Tag: Video Games

Nintendo Brought the Heat at E3. Lets Break it Down.

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If you’re reading this then I assume you already know, but for those who don’t, E3 is the annual video game convention, Electronic Entertainment Expo, and its where publishers showcase new and upcoming games. Its where new consoles get announced, new titles are revealed, but most of all its where all the blazing hot trailers are released for upcoming video games. And Nintendo brought the heat this year.

To be honest, this is the first year I’ve been excited for Nintendo’s E3 announcements, probably ever. The Switch is the first Nintendo system I’ve owned since N64. As I’ve joked about before I have absolutely zero brand loyalty, so good luck marketing to me. I went from the original Nintendo to Sega to N64 to Dreamcast to PS2 to Xbox 360 back to PS4 to Nintendo Switch. So yea, not a lot of continuity in there. With so few console exclusives that are actually worth it theres little reason to stay loyal to just one system.

But I am back on the Nintendo bandwagon and they’ve crushed it out of the gate with phenomenal games like Super Mario Odyssey and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Outside of that though theres been a lack of great games on the new system. Nintendo gets accused of going to the well too often rehashing the same franchises over and over again like Mario and Zelda, but when the games are this good then who cares?

The most glaring absence had come from one of Nintendo’s most popular properties ever; Pokemon. Whats unique about Pokemon is that its never made the jump to home consoles for a standalone game. They’ve always developed core games for mobile devices like the Game Boy and the 3Ds. There have been random games like Pokemon Stadium and Pokemon Snap to name a couple on home consoles, but no core games where you gotta catch em all.

That is until now.

Naturally, the news of Pokemon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Pokemon: Let’s Go, Evee! leaked a few weeks ago so it wasn’t a huge reveal, but it was awesome to see the old Kanto region I grew up in as a fully realized 3D world. I am going to buy the absolute shit out of this game on Day 1.

Its essentially a remake of Pokemon Yellow, which dropped on Game Boy in 1998 and earned a 10/10 from IGN. But it won’t just be a port since they had to build this 3D world from scratch and it will also introduce new elements to the series such as adopting some gameplay features from the massively popular Pokemon Go iOS game. Then of course there’s this little guy.

Its a Pokeball controller that you throw to catch new Pokemon. Lets be honest, it doesn’t really matter what this costs because I am 100% going to buy it.

Pokemon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Pokemon: Let’s Go, Evee! will both be released on November 16th so get your pre-orders in asap.

Super Mario Party was also announced, which will be the first game to really encourage playing the Switch with friends. You could say Mario Kart already did that, but that was a port of an old Mario Kart game rather than a brand new game so I’m giving the edge to Mario Party here. Plus this is the first game to really take advantage of the Switch technology, just check out the trailer below.  This one drops on October 5th.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate was announced and it looks glorious. They really pulled out all the stops for this one by including every single character thats ever appeared in a Smash game. Ever. The roster is gigantic. We got all the originals plus we got Sonic, we got Charizard, hell we got Solid Snake himself. This is going to be the best drinking game since Mario Kart 64.  This one drops on December 7th.

Still no appearances by Fox McCloud though which is a goddamn shame because Star Fox 64 is one of my favorite games of all time and any Star Fox I’ve played since (Gamecube) was hot garbage.

For any Fortnite fans out there, the massively popular free title is now available on Switch too. So you can jump off the flying bus while literally riding the bus.

A couple of other freebies now available on the Switch include Pokemon Quest and Fallout Shelter. Quest is definitely a freemium type of game meaning you’ll likely have to put some money into the game to progress quickly, but I know Fallout Shelter has been out for a while to decent reviews. Both probably aren’t enough to be a great standalone game that you’d pay for, but as a free title you can play on the go? I’ll take that.

So if you were on the fence about buying yet another system, now is a pretty good time to jump into the Switch. Just make sure you get the Pokeball.

 

Hero Helps His Wife Prep for Her MLB Broadcasting Debut by Playing Video Games

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Yahoo – Jenny Cavnar didn’t have long to prep before providing Colorado Rockies play-by-play. She found out she would have to fill the role the day before the game, so she didn’t have a lot of options to get in some last-minute practice before her play-by-play debut. That’s when her husband hatched a plan, according to Joon Lee of Bleacher Report. He would play “MLB: The Show” and she would call his game..They fired up the game, selected the San Diego Padres as the Rockies’ opponent — since that was the matchup Cavnar would call the next day — and gave it a shot.

Shoutout to this guy for getting massive brownie points for helping his wife prep for the biggest day of her career while ALSO playing PS4 at the same time. His wife is getting called up to the big leagues, literally, to not only call a professional baseball game which is huge, but also be one of the first women to ever do it. Pressure cooker like you read about.

So what does my man do? Johnny on the spot here with the idea to have his wife simply call his game of The Show. He gets to do absolutely nothing while not even really having to talk to his wife while also appearing to be the most helpful husband in America.
This guy is bred for greatness. I feel like this should be a Miller Lite commercial or better yet Dave Chappelle should re-enact this scenario for an episode of Great Moments in Hookup History.

PS – I’ve bought two baseball games in the 13 years since the MVP Baseball franchise breathed its last breath in 2005 because every game since then is hot garbage. If I ever run for public office that will be my platform. #MakeMVPBaseballAgain

What is the Greatest NBA Jam Lineup of All-Time?

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Apparently one of the greatest video games of my generation is nearing its 25th Anniversary, which is insane because Big Z and I will still fire up a Best of 7 Series every holiday weekend. This almost always results in a clicker fired into the wall, but thankfully SEGA’s clickers were built to withstand a goddamn earthquake.

So with such a big milestone nearing for the most influential basketball game of our time we had to have the debate: What is the Greatest NBA Jam Lineup of All-Time?

Big Z: Um, I think we are forgetting about Reggie Miller and Derrick McKey from the original. Or, Miller, McKey and Rik Smits in the Tournament Edition. Miller was great for throwing up shots from downtown, especially with hot spots in play.

Stockton and Malone was always a strong lineup, too. Don’t sleep on Patrick Ewing and John Starks from the Knicks, or Isiah Thomas and Bill Laimbeer from Detroit. Not much for dunking, but Thomas and Laimbeer had speed, could shoot the 3, and play some D. Dunks made the game fun, but the game was won from downtown.

Joey B: First off as I navigated to Yahoo to answer this my eye caught a headline that read “Could Von Miller go to jail for catching a huge shark?” so needless to say I am writing this a bit distracted. That said my answer is Sean Elliot and David Robinson.

It may go against gameplay wisdom to have a guy like Elliot, but the basketball side of my brain always got nervous not having someone who maybe could shoot. The Admiral speaks for himself. Just an absolute savage who ate double teams for all three meals.

Red:  Personally, I HAVE to go Reggie Miller and Rik Smits.

Unbeatable. I once scored 80 points with Reggie Miller in NBA Jam TE and those games are like 8 minutes long. He had a 9/10 rating from the 3 point line for christ’s sake. Rik Smits’ job was to basically stand in the corner so Reggie wouldn’t get double teamed. I would legitimately be furious when the computer took it upon itself to score and Smits somehow snuck in a 2 point game. Just get Reggie the ball and we’ll be good, Rik.

PS – NBA Jam is Tournament Edition or bust. I’m not running up and down the court doing the weave drill to score 35 points a game. Nope, I want Stomp blocks, Turbo charges, and of course an 8-point buzzer beater shot to win the game and really ruin someone’s day.

Grand Theft Auto 6 Rumored to Be a Return to Vice City

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Techspot – According to new rumors, we’re going to be waiting a few more years for GTA 6, which will be set in Vice City and feature a female protagonist. Citing an “inside source,” YouTube channel The Know says the next GTA will be released within the next three to four years. The game is being called ‘Project Americas’ internally by Rockstar and will be set in either Florida or GTA’s version of the sunshine state–Vice City. It will also see players fly to South America for some missions, suggesting a drug smuggling link. These few details bring to mind 2002’s GTA Vice City, and GTA 6 may even see the action return to 1980s. As with GTA V, the sequel is said to feature multiple protagonists, including the first female character.

So you’re telling me that one of the best video games of my generation may be making a comeback in the form of Grand Theft Auto 6?

Similar to the 2007 Red Sox, GTA Vice City proved that GTA 3 (i.e. 2004 Sox) was not a fluke and that GTA was an absolute powerhouse franchise that was here to stay.

Despite the sheer scope of GTA V and the humorous characters of GTA: San Andreas, the best Grand Theft Auto is hands down Vice City. If you think otherwise, you’re wrong. It had the best setting with 1980s Miami, the best storyline, and the best characters. In case people forget, Vice City featured a voice acting Hall of Fame cast that we had never seen in a video game before: Ray Liotta, Dennis Hopper, Burt Reynolds, Luis Guzman, William Fichtner, Tom Sizemore, Danny Trejo, Gary Busey, Jenna Jameson, Lawrence Taylor, AND Lee Majors.

In the course of looking these names up on IMDB my mind was just blown when I realized that Lance Vance:

was actually voiced by Philip Michael Thomas, who as we all know originally played Detective Rico Tubbs from Miami Vice.

Its little nods to pop culture like this that always made Grand Theft Auto games feel so ingrained with society. It felt like you were reliving a classic movie while exploring a wide open sandbox style video game world for the first time.

Also, apparently Cam Neely voiced a thug in the game as he gets an acting credit too. Seabass, guy just never takes a day off, god love him.

Released back in 2002 (holy shit) Vice City was given an average rating of 95 by Metacritic at the time. Not to mention the soundtrack was A+ and to this day remains the only video game soundtrack I have used my hard earned Schrute Bucks to physically purchase.

PS – I saw this going around the interwebs yesterday and its just not okay.

Breaking Down Polygon’s Top 500 Video Games of All-Time

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So the VOX Media gaming site Polygon just released its Top 500 Games of All-Time. I’ll save you the scrolling, but I guarantee you’ll be disappointed with No. 1. You’ve been warned. With so many classics making the list though you’re sure to have some serious nostalgia dopamine dumps here. So take a look at the list highlights and then dive into what I think are some of the most glaring omissions from the Top 100. Throwing a pity ranking in the 200’s doesn’t count. If these games aren’t in the Top 100 then someone is asleep at the wheel.

  • No. 70 – Final Fantasy 7 – Never played it myself, but considered by many to be the best game ever.
  • No. 66 -Madden NFL 2005 – EA changed the game forever with the introduction of the Hit Stick. No more needs to be said.
  • No 60 – Goldeneye 007 – The first first-person-shooter that everyone got together and played for hours on end.
  • No. 50 – Mass Effect 2 – One of my personal favorites. Mass Effect was one of the first games to master the concept of making choices and having those choices affect the game’s story and eventual ending.
  • No. 43 – The Sims – Everyone built a pool without a ladder so your character would drown. Man, kids are sick.
  • No. 42 – Halo: Combat Evolved – If you were like me and didn’t have an Xbox when Halo dropped, you soon became best friends with a kid who had an Xbox.
  • No. 39 – The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time – Epona is my spirit animal.
  • No. 26 – NBA Jam – Still play this game to this day when back home for the holidays with my brother. Nothing like a Best of 7 series over an 18 pack of Rolling Rocks.
  • No. 25 – Metal Gear Solid – Incredible franchise with the best storytelling of any game ever made.
  • No. 21 – Super Mario Brothers – Its what got us all into video games. Should probably be No. 1 itself.
  • No. 16 – Super Mario 64 – This is when I realized I wouldn’t just be playing video games as a kid. This is when I first understood that video games could be something special.
  • No. 12 – Grand Theft Auto 3 – And this is when I understood how games would keep me entertained at any age; open worlds where you could do whatever you wanted, incredible story telling, and a great way to blow off steam by racking up a 5-star rating.
  • No. 7 – World of Warcraft – Not for me, but hey you gotta respect the legends.
  • No. 6 – Ms. Pacman – Get the FUCK out of here with this. The 6th greatest game of all-time is Pacman’s wife?
  • No. 5 – Pokemon Red/Blue – The first game I played non-stop. I still have my cinder block game boy with scotch tape and cardboard on the back to keep the batteries from falling out. Realistically I must have logged 80 hours in this game over the years. I even have Pokemon Red stashed away in my drawer so no one accidentally deletes my file because I have all 151. Thats right, I got that sonofabitch Mew at a South Shore Plaza giveaway when I was like 11.
  • No. 2 – Super Mario Brothers 3 – Mario dominating this list for good reason.
  • No. 1 – Tetris – Really? Reeeallly?

Not surprisingly a lot of Mario in the Top 100, the most popular gaming franchise of all-time. But you got duds like Ms. Pacman and Tetris dominating the Top 10? Wrong.

Omissions from the Top 100:

        • Mario Kart 64 (#197) – In fairness, the SNES version of Mario Kart made the Top 100, but the N64 version is the GOAT. Probably the only old game I still routinely play with friends. Its evolved over the years to a pre-game staple while drinking with buddies before going out. Not many games can say that after 25 years.
        • Sonic the Hedgehog (#191) – One of my favorites growing up, Sonic is what kept SEGA in business. The fast as lightning blue hedgehog is one of the most iconic characters in gaming history. Its the reason the opening is forever etched into my brain….”SEEEGAAAA”
        • Mortal Kombat 2 (#146) – How Mortal Kombat didn’t make this list is outrageous. The single greatest fighting game of all-time. Terrible oversight here.
        • Fallout 4 (#430) – As you get into your twenties and start having to work a real, adult job for 40+ hours a week, you naturally have less time to devote to massive open world games. Which is why Fallout 4 was such a pleasant surprise for me. It was my first entry into the series, but the trailer sold me. Some 40 hours later I had traveled across the post apocalyptic world, made alliances, friends, and enemies all while building up my arsenal to go from just some guy who woke up from a cryogenic freeze like Austin Powers to becoming the most powerful being in the world. Pretty cool trip. Not to mention reviving that absolute banger “The Wanderer” after all these years.
        • Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask (#331) – Zelda had 3 other entries make the Top 100 so its hard to be too upset, but Majora’s Mask is what made that franchise legendary in my opinion. One of the few games to adopt the concept of time travel effectively without just confusing everyone.
        • GTA Vice City (#105) – Incredibly this franchise had 4 entries in the Top 100, but I routinely go back and forth which is the best GTA of all time. Is it 3 or is it Vice City? Can’t go wrong with either, but both are better than San Andreas. Vice City is only one of a handful of video games that I actually bought the soundtrack too.
        • Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 (#102) – Revolutionary game that the industry has been unable to replicate to this day. It made skateboarding and big air for everyone, not just the kids ripping cigs outside your high school. Another game with an all-time classic soundtrack that whenever I hear any of the songs from it like “The Impression That I Get” by the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, it instantly transports me back to my parents basement and that old Playstation.
        • Star Fox 64 (#484) – Used to play this game so much growing up that it got to the point that I would wake up, blow through it, and smoke Andross from the back entrance all before leaving for school. Way too low on this list.
    • Sonic Adventure (unranked) – Another game that gets virtually no love because it was on the Dreamcast, which was a very underrated system. It was the first to incorporate interactive memory cards. For whatever reason (probably the immense competition with Playstation, SEGA, and Nintendo) it never took off. Which is a shame because Sonic Adventure is one of the best Sonic games of all times. It was the first one to really tell a coherent story and you got to play multiple characters across a huge world.
  • Shenmue (unranked) – This is one of those games that most of my friends never actually played. In fact I accidentally stumbled into it as a byproduct of Dreamcast never really having a huge library of games, but it was one of the first open world games with incredible, cinematic storytelling. In fact the game was so beloved, that the originally cancelled third and final game in the series is set to be released in 2018 after being entirely crowdfunded by fans on Kickstarter. Polygon dropped the ball on this one for sure.

Obviously everybody will have their own personal favorites based on what they grew up playing so what do you think? What games did they miss? What should have been ranked higher?

Madden Pro Going Nuts Reminds Me of The GOAT Madden Meltdown I Saw in College

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Look we’ve all been there. I’ve smashed more clickers than I care to admit and so have all of you. Glass houses guys.

But, this dude flipping the fuck out reminded me of the GOAT Madden meltdown I witnessed in college. I was playing my roommate and I was feeling myself so I picked a shittier team, knowing it would drive this kid up a wall if I took it to him with the 2008 Raiders.

You know the unbeatable 2008 Raiders that went 4-12 behind stud No. 1 overall pick, and my boy, JaMarcus Russell. If there ever was a guy built for a fucking video game it was this dude. Absolutely awful in real life, but in a video game he had an absolute cannon and he could run his balls off. Thats all I need boys.

So in case you forget just how truly shitty this team really was back in 08, here was the starting skill position players:

QB: JaMarcus Russell
RB: Darren “Run DMC” McFadden
WR: Javon Walker, Chaz Schilens, Ashley Lelie, Johnnie Lee Higgins, Ronald Curry
TE: Zach Miller

Not exactlyyy Murderers Row, but the Raiders did also have Nnamdi Asomugha before he fell off a cliff and DeAngelo Hall patrolling the secondary. (Thats called foreshadowing guys)

So anyways, I am scoring *at will* on QB scrambles out of the shotgun, HB screens, and 70 yard bombs in the air. If JaMarcus Russell saw how much better he was in Madden than in real life I think he might actually kill himself. But to top it all off the Oakland defense is smothering my roommate with interception after interception after interception. My roommate is fucking BOILING and I’m not a huge trash talker so I’m just waiting for the straw to break the camel’s back.

Well that would come in the form of my SEVENTH interception of the day, which also happened to be a pick-six that put me at 70+ points on the afternoon…in the 3rd quarter.

“FUCK THIS GAME!”

Roommate stands up and absolutely Gronk spikes the $50 PS2 clicker into the fucking floor. Let me tell you, I have never seen a piece of hardware fly into so many pieces as that Playstation clicker did. We had to have a closed casket funeral for that PS2 clicker.

And that my friends is why you don’t stream yourself playing a game of Madden because we are all one bullshit play away from rifling a clicker through the goddamn window.

Celtics Prominently Featured in NBA 2K18 Trailer and it Looks FIRE

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As I mentioned on this very blog not too long ago, the Celtics basically backdoored their way onto the cover of the biggest basketball video game in the world with the Kyrie Irving trade. So it should come as no surprise, but its still awesome to see Celtics green prominently featured in another excellent 2K trailer. Seriously, is this the only league that knows how to market a video game with music? Anyways, some of the highlights:

And yea, this one definitely hurt. Gonna suck seeing IT check what time it is with fucking LeBron yucking it up next to him.

Full trailer below:

I Need These Custom NBA Jam Jordans Like I Need Air

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I don’t think I’ve ever needed something as badly as I need these video game sneakers. So FreakerSneaks makes all these custom Jordans and they are so choice. They got all the classics like NBA Jam, Super Mario, Duck Hunt, and Sonic. There’s stunting on people and  then there’s stunting on people in totally custom NBA Jam Jordans. $1,200? Swipe swipe. So slap these on my Christmas list today mom and dad. Just look at the details though, they even have the championship screen shot on the tongue.

But lets not forget some of the other beauties like the Jordan Sonic: Marble Zone 1. If these kicks don’t take you right back to the glory days of playing Sega in the basement then I don’t even want to know you.

And of course you can’t forget the true classics, the godfather of modern video games, the plumber himself; Super Mario.

On to the best of the rest:

Somebody get me a goddamn sneaker deal!

PS – If I were to design my own pair of these I would 100% have to call them the Jordan Super Nintendo Chalmers 1.

…..Patent Pending.

NBA Live 2018 Just Guaranteed Itself a MEGA Hit as It Will Have the WNBA in This Year’s Game

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That sound you just heard was the cash register RINGING OFF THE HOOK. Look, have I ever thought in the 21 years (!) the WNBA has been in existence “I really wish I could play with these gals on my PS4” ? No, no I have not. BUT, give me that option and you bet your ass I’ll be jacking up set shots and technically perfect layups while spacing the floor like its a 1950s NBA game. Sounds like a Brad Stevens wet dream.

In fact I may even force my friends to use strictly WNBA teams when they come over to play a couple games. Chicago Sky vs Minnesota Lynx for $100. Whats the fun in dunking from the free throw line with the Greek Freak when you can drive to the hole for a layup with Candace Parker?

The real question is, will NBA Live 2018 let you play WNBA teams vs NBA teams? THAT would be something. In fact I feel like EA would be doing the fans a disservice really if they don’t allow this. Get excited.

NBA 2K esports League to Launch With 17 Teams and I Will Watch the Shit Out of It

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And we’re off. It was officially announced that there will be 17 teams participating in the inaugural season of the NBA 2K esports League in 2018. Good looks by 2K on the official sponsorship, my sources are telling me they narrowly edged out the NBA Jam franchise.

To be honest, I’m surprised the NBA got this many teams to participate, but I for one am all about this. God forbid MLB tried this, it would take a decade of old guys debating how this would sully the history of the game. As a guy who plays far too many video games, breaking only to watch sports, this is a win-win.

I would watch the shit out a YouTube show documenting how the Celtics go about building their team, scouting, recruiting, training and competing.

Might have to call up Wyc and pitch that idea myself. Franchise that shit out as a vlog for every team…

We’ve all heard how big esports are becoming (hell even colleges are offering esports scholarships now), but it was mainly for games like League of Legends, which I’ve never even contemplated playing. But when you catch something a little more accessible like a Call of Duty tournament on G4, its just nuts how good the guys are. In the same way its nuts watching professional sports. The NBA knows a cash cow when they see it coming down the road, like ya know god damn La Liga patches on jerseys.

So a lot of people will say this is for nerds and nerds alone, but in the same sense its hard to appreciate just how good LeBron James is if you’ve never played competitive basketball. I am 5’8″ and didn’t make it past youth basketball so watching what that manchild can do resonates with me. I have a frame of reference as an average white guy with just how absurd LeBron is at basketball.

Here are the 17 teams that will be a part of the inaugural NBA eSports league.

  • Boston Celtics
  • Cleveland Cavaliers
  • Dallas Mavericks
  • Detroit Pistons
  • Golden State Warriors
  • Indiana Pacers
  • Memphis Grizzlies
  • Miami Heat
  • Milwaukee Bucks
  • New York Knicks
  • Orlando Magic
  • Philadelphia 76ers
  • Portland Trail Blazers
  • Sacramento Kings
  • Toronto Raptors
  • Utah Jazz
  • Washington Wizards

What I’m curious about is how the hell you can get 5 guys playing together on one NBA 2K team. Have you ever tried playing with a buddy on one team? Fucking impossible. You basically just end up playing iso ball and looking for running screens chucking up 3’s falling out of bounds because its impossible to try and run any semblance of a real play.

So yes, I will watch the shit out of this. Will I pay to watch this? Probably not, but I’ve bought dumber things. So, probably, yes.