Category: Video Game Musings

EGM #100’s Top 100 Games Of All Time – An Extended Lookback

November 1997 saw esteemed video game magazine Electronic Gaming Monthly release their one hundredth issue. And to celebrate the occasion, they concocted a Top 100 list comprising their favorite games and calling them “the best of all time.” But are they really that?

A bit of context is needed; this list was put back in 1997. That’s almost two decades ago and many other games have come along that deserve to lay claim to “the best of all time.” However, I was around in 1997. I know games back in 1997 and I still have some notes about whether I feel this list held water. This is more of a fun lookback than any “critical” observation. Who knows? I might pull out that 200th issue of EGM one of these days and do a similar feature with their 200 greatest games list, which deviates quite a bit from this particular list.

Originally, I had this broken apart into four parts. Those parts are assembled into one longform post. In addition, I’ve updated a couple thoughts here and there.

Continue reading “EGM #100’s Top 100 Games Of All Time – An Extended Lookback”

Is IG’s History Of Video Games Still A Thing?

Browsing through the Interwebs and I noticed that the Bores uploaded his latest chapter on the ever-sludging-about History Of Video Games for dummies who don’t know anything about the history of video games. This episode is about the old Intellivision console and features a thumbnail of Bores biting into a phone cable that is the cord for said console’s controllers. By this point, this sort of “angry” reaction on the thumbnails is somewhat played out with everyone else doing it and usually when I see this, I’ll just tune out and look for something else.

But since it’s Bores, I might as well give him a quick view.

There used to be a time when I could smile or even offer a mild chuckle at the stupidity of these sorts of videos. But I watch this latest Bores offering and find myself scratching my nose, rolling my eyes, and falling asleep. I never thought I’d see the day when Bores would fail to offer some mild entertainment through his sheer incompetent and pig-headedness, but lo and behold, it has finally happened.

Or maybe I’ve just outgrown this sort of humor and it’s just not funny anymore.

I’d like to think that, but watching old ragetown Armake21 or UrinatingTree videos from half a decade or so ago still give me the giggling fits. Hell, I’ve even laughed at a couple of old Kenny The NC17 Guy videos for all the wrong reasons.

Even the Nerd… wait, never mind. I wouldn’t go THAT far. Even he’s fallen off the rails for me.

Man, it’s a good thing Classic Game Room is still a thing on Youtube and…

Oh wait.

Bores Has Special Editions of Breakout and Night Driver

The title of this post says it all. That explains how he was able to play those games with the standard Atari joystick, rather than the paddle controllers that you’re supposed to be playing with.

Context: Chris Bores’ latest edition of his long-running, long-waiting History of Video Games was recently put up, covering Atari games from 1978 to 1980 in relatively quick fashion. How quick? The whole episode was roughly five minutes long and a good chunk of it was dedicated to some rather poor sketches and unfunny gags. In addition, there are some minor errors, such as playing paddle games with the standard joystick, as well as showing footage of the arcade Space Invaders and passing it off as the VCS version.

There’s also a notable lack of attention to the dates in which certain things took place; Nolan Bushnell’s exit from Atari was in 1978, but this fact isn’t mentioned until the end of the episode as though it took place in 1980. However, Bores does make an effort in bringing up the fact that Bushnell founded Chuck E. Cheese. Because breakfast is ruined or something.

Look, I’ll be honest, here. This latest episode did very little for me. Even though the run time is roughly five minutes, it was probably the longest five minutes I ever sat through. It felt as though the very essence was being sucked away as the seconds withered away. But hey, look on the bright side! It’s not another lazy AVGN Clip Collection.

Then again, that’s not saying a whole lot, is it?

Capcom Remaking Resident Evil 2

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2015/08/12/resident-evil-2-remake/

Because why make crappy new games when you remake and fuck up your old ones? I mean, seriously… how badly have things gotten when the few games most people are looking forward to remakes of the old ones? And how much will disappointment set in when, beneath the shiny graphics and “remastering” of stuff, the game turns out to play like absolute shit and why did they remake a classic, etc. etc. etc.?

Good for them that they’re doing it, I guess… but shit, what’s the point?

Some Helpful Codes For SNES Power Rangers

I don’t know why I thought of doing something like this now, but I figured why not. Here are some codes for the three SNES Mighty Morphin video games. The passcodes for the first game are earned when you clear levels (with the final three codes earned when you beat the game) while the cheat codes for the other two games are revealed when you beat said games on Hard difficulty.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (SNES) Passcodes
Area 2: 3847
Area 3: 5113
Area 4: 3904
Area 5: 1970
Area 6: 8624
Area 7: 2596
The following passcodes enable the hidden 2-player Zord battles, where Player 1 controls Megazord while Player 2 controls one of the three bosses:
Mutitis (Area 6 Boss): 0411
Cyclopsis (First Form): 1007
Cyclopsis (Final Form): 1212
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie (SNES) Cheat Code
If you press Up, Down, Left, Right, X, B, Y, A while on the title screen, you’ll start each level morphed from the get-go.
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Fighting Edition (SNES) Cheat Code
If you press X + Y + Start while on the Fighter Select screen, you’ll be able to play as Ivan Ooze. This only works in Fighting Mode.
Hope these codes help!

Capcom Announces Mega Man Legacy Collection… Again?

So it’s essentially a digital compilation of the six NES Mega Man games, but rebuilt from the ground up so that they look better in 1080p or something. And there’ll be CHALLENGES and LEADERBOARDS and REPLAYS… and there’s a MUSEUM of SKETCHES and… yawn.

Look, I get why Capcom is putting something like this out and especially this summer, when Keiji Inafune’s spiritual Mega successor Mighty No. 9 is supposed to hit the streets. I get that Capcom wants to counter something inspired by Mega Man with the genuine article. And I’m not discounting the work it takes in rebuilding the old games to modern standards; if they turn out to be anywhere near the quality of the Sonic The Hedgehog rebuilds on mobile devices, I’m sure they’ll look splendid and maybe overall performance will be a touch better.

At the same time, however, this does feel like a lazy offering. I get that it’s only the six NES games and not the entire Classic Series, which includes a couple non-NES games, but if they’re going to rebuild the games, do you think it’s worth it to add something a little more substantial than an upscale and some minor tidbits to differentiate this collection from playing the NES originals or the Anniversary Collection released a couple years prior or the Virtual Console releases? Maybe a couple bonus levels, maybe a mini-game, maybe try and make an 8-bit version of that Wily Tower game from the Mega Drive remake?

Oh well… I’m sure I’ll pick this up eventually… but I’ll probably wait until it’s on sale or something because… I’m not feeling it.

WWE 2K15 PC Finally Has Its DLC

So they had released WWE 2k15 onto Steam and it was supposed to come with all the DLC that had been released… and it was supposed to be part of the package deal. But when they released the game initially, there was significantly less content than there should be.

So recently, 2K patched the game to include the DLC that should’ve been there in the first place, and you know what? It’s not too bad. The performance overall seems a bit better than last time I tried it and while I’m a bit miffed that I’ve got to unlock all the DLC stuff (which suits me fine because the 2K Showcase storylines are more tolerable than the MyCareer stuff), on a whole it’s a somewhat better package. Maybe I’ll go ahead and give this a “proper” review or something. Who knows?