Retro Corner: The Ballad of Evander Holyfield’s “Real Deal” Boxing

After a year in the retro collecting game, I decided it was time to start up my Sega collection and relive that glorious period from when I was 6-10 that I identified as a bad ass rebel (read: glasses clad asthmatic) Sega kid. Sure there were plenty of flashy Genesis games I wanted to add … Continue reading Retro Corner: The Ballad of Evander Holyfield’s “Real Deal” Boxing →

Dodgeball is Life! Dodgeball Academia is the Feel Good Game of the Year

Summer started pretty promisingly with those glorious 4 weeks when it seemed like everything was headed back to normal. By August, however, things didn't feel so sunny thanks to renewed endless pandemic fatigue coupled with the loss of a beloved pet and cancelled vacations. Fortunately, right when I needed something to help generate happiness and … Continue reading Dodgeball is Life! Dodgeball Academia is the Feel Good Game of the Year →

Death’s Door is the Indie Hit of the Summer and Might Be the Game of the Year

One day in mid-July my Twitter feed was suddenly flooded with videos of a tiny crow tackling massive bosses and slicing signs in half. Up until that point, I had not been paying much attention to Death's Door, the tale of a feathered grim reaper who has just had a job go terribly awry, but … Continue reading Death’s Door is the Indie Hit of the Summer and Might Be the Game of the Year →

Resident Evil Village: The Good, the Bad, and the 9 Foot Tall Vampire Lady

For me, Resident Evil was one of the defining series of both the low poly 32-bit era and my tween/teen years. I've never been more scared in a game than that first time the dogs come crashing through the window in the original RE, and, to this day, the second installment with all its crocodile … Continue reading Resident Evil Village: The Good, the Bad, and the 9 Foot Tall Vampire Lady →

Learning to Take Things Slowly With Hitman 3

Sitting back and taking a moment to soak in all the glory of a game just isn't something that typically crosses my brain to do. I don't just play games; I tend to burn through them. I mean with over 90 games played last year alone and over 80 the year before, what choice do I really have? Sure, I may take time to do a ton of side quests if it's a particularly enjoyable game, but I have one goal above all else - to beat the game as quickly as possibly so I can move on to the next in my infinitely expanding backlog. On occasion I even find myself getting stressed out or angry when a game is taking longer than How Long to Beat tells me it should. Clearly, this isn't the best way to approach my main relaxing activity, and I know this will only get worse with a second child on the way and my first beginning to rebel against the notion of frequent napping. That's why I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it when Hitman 3 made me take a minute and slow things down.

My Year in Gaming: 2020

Well that was indeed another year. When we look back at 2020 from a gaming (and not purely cursed hellfire) perspective, two major things will stand out. First, we'll remember just how important getting lost in a game during this incredibly weird and depressing decade of a year was. From Animal Crossing to Hades, there were plenty of games to help forget the world with. Despite becoming a new parent at the tail end of 2019, I still managed to surpass my previous record for games played in a year with a whopping 90+ games played this year probably due to not really being able to leave the house for 9 months. Aside from that, we'll also remember the release of the next-gen of consoles with the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S and X and the epic hunts to get them.