I'm Back

I've been absent for 2 years now on this blog. I think I'm going to bring it back, maybe a little more casual.

Last time I was trying to write one blog a week on here, and honestly there were times where it started feeling like a chore. Unlike fully staffed sites, I'm one person, who spends his own money, and free time with games.

It feels daunting to peel myself away from a game that's huge like Assassin's Creed Odyssey to go play something else, just to fill an article for the week.

This time it's going to be a little more of "as necessary." If I have something to say, great, I'll jump in and write. If I travel for 3 weeks and don't do anything gaming related, I'm not going to force something. 

So look for some content in the coming weeks.

Top 10 of 2017

After typing this list out, I realized that it makes it seem like I actually hate videogames and should just stop playing.

This was a great year in games. Possibly one of the best in history.

But the year in general has been terrible. Maybe that's why so much negativity in my lists? Just the general feel of slime the rest of the year had? Either way, I do like games, and I like these the best this year.

Zelda: Breath of the Wild

It's been a long time since I've chronicled how I've wasted my time playing games on the internet.

Part of that was a little burnout after completing 52 posts in 52 weeks last year. Part of that is the amount of travel I've been doing. Video games unfortunately have taken a back seat.

But probably the most substantial part of my absence from the ole' blog is the massive games I've been playing.

Last year by May, I had maybe a half dozen games completed. This year, Resident Evil 7 is it. After Resident Evil 7's credits, I started Mass Effect Andromeda and Zelda Breath of the Wild, all while longing to get back to Toyko Mirage Sessions and start Persona 5.

The volume of game this year has been massive.

My Favorites of 2016: 3-1

I wouldn't be a video game site without a proper top 10 list at the end of the year. Unfortunately, I
don't have games sent to me, or a full work week to dive into longer or stranger game, or even every current console, so there are some large gaps in this list.

There were some AAA games I still haven't touched this year that likely could've made the list. I didn't have time to dedicate to Overwatch and despite the want to play, I haven't touched Gears of War 4.

It was a tough list to put together. I started with 22 games I really liked and knocked it down to 15 hard decisions. Ultimately, I like my list. There's a lot of diversity on it. Lot's of great memories attached to the list.


So, without wasting further words, my top 3 of 2016.

My Favorites of 2016: 7-4

I wouldn't be a video game site without a proper top 10 list at the end of the year. Unfortunately, I don't have games sent to me, or a full work week to dive into longer or stranger game, or even every current console, so there are some large gaps in this list.

There were some AAA games I still haven't touched this year that likely could've made the list. I'm waiting for that Hitman full season to be pressed to a disk and I didn't have enough friends concentrated on one console to tip me over the edge to get Titanfall 2.

So, without wasting further words, here's game 7-4 of 2016.

My Favorites of 2016: 10-8

I wouldn't be a video game site without a proper top 10 list at the end of the year. Unfortunately, I don't have games sent to me, or a full work week to dive into longer or stranger game, or even every current console, so there are some large gaps in this list.

There were some AAA games I still haven't touched this year that likely could've made the list. Final Fantasy XV is something I anticipate, hoping that Santa comes through for me. Call of Duty campaign looks interesting this year compared to last years. And Xcom 2 and Dishonored 2 didn't make my must play list because of lackluster first outings. 

So, without wasting further words, here's game 10-8 of 2016.

Arcade Hits: Super Punch Out

A few weeks ago Retronauts discussed a relatively rare arcade cabinet running Nintendo's Punch-Out. They discussed how Nintendo had a huge warehouse full of monitors because they over ordered Donkey Kong pieces thinking they would sell through.

Genyo Takeda and Shigeru Miyamoto were tasked with coming up with ways to burn through this inventory.

They attempted to figure out ways to make racing games using two monitors, but short comings in technology prevented them from rotating images in the way they wanted.

Instead they came up with the concept of a boxing game where the top monitor would display images of the fighters, the time left in the fight, and several meters used in the game.

I was intrigued by this story, not really knowing where to find this thing, I put it on my list of must plays if I ever came across it. And then I happened to stumble upon it at one of my favorite breweries in town.