Gaming Woe.

 Do I am a gamer. Lately, it isn't going great. Trouble finding old games. Trouble finding the right controller for newer systems. When did gaming become such a pain in the ass?

Been trying to find some PSP (Playstation Portable) games I missed at the time. This has two problems. First finding a shop that still sells them at all. Second, the prices they want are getting ridiculous. One game I was trying for was Persona 1, the PSP had a remake of it. At one shop the clerk says they had one that sold for 17$ back in August. That price seemed good, just need to wait. Then the clerk says "that if they get another copy it would be 120$". How does the price of a used game go up 100$ in two months?The demand for PSP games cannot of spiked that much. 

Meanwhile I am looking for a joy-con alternative for the Switch. I have the Hori Split Pad Pro, and that great for most handheld mode gaming, but some games require gyro control and they don't have that. With joy-con drift being a thing, I don't want to use them at all. I see many options on Amazon, but I have no real way of knowing which are good, or even really have a gyro for motion control.

Nintendo Hates Earthbound Beginnings

It is a shame, but it is clearly true. Why else would there be only one place to play it legitimately? It may not be the highest moment in the Earthbound (aka Mother) series, but it is still one worth playing. Sadly, the only way to play it legitimately is on the Wii U. Unless you want to pay a huge price for one of the few prototype cartridges that exist, but that is not a realistic option.

The Wii U was not very successful, not a bad console, but it never really found its place in the market. It is the one and only place you can play the english version of Mother aka Earthbound Beginnings. The Wii U has much to offer besides, but they are getting hard to find, and they won't have online service available forever.

Nintendo seems to have no interest in allowing this game to be played. It was never available on the original Wii, nor was it on the NES Classic, it is not on the seemingly forgotten 3ds virtual console, and it hasn't been made available on the Switch as of yet. All of which which would have been ideal places for it.

September Games 2019

• 9/03/2019  Xb1     Metal Slug X
• 9/07/2019  SNES  Super Mario World
• 9/14/2019  PS4     Bloodstained Ritual of the Night 

Not a huge number of games this month. But such is life. 

April Games Finished

Instead of two blogs, one where I list the games, and one where I post the video, there will be one with the content of both. The video will tell you what I thought about the games. The list will be here if you are only interested in the games and dates.

Red Dead Redemption 2                               PS4                                           4/10/2019

Shadow of the Colossus                                PS4                                           4/14/2019

Captain Toad Treasure Tracker                    Switch                                       4/15/2019

Gravity Rush                                                 PS4                                           4/21/2019

Bloodstained Curse of the Moon                  Xbox One                                 4/21/2019

Splatterhouse                                                 Turbo Graphics 16                   4/25/2019

Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess HD         Wii U                                       4/26/2019

R-Type Dimensions EX                                Switch                                      4/27/2019


First ever Turbo Graphics 16 on the list.

Games finished in February 2019

Yes, I am keeping up with this. Much shorter list this month.

Super Mario Land 2 - Game Boy                    2/4/2019

Dragon Quest 11 - PS4                                    2/14/2019

Super Mario 3d World - Wii U                        2/21/2019

Fry Cry 5 - PS4                                                2/22/2019

Crackdown 3 - Xbox 1                                    2/23/2019

This month brings us are first Xbox 1 and Wii U games of this year. More will come from both.

Currently I am playing Resident Evil 2 Remake (PS4), Shadow of the Tomb Raider (Xbox 1), Octopath Traveler (Switch), and Paper Mario Color Splash (Wii U). 

Snakebyte Game: Pad S Pro Controller Review

This is a wireless controller for the Nintendo Switch. I got this one on sale for 20$. My expectations were low, as an official controller cost around 70$. This however turned out to be a great controller, and a great deal.

This worked great both 2d and 3d games. Playing Hollow Knight and Dark Souls for several hours each, never had a problem. While the plastic used is not the best, the buttons, sticks, and d-pad all feel pretty good.

It also was superior for playing NES classic games. Having the D-pad in a better position than the official pro controller. It also has the option to use turbo on all the buttons, which is very nice for many NES games.

It does lack a few features. No gyro control. No amiibo support. It also cannot be used to turn on the system. None of these are all the important, but worth noting.

Definitely worth getting.

Games finished in January 2019

This year I have decided to keep a list of which games I finish. So this is what I did in January. It is important to note that most of these were started in 2018.

Spider-Man - PS4                            1/2/2019

Link's Awakening - GBC                 1/4/2019

Soma - PC                                        1/4/2019

Spider-man DLC - PS4                    1/9/2019

God of War (2018) - PS4                 1/18/2019

Super Mario Land - GB                   1/19/2019

Binding of Isaac - Switch                1/20/2019

Shipwreck - PC                                1/21/2019

You can see this was a PlayStation heavy month. Been working Dragon Quest 11 (PS4) since the last entry. So That will likely make the list for February.

For anyone that needs it: PS4 = Playstation 4, PC = Personal Computer, GB = Game boy, GBC = Game Boy Color,

Link's Awakening Questions.

I did a play through of Legend of Zelda Link's Awakening recently. It is a game I have played through many times, and is likely my favorite of the 2d Zeldas. While playing I got thinking about what is happening in this game, and how there are many unanswered questions concerning the events of the game.

We are told through the course of the game that the island it take place on is a dream of a being known as the "Wind Fish". The rules of this dream are unclear. We are told that all that exists (other than Link) are all parts of this dream. The bosses at the end of each dungeon all mention being part of this dream, and work toward keeping the "Wind Fish" asleep. However, none of the people (or talking animals) of the island mention any knowledge of being part of a dream. So do these people actually breed, and age, and die? We see children as well as old people, there is a graveyard to be found, but did all of these things just appear when the dream started, or did they develop over time?  Have the children all been children for possibly hundreds of years as the "Wind Fish" took its nap?

More over we see ruins on the island. Here again, have they always been ruins, or have there been civilizations they have risen and fallen over time on this island? In one ruin we find literal writing on the wall that the island is a dream of the "Wind Fish". Did the first people as part of the dream know this, and write it down, or did this ruin materialize with the message already in it?

We also see an odd level of civilization on this isolated island. We see a guy running a shop with a huge mechanical arm that gives out prizes, but no where else do we see this level of technology. We see that there is a library, and telephones throughout the island, but we see no evidence of any carpenters or electricians. 

Mega Man Monday Bubble Man

Mega Man Monday Crash Man

Mega Man Monday Air Man

Mega Man Monday continues for a third week. Air Man is up.

What do you call this?

Is there a term for a game that is very much like a "Legend of Zelda" game, without actually being part of that franchise? There are whole separate franchises that are like this, "Okami" springs to mind.  There however seems to be no single term that describes this.

I hear the term "action role-playing" thrown around, but it not nearly enough of the games in that category are in fact "Zelda-like". For example Square Enix's "Seiken Densetsu" (Secret of Mana) series is very much an "action role-playing" game, while being nothing like a "Zelda" game. Often these kind of games are much closer to true "role-playing" games, simply using a more action oriented style of combat.

Games which are "Zelda-like" are, but are not limited to, "Darksiders", "Recore", "Okami", "Beyond: Good & Evil". These games all feel so very much like "Zelda". They all involve progression based around exploration and the attainment of items of one sort or another. In these games every thing found allows greater access to the world in some way, might let you pass a barrier, might allow you to damage a formerly invincible foe. Often reward are there to be found if you backtrack with what you have newly acquired. 


The lack of a term for this phenomenon just struck me the other day, and it seems odd for the amount of time this has been happening. The first "Zelda" game came out in 1986, the first game to be "Zelda" without the name was also 1986.  It just seems we could use a simple term for this in gaming.

Pretty a much a video version of the last post.

Nintendo won't help.

I need some repairs done to a Game Boy Color. Called up Nintendo, they will not help me. Called up various console repair places, they won't help either.

As long time readers will know, I am video game fan. Console, PC, handheld, it doesn't matter, I love it all. I prefer to play things on the original hardware whenever possible. Which is why I am still using my Game Boy Color.

Recently the "start" button started getting a bit less than reliable. It is to be expected after nearly 20 years, not angry about it. However, I am angry that Nintendo will not repair the problem. Further angry that you cannot back order a new system altogether. I would be happy to pay for either, but they will get me neither.

When I called Nintendo they told me "You should just upgrade to one of our new systems". I have 3ds, and I am very happy with it, but it doesn't fit old Game Boy Carts. Sure, a few games can be re-bought on Virtual Console, but I have a huge collection and would like to keep playing it.

Let's Talk About Handheld Gaming.

Cleaning the House.

Cleaning is something that you need to do from time to time. It feels good when it is over, and hurts while you are doing it. I do a round of cleaning every 3 to 4 months, always having the same things happen.

Finding movies/game that you bought but never watched/played. It seems I own a copy of "Force Unleashed 2" for Wii, no memory of buying it. Assuming I got it the same time I bought "Paranorman", which I saw in theaters, it was good, not sure when or why I got the DVD. Ever time I clean I find something and go "When the hell did I buy this?".

Reorganizing shelves that I haven't touched since last time I cleaned. There is a thick layer of dust on everything on this shelf, clearly it has not been touched for months. but someone if I move things into just the right place it will prevent dust from accumulating in the next few months.

Find small sums of money. Change under things, a dollar here, a five there. Never very much, but usually enough to treat myself to a fast-food meal. Kind of a built in reward for cleaning I guess. Here again, I am not sure how this happens, I am a stickler about emptying my pockets in the same location when I get home, so where does this other money come from? I don't have many visitors, so this is a mystery.

See many items I have no practical use for, but won't throw away. I need the Beer-Buddha for some reason. And that those VHS tapes that I no longer have a way to play. YES I NEED THE ATARI 2600 CONTROLLERS, AND I DON'T OWN A 2600 OR ANY GAMES FOR ONE!

Best Buy

Best Buy is an electronics, appliance, and entertainment media  store. Kind of like Circuit City, but still in business (somehow). Normally not a bad store, but a couple weeks ago they really dropped the ball.

Best Buy had a sale where first party Nintendo titles for the 3ds were "buy one get one". This deal, because of their current stock mod, meant the sale applied to eight games. The problem being that no Best Buy in my area had any two of the eight games. So I wasted a day going to six different Best Buy stores, only to be unable to take advantage of this sale due completely to the lack of merchandise in stock.

Seems that if there is a sale happening, there should be at least SOME of what is on sale in stock. It was not an issue of them getting sold out early either, as I was at the first of the six stores when they opened. None of the other six locations seemed overly busy either. So it seems this sale was setup entirely to be a tease.
 

Top 5 Best Controlers of all Time

Circle Pad Pro XL Review

Oh, and happy mother's day to any mothers that might read this.

Pokemon X and Y.

These are the newest in the games in the Pokemon franchise. They are fun little games. However, there is one thing that just doesn't add up.

Rather than talk about the problem, we will let two screen shots do the talking.

Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker from 2006 on DS

and

Pokemon X/Y from 2013 on 3DS

After 7 years and new hardware, shouldn't these games look a little further apart? What Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker that far ahead of it's time? Or is Pokemon X/Y just that far behind the times? It could be a bit of both, but that is doubtful.