Author: kermit

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Winter in Gaming – Day 30 // Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games

Every other year we get to witness some new advances in video game technology.  This might be in the form of a new video games console or cutting edge graphics card(s), or perhaps a new peripheral that gives us a new way to experience games such as Virtual Reality, 3D gaming, or even controller technology like motion controls, rumble packs, the analog stick, shoulder buttons…yada yada yada.

If I could time travel back to 1997 and tell that version of me about things like; PlayStation VR, the Nintendo 3DS, Steam Sales, smart phone games being better graphically than anything of that era, local multi-player becoming somewhat a rarity in place of online gaming… 

11 year old me: “Woah! No way!  I wish I could be there now!”

I’d lap it up.

Though if I was to go back to 1997 and tell that version of me that one day… Mario and Sonic will star in a series of games together, and that Sega will stop making console and go on to make a whole load of console exclusive and multi-platform titles, and start to see Nintendo as an ally and not the enemy.

11 year old me:  “AHHHH!!  Stranger Danger, get this deranged psycho away from me”

It would be entirely unthinkable… Continue reading “Winter in Gaming – Day 30 // Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games”

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Winter in Gaming – Day 29 // Scott Pilgrim vs The World*

Whilst I’ve got love for every entry I’ve put forth so far, some entries have truly warmed me to write about because they either take me back to a simpler happy time, or they just remind me why video games have never ceased to exist as my premier hobby.

Scott Pilgrim vs The World: The Game is one of those games.

Going into 2010 I was undeniably excited for the Scott Pilgrim film to be released.  It pandered to the awkward dork like me.  Once the film landed I loved it.  As a single gamer between girlfriends at the time I could relate to the character in a number of ways and the careful attention in referencing nostalgic pop culture stuff is essentially my existence.

So naturally, the geek in me lasso’d onto the franchise and get deep into the fandom.  I bought the books, I bought t-shirt’s that only fans would recognise, I showed as many friends I could the film (possibly annoying others by narrating every reference I could from the film), and…I bought the game.

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Winter in Gaming – Day 28 // Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

Across the growing number of entries into the coveted Legend of Zelda franchise.  Snow is an environment you’ll rarely find yourself inhabiting.  Ice on the other hand has a little more emphasis through it being a semi recurring dungeon theme, but traversing to these Ice dungeons is not quite the climatic shift that makes a lot of sense (but in a game of such fantasy we can let that fact slide.

An interesting conversation starter to ask any Zelda series fan is what their top 5 or so Zelda games are (don’t ask them to choose just 1 as that’s cruel and the type of thinking I’d expect from Ganon).  So following on from that case study you’ll find that you’ll get different answers when it comes to asking people if they have a particular stand out memory when it comes to snowy experiences across the games.

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Winter in Gaming – Day 27 // Karaoke Games

When it comes to mixing Singing + Video Games I find usually that their are 2 camps.  The “I love to sing” people, and the “I need to be a certain level of intoxication, then I will oblige”.

For me it depends where I am, and with whom as to whether or not a drink or several for dutch courage is needed for a self confidence boost.

Whilst Karaoke is roughly over half a century old now, the video game counterpart is only just about in it’s teens.  The first major home console karaoke game is Karaoke Revolution which hit Japan in 2003 Continue reading “Winter in Gaming – Day 27 // Karaoke Games”

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Winter in Gaming – Day 26 // Bully

Though European as I may be, I refuse to refer to is as it’s European title “Canis Canim Edit” which supposedly came out of pressure on Rockstar to censor the title (over informed parents and such assuming the game was promoting bullying).

“Bully” followed a train of awesome releases from Rockstar Games throughout the PlayStation 2 era.  “Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas”, and “The Warriors” preceeded it in the 2 fall/ autumn release calendars in the years ahead of it, and speaking personally as a fan of both those 2 games you can certainly see the progression of certain ideas within the 3rd person gameplay.

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Winter in Gaming – Day 24 // Christmas Specials!!

2 exclamation points might be a bit much in the title, but you can be the judge.

Today’s post is a light one for actual words, but it’s a gift to all in the terms of highlighting a few of the “Christmas specials” of video game cartoon cross-overs past.

So below, with thanks to the apparent lack of attention given to old cartoon properties and the uploader’s of said specials to make it very easy for us all to indulge together, I bring to you 4 classic episode for you to be entertained by, or most likely to cringe at.

Hey, it’s something you can shove on in the background for over an hour whilst you finish up your gangsta wrappin.

If you watched an episode and want to leave a comment on it (try to keep it short as possible) I’ll quote you and add those comments below each episode in this article as time goes on.  Either drop a tweet to @enter_initials, or hit up this days entry post on the Facebook page and

Super Mario Bros. Super Show – Koopa Klaus

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Winter in Gaming – Day 23 // Cool Cool Mountain (Super Mario 64)

Ah, Cool Cool Mountain.  My old friend.

Super Mario 64 is a game I personally revisit at least once a year just to touch base with, and every couple of years or so to actually heartily get into for a 120 star playthrough.  When games had to grow up from a 2D plain to the open world of 3D so many developers found themselves lost and how to make it work.

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Winter in Gaming – Day 22 // Gremlins (Lego Dimensions)

So today’s entry is a no brainer when it comes to how it fits.  “Gremlins” remains a cult classic film to this day, even at 32 years old.  If you somehow haven’t seen it, you’ll likely of heard of it.

https://youtu.be/zoK0BzYUTrU

The film is set in the days before Christmas, so as you might expect this film will long remain in the lexicon of films to watch around the holidays.

Well to the surprise of many.  Gremlins and a whole host of other dated, timeless, and current franchises have been brought back to life and given a faithful recreation through the medium of Lego Dimensions.

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Winter in Gaming – Day 21 // Animal Crossing (Series)

The Animal Crossing series has been offering up some fantastic choice gaming to play over Winter for over 10 years now.

If you’re unfamiliar with the franchise…  Animal Crossing is a laid back virtual life experience.  You do chores, fish, catch bugs, dig up treasures, interact with a plentiful of personalities, make friends, and in the process you earn money, items, and open up more options for what you can do, see, buy, etc.

You can then use the money in many ways to either improve your own highly customisable home, or make improvements to the town you’re surrounded in.

Continue reading “Winter in Gaming – Day 21 // Animal Crossing (Series)”