Blogger Archive: slackur 
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From the beginning, the conceptual design behind many if not the majority of video games involves some form of simulation. The original sports game of Tennis for Two and Pong led to our annual Madden and FIFA releases, each reflecting some abstract interpretation of an "IRL" game. It is this facet of virtual gameplay that brought some critics to declare games like Battlezone and Death Race as kid-targeted military training and violent "murder simulators" long before yellow-pajama-wearing ninjas were permanently curing back pain exclusively on Sega consoles.
Continue reading Simulating Simulations
[img width=700 height=422]https://corgs-con.webs.com/CORGS%202019.jpg[/img]
The year is now past the 50% mark. For our family, we have one annual retro game convention down (CORGS) and one to go (CCAG). E3 is still fresh on the news, and prep-work is in full swing for the Autism and Gaming Convention. Our South Korean foreign exchange student has gone from a non-gamer to finishing Dark Souls II and Dark Souls III (quite a few times) before returning home soon. "Free" time has been spent battling both household illnesses and the massive pile of test systems, cords, and accessories for our CCAG table. I think it's time to grab a breather and take stock of the situation.
Continue reading State of Play 2019 and a Half: Thoughts on CORGS, E3, and Beyond
If you've never been to a video game convention, I can't recommend it enough. My Beloved and I have been attending a few on an annual basis for about fifteen years, and every time has been exciting and fun. It is more than coming across some great collection finds; over the years we have forged great friendships, shared fascinating stories, competed (poorly) in competitive tournaments, seen some great cosplay, realized we weren't alone in our passion for gaming, and overall had great experiences unique to every year. Now, my family has finally decided to plunge into the other side and give back.
Continue reading Giving Back To The Community Via Conventions
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I've said before and still proclaim that Nintendo is, at heart, a toy company. What makes Nintendo different, and I daresay special, is that they make their toys into video games. Oh, there are a ton of physical toys made from Nintendo properties and characters. Yet Nintendo's specialty is making video games that are built first as toys, as devices made more for the sake of being playful, as a first priority over narrative, graphics, or complexity. There are exceptions, but as a general principal Nintendo games are made first as a chase for that elusive 'fun for the sake of fun' ethos. This best explains Nintendo's decisions that baffle others in the video game industry.
Continue reading Thoughts On Labo And The Nintendo Ethos
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Recently I got a call from a good friend asking me to write about how much anger and negativity pervades gaming in our modern era. I reflected the challenge therein, as many of the factoring instigators of such are outside the purview of our humble and relatively focused collector/gaming site. Also, I've spilled much digital ink in various articles over the years championing virtues against such negativity. It is not that more can't or shouldn't be said about the topic, just that there are times and places better suited for conversations that dig deeper into the myriad of problems that are the origin of said negativity.
And yet there are lots of angles about modern gamer anger that can be more readily addressed, if not overcome, by way of analysis and discussion on neutral grounds such as ours. In fact one angle of discussion in particular came to mind by way of my recent reflections playing Fallout 76 and Anthem. These two titles, in their design philosophy, problematic constructions, and correlating critical and commercial reception, pretty much embody the various threads into a cohesive strand of something larger, a specific anger-inducing phenomena inherent to our current-gen gaming.
Continue reading Thoughts On Games As Service, Anger, And Modern Gaming
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Despite the modern integration of gaming in our daily lives, two terms that still do not tend to share the same sentence are 'romantic' and 'video games.' While movies, books, and music have genres and sub-genres focusing on amorous pursuits, successful attempts in gaming range from the very specific dating sim category and amateur-at-best forced narratives in action games to lengthy RPG character relationships. Let's just set aside fan-service in the vein of Dead or Alive and Senran Kagura for the moment.
Continue reading Thoughts on Valentine Gaming
[img width=450 height=653]http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/games/U-027/bf/U-027-S-02360-A.jpg[/img]
Instead of a "best of 2018" list, I figured I'd toss together a much more accurate "games that pleasantly surprised me that I played within the last year" list, even for games that weren't released in 2018.
Before typing any further I will fully admit that my old, feeble memory banks whine like a first generation PS3 when thinking about yesterday, and go into full-out Dreamcast lumber-saw grinding if I even try thinking about last week, so recalling anything from a year ago isn't too likely. Thus, please forgive me if most of the games on here that came out in 2018 are from the tail end of the year. Anywho, onward!!
Continue reading Here Are A Few Of My 2018's Best Surprises
[img width=700 height=492]http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/games/U-064/bf/U-064-S-02470-A.jpg[/img]
Before going further, a note on an apologist: they aren't "apologizing" as we know it (saying sorry,) rather they are "a person who makes a defense in speech or writing of a belief, idea, etc." from the Greek/late Latin "apologia". (Referenced from Dictionary.com, Merriam-Webster, and a few theology classes many years ago.)
I honestly don't intend to be a contrarian at heart. I'm not cool enough to be a hipster that only likes what no one else does, and while I often defend the underdog, I still won't stand by them if I think they are wrong. Ask me what sports team I'm rooting for, I usually say the losing one. (Why would the winning one need it? I don't get sports.)
Yet when it comes to video games, I seem to end up as a constant apologist for many a derided title.
Continue reading Thoughts from a Gaming Apologist, Volume 1
Lately, even the mighty pull of an incredible new version of my favorite game of all time (Tetris Effect) can't sit me in front of a console for very long. Oh, I want to plop on our comfy recliner and put in a few long hours into the ever-growing stack of excellent games next to the various gaming systems connected to our best gaming TV. I really really do. However with so many daily tasks, back-and-forth travel, and emergency situations happening I just can't block out the time. (I'd say 'lately,' but when topsy-turvy is more common than normal, topsy-turvy becomes the new normal.)
As in the past, Nintendo has swooped in to save the day with a game machine full of stuff I want to play on a system that can ride along with me. As I was combing through the library of games to take along, I looked through the excellent popular titles that bring out the best of the system; Super Mario Odyssey, Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Splatoon 2, Arms, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, etc. Unexpectedly, those have stayed on the shelf lately; the majority of what I want to play these days is a compilation of arcade and retro classics that perfectly fit the few minutes at a time I have to spend. I thought it might be fun to share my current carousel of cartridge cavorting!
Continue reading The Switch Has Become My Portable Arcade Powerhouse
[img width=700 height=451]https://thec64.com/app/uploads/2017/09/box-shotNew.png[/img] Got one of these recently. Well, the US version. And I'm really digging it; I grew up with the original beige brick as my first computer/game system and have several years' worth of great memories surrounding it. After loading the C64 Mini and putting it through its paces, I have a few thoughts to share that extend to the current wave of retro emulation systems and why I moved away from PC gaming.
Continue reading Thoughts on the C64 Mini
[img width=550 height=619]http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/games/U-037/gs/U-037-S-03630-A.jpg[/img]
Pictured: When the best graphics were in your imagination.
I'm going to forgo the endless "winter is coming" jokes about the fall gaming release season, and just get to the point: lottsa big AAA games are here and on the way, and that means many nifty games with a smaller budget are swept up in the crowd and I'm here to champion the under-the-radar releases. These are the ones that personally caught my eye (OW!) over the last few months and I wanted to bring more awareness.
Continue reading Slackur's Obscure Gaming Theatre: Under-The-Radar II Hyper Fighting
[img width=531 height=466]http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/games/U-061/bf/U-061-S-01430-A.jpg[/img]
Folks on this site likely know the feeling; You and three 'friends' are in a heated Super Smash Bros. Melee when someone cries out, "My "R" button isn't working! Hey guys, wait!" Or that heated Joust versus match with the controller that just doesn't 'flap' as fast, or the time you were excited to show off your rare Sega CD Snatcher on one of the four days of the week that the drive tray doesn't want to work...
If you are a retro gamer that plays as well as collects, you know the effort it takes to upkeep your library. Vintage video game collecting is like classic car collecting or pinball machine collecting; it's more than just having space for the stuff and the ability to find and pay for the games and hardware. If it is going to remain playable, there's some know-how and some elbow grease that will become part of the hobby. From notorious controller wear and faulty optical drives, to analog drift and bad capacitors, every retro player/collector has to get comfortable with just how far down the rabbit hole they are going to go. Perhaps you are fortunate enough to have a passion for a console that seems immune to all but psyonic attacks (SNES, Game Boy Color) or maybe you've fallen for a glass snowflake (Famicom Disc System, a Turbo Duo with good sound), but either way there is always some basic maintenance needed.
Continue reading Thoughts On The Upkeep of Retro Game Collecting
A few days ago I checked-off a bucket list item. It is a minor one, probably somewhere in the three- to four- hundreds on the list, though it has been there since my early teenage years. I finally got a decent ending on this little gem:
[img width=550 height=761]http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/games/U-040/bf/U-040-S-01290-A.jpg[/img]
How this was accomplished makes it an inauthentic accomplishment for some, but it represents an interesting angle on modern and retro gaming and collecting.
Continue reading Thoughts on Repros, or how I finally played through Contra Hard Corps
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This is in its own way a companion piece to the reflections in Zophar53's recent article, What is Nostalgia in 2018? I wanted to respond and take the conversation in a personal direction but I realized I needed the room to let my thoughts breath, so here we are.
Many of our collections, video games and otherwise, are initially based off some form of nostalgia. Mine is no exception. As I've referred to in past write-ups, it started with a simple childhood dream to own every video game so that anyone at our home could play any video game whenever they wanted (myself included!) Many years and a family of my own later, that has transformed into the desire to use the medium of video games integrated in our lives as ways to connect socially, unwind mentally, and develop conversations culturally. I am very pleased to say it has been generally successful. That said, of course there are games and systems I have a special fondness for due to my earlier time spent with them. Over time my greater connection has come from games I played with friends that I now keep in memory after their passing, and I imagine that to continue. I also have no doubt our children are building their own nostalgia from specific titles our family enjoys together.
Continue reading Why Do We Collect Video Games In 2018?
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It is pretty amazing, when you think about it, that video games can present practically as many universes as our imaginations can conceptualize. Race car drivers, ancient warriors, formless deities, abstract observers, mustachioed occasional-plumbers, the possibilities go on and on. We tend to settle into comfortable niches, as is human nature, but really any medium so tethered to artistic expression can as open as our desire to explore.
Continue reading Thoughts On My Time With Virtual Pinball
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