blood

Played on: Playstation 4
Release Date: 

• Wolfenstein: The New Order: May 20, 2014
• The Old Blood: May 5, 2015

It's hard to talk about one of these games without talking about both at the same time. 

The current Wolfenstein reboot borrows elements from so many games.

The sneaking ability is that of Thief and Dishonored where you have to trust the AI to your periphery won't see you because you're stalking a soldier, crouched, and hoping you can land a melee blow without anyone noticing.

The combat is ultra-violent like something ID Games, Quake and Doom, would make.

The level design feels oddly like Resident Evil 4 and Metal Gear Solid in these Gothic castles with branching paths.

I don't think many people had this on their radar, but something about the reviews I read spoke to me and I had to get them both.

Super Mario Maker

Played on: Wii-U
Release date: September 10, 2015

I've not had this dumb, childlike grin on my face in nearly 20 years.

In a way, I've been chasing the feeling of playing Mario, Sonic, Metal Gear Solid, and Resident Evil for the first time. These moments in gaming that are forever burned into my memory, causing me to buy every single entry in the series against my better judgement. (I'm looking at you Resident Evil 6.)

Super Mario Maker is the first time I've felt like a game has changed what I think about games since probably the original Gears of War.

There have been level editor platforming games before like Little Big Planet, but none of them quite nail the addictiveness and fun of Super Mario Maker.

Dragon Age Inquisition

Played on: Playstation 4
Release Date: November 18, 2014

I was late to the party on this one. Like a lot of people, I was incredibly bored with Dragon Age 2 and wasn't quite ready to come back to Ferelden until summer of 2015.

I was pulled in almost immediately. All the role playing systems and great Bioware writing was in tact.

There was a rich varied world that I wanted to explore, NPCs and party members that I wanted to learn more about, and so many codex's expertly written.

And We're Back...

It's been a long hiatus and I have hated it.

I'm staring at my huge untouched Steam library, a dozen Playstation 1 games still in their shrink wrap, and about 300 SNES and Genesis games that I haven't touched. I'm getting gamer guilt. To the point where I can't concentrate on games I'm playing currently because there are too many other games that I haven't touched.

First world problems to the extreme.

So here's my plan, every week this year I'm going to put at least an hour into a game.

If I like it, I'm going to continue on. If I don't, I'm relieved of the guilt because the game sucked anyway.

Then I'm going to come here and write up a few paragraphs of my impressions. I just need to get playing and writing again.

So here we go, week one is coming in a few days.

It's been a while, time to blow the dust off this musty old blog.

Wolfenstein

I got Wolfenstein: The New Order for Christmas. I don't know why I picked this one, but it just felt like the right time to play Wolfenstein again.

Like many people my age, the first FPS I ever played was Wolfenstein. I couldn't believe I was exploring this "3D" Nazi castle and fighting Meca-Hitler. I spent hours pressing the spacebar over and over again trying to find hidden passages. The only way I could truly describe my time with Wolfenstein was magical.

And this weekend, I found myself running through bunkers, and exploring Nazi castles with a huge smile on my face. B.J. Blazkowicz was given a voice and a story, and it fit the narrative I've always had in my mind.

I was overcome with joy, almost brought to tears at how well the game brought me back to my childhood. I collected Nazi gold and fired dual welding machine whilst laughing with delight.

This game had no right to be good. No right to be in multiple top 10 discussions. Bethesda pulled it off. I guess I should've expected it. Beside's Blizzard, no one has a better track record.

MarioKart 8

Over the weekend, I actually got my hands on a real life WiiU, in the wild.

My brother bought a WiiU a few weeks ago after getting a new job. He's always been a huge Zelda fan, so it was really only a matter of time. Well that time is now.

We played the new MarioKart and while it was fun, I did find myself missing older titles.

Some of the courses contorted and bent like a roller coaster, sending you in and out of water, really distorting what was happening. This was especially bad since we were playing with three players and had small screens.

I'm not saying MarioKart has always had courses built on the laws of nature, but at the very least, you could see how this track could exist. MarioKart 8 did not have this.

I also hadn't held a Wii-mote in nearly 3 years now. It felt foreign to me. I struggled to remember which hand to hold the nunchuk in. I couldn't remember any of the button names as my brother yelled out controls mid-race. After 4 or so races, I had a good enough grasp to hold first place in every race for the next hour.

The WiiU tablet thingy didn't feel right for me, but it seems to be a matter of preference. Those that were accustomed to DS or 3DS handhelds found it really comfortable.

We raced a good 20-25 races before calling it quits and as I left my brother's house, I couldn't help but think how much I would love to play the original MarioKart or Double Dash. (I never owned a N64, so there wasn't nostolgia for that version)

Something didn't sit right having extra characters show on the roster that are going to be DLC later on. Staring at Link and Tanooki Mario on the last row, knowing they would be paid DLC (and for a good price at that) felt so un-Nintendo. I'm used to Nintendo being that one company that releases their full game on one disk and that's what you get.

It's weird because on paper, this game is MarioKart. The tracks feel right, the carts feel right, most of the powerups feel right (except the sonic music thing, that felt like something from Vigilante 8) but somehow it didn't click.