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Digital Playground

Protect your Knee

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Every year in December and January, I come out of hibernation long enough to get inspired to work on the web page. Usually, that only lasts until February when I start back to school and everything falls into a state of disrepair for a few months. I am not the type to do resolutions, but this year I hope to power though those months of inactivity and instead make the page what I always hoped it would be.

As part of that plan, I’m going to start playing Skyrim and Fallout 3 again. That, too, is tradition. However, this year definitely feels different. I have, so far, avoided the post holiday “blues”. In the past, that is one of the things that has kept me from contributing to the page on a regular basis. If I can just keep that momentum going, things will be good around here.

My father believed firmly in the power of positive thinking. He also lived by the credo, “It’s a good day to die.” Time to start living up to his standards.

I started my trip back into Bethesda fantasy RPG this time with Skyrim. At first, my XBox 360 door did not cooperate and I was afraid that this plan might be dead in the water. However, through persistence (and a little bit of muscle, a steak knife, and a lot of swearing), I got the game up and running. What better way to start this adventure that with a quest!

Once I loaded the game and continued from my last save state, I texted Kevin to laugh that starting back with these games after months off was always an experience (pun not intended). He replied that it always took him about a half an hour to get acquainted again with the story, his character, items, etc. That’s about how long it took me.

Pardon the language, but this is exactly how I felt.

It didn’t help that apparently I saved the game in the sewers and the color scheme was nearly monochromatic. That alone made me almost quit the game and restart. On top of that, the reason I was in the sewer was that I was on the Thieves Guild quests. I had to collect three debts from people. It took me at least 3 failed tries of killing the first person and being put in jail before I considered restarting again.

I didn’t restart. I got smart. In all honesty, I stumbled on quest completion by accident. Instead of pulling out my mace and bludgeoning her to death and then having to beat the rest of the town to death, too, before either dying or ending up in jail, I simply punched her until she submitted. Not necessarily good, but at least it finally advanced the story.

All’s fair in love and Skyrim.

What are the chances that I continue playing to beat that story? That’s been my goal for the six years that I’ve owned the game. I can honestly say that after this latest play session, I don’t know. That’s unusual for me. I’m usually a big fan of the D&D style fantasy.

We slept in the living room last night as a family and we plan on it again tonight, so I played some Hearthstone and Minecraft on the computer. Therefore, I didn’t get a chance to play last night to see if I could find that hook. That’s the main problem. I’m just not that interested in the main story. When I played the other day, I completed the quest to be inducted into the Thieves Guild and I was so excited that I completely zoned out on the conversation that led into the follow up quest.

That’s not an isolated incident. When I first got the game, I played it for 50 hours over two weeks. I was unemployed and had a young child who napped daily back then. How did I play 50 hours and only make it to the Thieves Guild quests? A majority of that time was not spent questing. Mainly, I roamed the countryside looking for butterfly wings and flowers to increase my alchemy skill.

Skyrim can save its damn self.

I took stock of what my life had become and didn’t like it one bit. So, I put the game to the side for the first time. As I wrote, I’ve since given it a few more chances. Here I am giving it one more. One last?

What keeps me coming back? Obviously, I don’t have to like the game. Sure, it is almost universally considered to be one of the best games, both in the series and overall. It’s not like I’m ever shy about going against conventional wisdom. It’s clearly not a “keeping up with the Joneses”.

I think that it just goes back to what I wrote earlier. I’m usually a fan of any type of fantasy setting and I’m a fan of RPGs. I suppose that I just have to face facts and realize that if I’m going to beat this game, I may just have to power through the story that I don’t like very much. It’s either that or hope that some aspect (besides chasing butterflies) of the story finally hooks and speaks to me. As it stands right now, I’d much rather play the apocalyptic future version of the game in Fallout 3. Maybe I will just do that and try again with this game once I’ve finished Fallout.

After all, it’s looking more and more like Fallout might be a instruction manual for the near future.
Digital Playground, On the Tabletop, Snap *censored* Pop Culture

2 Generations Gaming 2017 in Review

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Introduction

It’s the first day of 2018. This is the time every year that is traditionally set aside for reflection on the previous 365 (or 366) days. There are countdowns, marathons, and years in review. This article falls into the last category. While it has been difficult to maintain a consistent video or podcast schedule, I’ve done okay at updating the web page with at least one article a month. I’ve also kept busy with plenty of other geeky fun. Let’s reminisce on the best, the worst, and the ugliest.

The Good

APBA Baseball: I only recently rediscovered this game in one of my closets and I’m going to write an article this week about the couple of games I played last week. I know that others might prefer Strat-O-Matic or another simulator, but this is the only one I’ve played and it does what I want it to do. Overall, this has been a great addition to my gaming life again and I can’t wait to dive deeper into the baseball simulation greatness.

Mobile Gaming: Old school favorites like Candy Crush and Angry Birds. New favorites like Sim City Build It, Fallout Shelter, Magic the Gathering Puzzle Quest, and Pokemon Go. All of these games have been played with great regularity over the past year on my phone. In fact, most of my video game time has been spent on my phone. That’s saying something for a person who used to denigrate all mobile games as shovelware.

Eternal/Hearthstone: Yes, these are both games that could have technically been included in the mobile section. However, they’ve had more impact on me than the other games included in that list. I started playing Eternal during one of my rage quits from Hearthstone earlier in the year. I had seen Brian Kibler playing the game on stream and figured I’d give it a chance. I’m glad that I did. While I don’t play it as much as when I first started, it still has a place in my weekly rotation. I have had an up and down relationship with Hearthstone. However, as I said to Chris a couple of days ago, I seem to have found my comfort zone in the game. I have little to no interest in competitive play of any sort. I generally just log in every couple of days to do quests, earn gold, and every now and then win a pack that I won’t open.

Comics: 2017 was the year that saw me get back into comics. Marvel’s Secret Empire event led to a discovery of the well executed DC Rebirth titles. Following them for a few months led right into Metal and sticking with Secret Empire to the end let me experience the start of Legacy. Almost all of these events were well executed, but it wasn’t all good for comics this year. More on that later.

Magic the Gathering: You wouldn’t think that I’d rank this so highly in the good category. Given that Chris and I discussed a few times how little we had played the game this year. I wasn’t even watching streams. It just looked like the game had run its course for us. Then, a couple of things happened. Well, on my end, one major thing happened. During one of our summer trips, I played Magic with all three boys. First, we played a couple of two headed giant games with decks that I had built over the years. Then, I picked up the Nicol Bolas box set and finally the Explorers of Ixalan. We haven’t played the Explorers yet, but there is time. Any game that gets me closer to my kids is a great game.

The Best: I know that it came late in the year, but any time a Star Wars movie is released and it is half decent, that will be the best thing about my year. When it is one of the best of the franchise, it will be the best thing of the decade. When I get to experience it with my kids and father in law, it just might be one of the highlights of my life. I won’t say much more because I have an article planned to go into more detail, but I absolutely loved this movie and it was a perfect way to start my holiday break.

The Bad

No New Console: This is the first year in a few that we haven’t gotten a new console. I was going back and forth for a few weeks on whether or not to buy an XBox One Minecraft edition. I’ve had my eye on it for a while. Then, there seems to have been a mix up with my last December check and unless I sub in January, I won’t get paid at all, so economics won out. Liam did buy himself a Gamecube and we found the Dreamcast (but it needs to be repaired), so there are some “new” games being played right now, but no new hardware makes me feel a bit sad. We won’t be down for long, though. We are looking at a Switch and I’m almost positive that I’ll get an XBox in February.

The Worst: Only two for this one? Yep, and only two for the next one, too. By now, you should know my very positive outlook on things and this shouldn’t come as a surprise. Also, the fact that I just talked so much about how comics were a good thing this year might also make this choice for “the worst” seem weird at best and probably perplexing. But, I have a valid explanation. I loved the stories and art of the comics, but hated the cover prices. I was spending far too much money on them and I couldn’t justify doing so anymore. At least with games, I get massive replay value from them and they allow me to spend more time with my kids. Comics did neither of those. It was 3-7 dollars spent on 10-15 minutes of enjoyment. That’s just awful.

The Ugly

Our Podcast Lineup: I was just talking to a friend (and one of the first fans of the page) about the 2 Guys Gaming podcast. He said something about how he thought it was damn good and that it could have been something. Not one to take compliments very gracefully, I changed the subject quickly. However, the podcasts are fun for me to do and I really want to get back to doing them. There have been a few that I listen to that have taken long breaks and come back stronger. One, in particular, stopped and started a few times, but it is again one of my favorites. So, our planning is ugly, but hopefully by this time next year, it will be good.

Nerd on Nerd Violence: This is something that I’ve often spoken against. However, as nerd culture has become popular culture, the nerd on nerd violence has increased to an unacceptable level. It used to be that when you were picked on by somebody, you always had your nerd buddies to get your back. If there was an actual fight, you’d all get your butts kicked, but they were there to take your mind off of being the brunt of some sort of physical or psychological abuse. Now, some of the worst abuse of nerds is coming from other nerds. It isn’t just good-natured joke fights about whether Star Trek or Star Wars is better. It’s full on attacks of each other and the things we hold dear. I’m going to talk about this more in my Star Wars article and it might just be that all violence is increasing, but this makes me incredibly sad.

The Verdict

2017 wasn’t all fun and games. It wasn’t all poorly executed puns, either. It was a good bordering on great year that gives us an excellent foundation to make 2018 even better. Happy New Year, All! Make it the best one ever!

Digital Playground

Just Like Old Times?

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Prologue

This year was a tough Christmas for Liam. He discovered the big reveal about the big man. When he talked with Christine, he said that he already knew a few years ago, but this year it became official when Christine said that he wasn’t going to get Santa presents anymore. I never grew up with Santa, so I can’t fully sympathize with what he’s going through, so Christine has just continued to deal with the fallout. In my defense, I did have a couple of ideas to help him. One, I offered to purchase the gift cards that he didn’t want to give him the cash for his desired “Santa” present, a Gamecube for Pokemon Colosseum. Also, I suggested that he and I go to the Quarters in Hadley (also, he wanted to buy some books at Barnes and Noble with one of his gift cards) just the two of us to get out of the house and have some guy time together.

Journal

We’ve been to the Quarters at least once before. I’m pretty sure we were there twice, but I definitely remember one other visit for my birthday a few years ago. Christine got a Groupon deal and we used it on one of their Super Cereal Saturdays. They sell it as a way to recapture the magic of cereal and Saturday morning cartoons. I’ve mentioned in the past that I’m not usually much of a nostalgia guy, but there are some aspects of my youth that I treasure and want to relive. This is one of the ones that got me big time.

After all, our generation (I know, generations are an idiotic way to define a group of diverse individuals, but bear with me on this one) are the absolute masters of nostalgia, both real and imagined. Generation X, if you believe in such a for some reason, constantly looks to the past to define their present and future. Heck, we were the ones who tried to relive Woodstock without ever actually having been there, except through the copies of the record in our parent’s collections. That might be one of the reasons that I generally push back on nostalgia. Well, that and the fact that things really weren’t better “back then” by and large.

Make America Great Again, amirite?

I’ve already discussed comic books as one of my nostalgia triggers. I’m also planning an end of the year extravaganza for the weekend. So, I suppose something about the end of the year and my looming 42 (the answer to life, the universe, and everything) birthday have me looking back. Like comic books, arcades and arcade games hold a special place in my past. Unlike comic books, which gave me a quiet escape in a fantasy setting from people, the arcade was a social experience for me.

My friend Kevin, who you may know from our lost episode 2 of the now far too long dormant podcast, and I used to spend almost all of our free time and money at the arcade. I say almost all because the remainder of it was spent at McDonalds or the movie theater. It started for the two of us with stupidly epic battles on the first Mortal Kombat machine where neither of us knew a damn thing other than the graphics were killer and so was the violence.

We graduated to MKII, then unfortunately, MK3. All the while, we dabbled with other games like Primal Rage, Virtua Fighter, and Street Fighter. When one or the other was on a winning streak against other competition, we moved on to single player games like Super Mario Bros and Tetris. As our sphere of influence grew because mutual friends became more interested in sports than nerdy pursuits, we got together a 4 man group to tackle Gauntlet, X-Men, The Simpsons, and TMNT.

Arcades were big enough to place honorable mention old schoolers in the corner to give us youngsters a history lesson.

When I went off to college, Kevin and I lived together in a tiny apartment above a store that my extended family owned. When Kevin had to return home, I found myself taking the bus out to the mall to hit up the arcade because I missed having him around. Even today, the love affair with video games continues. We sent each other Steam games for Christmas this year. I chose an old school style D&D dungeon crawler to remind him of the days that we wasted on his old PC playing those games after school.

So, the pull that I felt towards the Quarters every time we drove or rode by on our bikes was real. Almost every game in there has some memory or another attached to it. If it doesn’t, then I wanted to try the game and see if I could make it memorable. Once again, what got me back into the arcade was a promotion. They offer unlimited tokens on Tuesdays from 5 until closing for 5 dollars. It isn’t a bad deal either. As a barcade, they are open until 1 am. I didn’t think that either of us could make it that far, but we were both still ready to play at 9:00 when I finally decided to play Dad and start the drive home.

When this is one of the faces you see from your teenager and he speaks exclusively in YouTube videos and memes, you just have no idea.

Epilogue

It’s often difficult for parents to know if they are doing right by their kids. As I’ve discussed with Kevin on more than occasion, you don’t know if you’ve screwed them up until it is too late. But, I’m positive that this was the right decision. Liam seemed to have a great time, I had a great time, and he thanked me for taking him out. That almost never happens voluntarily anymore.

Things get busy (“And the cat’s in the cradle”) and, as our terrible podcast schedule (what podcast schedule?!) shows, we lost track of time. But, I really have to start making a conscious effort to do these things. I joke about Liam becoming a teenager, mostly because it is a defense mechanism against facing the reality that he isn’t a “kid” anymore. He’s growing into the adult that he will someday be. While I love watching it happen, I also find myself doing what I never thought I would.

I never thought I’d miss the days when…fill in the blank. But, when I look at Liam now, I don’t see that crazy little boy who changed my life 13 years ago. I see a young man who is still changing my life, but in vastly different ways. Every now and then, I have to take a breath, push that pause button, and revel in the silliness of youth. There will be a time, sooner than I I’d like to admit, that it won’t be there for a few years.

Digital Playground

I’m Taking that Candle

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Introduction

I know this is late for a preview/impressions post on the new Hearthstone expansion, as it has been out for about a week now. However, I have yet to actually play a game with any of the cards. As I said to Chris, I haven’t even opened a single pack from Knights of the Frozen Throne. I have played through only dungeon runs so far, which gives me almost no indication about the cards. Nevertheless, I’ve been watching and paying attention to the card reveals and think that I can give a decent impression to my fellow noobs.

Mechanics

I’m not positive if there aren’t usually very many new keywords in each set. I suppose that I could not be lazy and Google past sets, but then I might actually get a reputation for being a responsible journalist. Besides, I don’t even have to Google anything because I’m already on Hearthstonepedia (or whatever it’s called) so all I’d have to do is click a few links and I’m not even willing to do that much.

Seriously, have you seen House of Cards? Reporters just end up dead on the front of a subway train!

Recruit – This is the only official keyword that I can see that is new on the cards. There are a couple of others that show up once or twice or aren’t exactly keywords, per se, that I will review quickly at the end of the section. However, recruit is the only new bold word on card text. On the surface, it seems strong because it takes a card from your deck and puts it onto the battlefield. Yes, you read that right. Never change, Blizzard. Never change.

Spellstone – I wouldn’t necessarily call this a keyword. It is more of a card type. Each of the classes have a type of spellstone (only one now, but it’s probably only a matter of time before they introduce more) that does something relevant to the class. It starts off as a lesser spellstone, but can be upgraded to a spellstone and then further upgraded to a greater spellstone, again through some action that the class usually accomplishes through normal gameplay. I like the idea of these cards as they really push the narrative of being able to do things online that can’t be done in a traditional card game.

Legendary Weapons – Each class has also been given a new weapon of legendary status. Just like minions, only one can be included in a deck and they, at least on the surface, promise the same kind of game breaking potential. As they say, results may vary.

“Bonus effect” isn’t bold, but it does show up on several cards in the set. When you draw the card, you see the bonus effect which, in true Hearthstone fashion, is randomized.
I promised some unique mechanics in the set. As far as I know, this is the only card in the set with “dormant”. It also reads an awful lot like Dark Depths from Magic, though not as reliable…yet. I will say that I’ve been impressed at the Hearthstone team’s ability to make formerly terrible cards not as terrible. So, who knows. Before long, The Darkness could be meta.
 

Notable Cards

Please understand that this doesn’t mean good, or even necessarily playable cards. If you want that list, there are a thousand other pages that will give you the best cards, combos, decks, etc. If that’s what you’re looking for, you’re in the wrong place. I also just mentioned The Darkness and how bad it is, so I’m not going to waste your time with borderline unplayable cards. However, if you just want a (possibly random) collection of cool and interesting cards, read on!

I like this card because it takes the druid mechanic of choice and expands the possibilities. Very cool design.
Rogue finally gets secrets, something that seems to fit the class more than Paladin. This one is cool because it’s like a delayed shadowstep. Unfortunately, it’s very easy to play around, which defeats the purpose of secrets.
The first card in Hearthstone with “Trample” and it is a situational spell card. Weird, but neat!
There are at least two cards that have this ability only to attack if you have a certain amount of armor. It is a bit of a half measure between the “can’t attack” and normal minions. There are so many applications of this for other classes.
This is an example of them testing the waters with an idea (the mage quest) and then building on it. Admittedly, this is an odd application of the extra turn dynamic, but it shows that they are willing to take chances and experiment.

The Verdict

This set has perhaps the stupidest name for a card game expansion I’ve ever heard. I honestly thought it was one of Blizzard’s famous April’s Fools Day jokes either very late or a bit early when I first heard the name. In spite of that, I still logged in and claimed my packs. I haven’t opened them. Heck, I haven’t even opened my Frozen Throne packs, as I said earlier.

So, I don’t see this set getting me to play the game any more than I have been playing it to this point, which is only enough to finish a quest or two a day. What does get me to play more is interesting stuff like the mash up arena mode that they had for Halloween this year. I played through several of those runs. Oh, I have also done a few dungeon runs recently, and those have been a fun and interesting experience. Aside from that, though, I will just have another 50+ packs sitting in my inventory. Oh well, there’s always Eternal and Magic the Gathering to keep me busy.

Digital Playground

Run Mario Run!

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Introduction

I don’t remember how I learned about the Mario Run mobile game. It might have been that I saw a beta invite (or whatever the mobile equivalent of a beta invite is) in the Google Play store. I do remember that I downloaded it as soon as I saw it was available since I signed up for that invite to get access to the game as soon as possible.

I mean, I am the guy who has said that all Nintendo has to do is release a Mario, Zelda, and Metroid game on a system to get me to buy it enough times that it is pretty much self parody at this point to repeat it. I played it the whole way through within a day or two. Then, I changed phones twice. As you all know, my luck with electronics breaking is legendarily bad. Some of it is my doing. Some of it is just bad luck like a computer falling down the stairs or a phone getting run over in a parking lot. In either case, when I downloaded the game again recently, I thought I had lost all progress and my purchase, too. So, I didn’t play it for a few weeks.

Only one save slot in Pokemon. No cloud save in their mobile game, either? What the hell, Nintendo?

I was willing to pay for the game again, especially since they were running a sale and only charging half price for the game. Then, I learned that there was a way to restore my purchase. It didn’t restore my progress, but that was fine. As I said earlier, the game can be finished in a short period of time. When I wasn’t distracted by the new mode, I tried to clear the game again to access Star World. More on that in the next section.

The Good

Even though I was excited about the game, I wondered and worried how Mario would translate to mobile. Look, I get that the heart of Mario is just run and jump. Those actions are pretty easy to replicate in the mobile format. Heck, if they can make a decent fighting game on mobile with a variety of moves in Injustice 2 (which is still broken for me and I’m sad about that), then they can make Mario run and jump.

Granted, the more recent Mario games have more to offer like 3D motion and teamwork, but the basics of the games are running and jumping on Goombas. So, while maybe I shouldn’t have been, I was surprised to see that the game works well. The controls are intuitive and it is Mario game play. That alone should be enough to get people into the game. But, wait, there’s more.

I mean, seriously. Is this screenshot from a phone or 3DS? I don’t know. Well, that’s not true. It’s a phone.

Another appeal of the game is that they have included multiple game modes. When I first started playing the game, there were only two. There was a “Tour” mode that played like a normal Mario game and you played through stages and worlds to advance to castles and eventually fight against Bowser to finish the game. Aside from that, there was also a “Rally” mode that was a “multiplayer” mode. In reality, you competed against a ghost of another player to collect more coins. The player that won got a collection of different colored Toads that they could use to buy buildings to improve their kingdom.

Speaking of the kingdom, when I came back to the game, they had introduced a new game mode. They call it Remix 10 and it is billed as some of the shortest Mario levels in history. That’s no lie. What they do is they take the various levels from the game and shrink them into bite size (and even less than bite size in some cases) portions and put 10 of them together.It’s a fun game mode and the one that I find myself playing over and over again. The goal is to collect 3 rainbow coins from each level. Then, at the end of the level is usually some decoration for the kingdom.

So, what is this kingdom? The kingdom is a collection of buildings. Some are decorative. Some offer small bonuses. Other than vanity, I’m not entirely sure what the point of the kingdom is in the game. It’s not my idea of good game design. Nor am I actively opposed to it and, if you are the type to enjoy that sort of thing, then that’s another potentially good aspect of the game.

The Bad

It’s not exactly Mario. Sure, there is running and jumping and it feels as much like Mario as they can make a simple mobile game where the character automatically runs and you make him jump by tapping the screen feel like Mario. It’s not just because the character looks like Mario and the enemies look like Mario enemies, either. You just get the feeling when you’re playing that you are almost playing a Mario game. It’s just not all the way Mario. You can’t go back on levels unless level design allows it via wall jumps or arrow jumps. Heck you can’t even stop to explore if there are hidden areas in the level. I don’t think there are any hidden levels as the game forces a very linear progression through the game.

Also, it is short. I’ve already said that the main “campaign”, if you can call it that would take most gamers less than two hours. Less than one hour or even a half an hour if you are dedicated and better that the average noob. Sure, there are goodies to be collected and increasingly difficult coins to be found for each level. To be honest, that hasn’t been enough to keep me playing the main mode. Mostly, now, I play the Tour and Remix 10 modes. Remix 10, especially, is fun and it takes almost no time commitment to play. But, if you are the type who just wants to beat a game, you won’t find the infinite hamster wheel of Candy Crush. 30 to 120 minutes and you’re done.

The Ugly

The kingdom introduces some annoying mobile tropes like unlockable collectibles. In true Nintendo fashion they haven’t added real money microtransactions to the game, but that almost makes it even more annoying. The fact that I buy things with coins makes me think of the joke game “DLC Quest” where you are constantly using your coins to make the game complete. It’s all cosmetic and there’s no real money, but it’s still annoying to be reminded how icky mobile gaming can sometimes feel.

It’s pandemonium in the Mushroom Kingdom as money has lost all worth and Mario exists only for the pleasure of some sick old man.

If I know Nintendo, I know that they won’t change on the real money issue. However, as I was doing research for the article (Googling for images), I came across some news that the game has not been as profitable as they hoped. I mean, maybe that’s just the way that you can make money from these mobile games. They charged 10 bucks for the full version of the game. Once you bought it, you own it. I like that type of game, but so many others in the market are all too happy to take your money in exchange for (ultimately worthless) virtual goods. Is it only a matter of time before Nintendo caves? I doubt it, but if they do, it will not be pretty.

The Verdict

While the main game is short, it is fun. There is enough variety in the 3 game modes (maybe more added eventually?) to keep you coming back for more. There is the kingdom building aspect of the game for the collectors out there. Thankfully, for now, Nintendo has not instituted any real money shop (other than the one to buy the full version of the game) and hopefully they never will. I won’t stop playing the game if they do, but I might slow down just out of habit. If you haven’t already, please download and play the game. Maybe we can convince Nintendo to release Zelda or Metroid!

Digital Playground

Love is “Eternal”?

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Introduction

I was watching Brian Kibler’s stream about a week ago and he was playing a card game other than Hearthstone. It wasn’t Magic, either. Now, that would be news. It was called Eternal and, from what I could gather, it appeared to be a cross between Magic and Hearthstone. As I explained it to Chris, it has the mana and interaction on your opponent’s turn of Magic, but the quick matches of Hearthstone.

Heck, it even looks and sounds like Hearthstone.

I know that might sound antithetical. Hell, Chris and I have spent many a text conversation discussing how much better Magic is than Hearthstone for a variety of reasons. The only thing that we agree is better in Hearthstone is the mana system. Gaining one mana per turn instead of hoping on a wing and a prayer that you curve properly is the best thing about Hearthstone. We tried a version of Magic with the Hearthstone rules and, it turns out, being able to do stuff every turn is a good thing.

Nevertheless, I watched the stream and the game. I also chatted with several others since Kibler’s is one of the few streams that doesn’t descend into spam/meme chaos every day and you can have a conversation. It was especially easy since only about half his viewers care about Eternal or don’t care at all what game he’s playing. They politely answered my questions, as well as questions that others had. After about a half an hour, I was convinced. I needed to try this game. I was going to download it via the Steam client and try it. Then, something even better happened. I learned that it was on mobile. I downloaded it, started playing through the tutorial, and immediately texted Chris.

Okay, Grandma. Why don’t you just call him? Nobody texts anymore. It’s all about the Snapchat emoji…or something. I’m even too old to trash talk myself about being too old.

The Good

This whole game is good. In fact, it’s great. One of the selling points was that it is very F2P friendly. I’m still the grumpy old man gamer who refuses to pay good money for digital goods/currency, so if a game doesn’t let me compete without dropping hard earned cash, I’m not playing. I was skeptical at first, but that skepticism soon faded. The tutorials give away starter decks, which isn’t different from Hearthstone on the surface. Underneath, though, it only takes 4 wins to earn a whole deck, where Hearthstone makes you play through 10 levels of the character to get all of the basic cards.

There are also puzzle levels that teach you about the basics of the game and give, as far as I know, 20 gold per. I have only finished one of them as of this writing. The reason for that is because I am having so much damn fun playing the game. Who wants to read the instructions when you can just be out there slinging spells and minions at your opponent’s face?

I’d like to phone a friend.

There are a ton of game modes in the game. In addition to the typical casual and ranked versus modes, they figured out a way to do an actual draft mode where you don’t have to wait for people to sit down at your “table”. There is also a PvP mode called “Event”, which has a special rule and loot attached to it. While most come to a card game to test their mettle against other people, guys like me are perfectly content beating the snot out of the overmatched AI. Thankfully, Eternal takes care of us with two single player modes. In “Gauntlet”, you choose a constructed deck and fight against AI until you win 7 games or lose 1. “Forge” is a draft like mode similar to Hearthstone Arena where you pick from 3 cards to build a deck and then fight the AI until you win 7 or lose 2. The difference here is that you get to keep all cards drafted.

That brings me back to the best part of Eternal. The individual who told me that the game was very F2P friendly was not lying. Nearly every day you are getting at least one pack. The packs are full. None of this 5 cards per pack nonsense. Modes cost more than Hearthstone, but you are also compensated better for performing in them. I won 7 games in Forge and got the 2,000 gold entry plus in rewards. I also received a couple of packs for my trouble. There is no problem in building a decent to good collection in this game.

The Bad

In keeping with my pie in the eye optimistic gamer attitude, there isn’t much that I can categorize as bad in this game. The most obvious is that the mana system is like Magic. Sure, they give you less of a chance of flooding and screwing with one mulligan of your opening hand and by limiting the number of influence (mana) you can draw in the opener and mulligan. Also, there is a card that lets you draw influence for the cost of one. Still, the flood and screw will not be denied and some games you just sit there and stare as your opponent beats you mercilessly.

An exclusive 2GG investigation reveals that statistics are broken.

The only other “bad” in the game is mostly likely just due to the fact that I’m a noob and don’t have the time to dedicate to getting better at drafting. Because of how it is set up, the skill cap for drafting is much higher than it is in Magic the Gathering. Again, instead of sitting down with a pod of players, you are “passed” a pack that has been opened sometime, somewhere, by someone and had cards taken from it. So, you can’t really pick up on signals or bully players off of strategies. What you can do is draft much more with synergy in mind. I just don’t have the skill to do it, so my only draft has ended with a very embarrassing 0-3 and I haven’t been back to try again.

The Ugly

I always worry with these types of games. Before you know it, the developer pulls the plug and you are left with a stagnant game or, worse, one that gets shut down completely. Now, honestly, I haven’t seen either of those happen with any of the games that I play. They must all maintain a high enough player base to justify keeping the servers open.

That’s not entirely true. I did join this game right before they decided to shut down the servers. Fare the well. I hardly knew ye.

I’m not saying that Eternal will shut down. However, I am worried that it won’t be able to maintain the player base in the face of all of these other games. One thing that it has going for it is that it is mobile and it seems to be quick paced, which has so far been a recipe for success with these types of games. The other side is that Magic is releasing their new digital property and it appears to occupy a lot of the same space as this game. I hope that Eternal can hold its own, but if not, it’s going to be ugly for me.

The Verdict

Eternal is a fun game. I have been playing it regularly for the last week. Unlike Hearthstone, which I log in to every couple of days to clear out quests and don’t really have much fun playing, I lose hours to Eternal and don’t regret it one bit. I know that it won’t ever reach Hearthstone levels of popularity because Blizzard just knows how to hook and then keep people running on that treadmill. However, I have had no problem in finding a match any time I log on and play to do the daily win quest.

Eternal is a cheap gamer’s game. They advertise it as a game where you can collect every card without spending any money. While that is probably true for Hearthstone and I’ve done pretty well by it, Eternal’s quest rewards are just an embarrassment of riches and I don’t doubt that I’ll have most, if not all, cards in a relatively short period of time.

Eternal is a well designed game. It is made and distributed by a company that employs prominent names in the gaming community. While that doesn’t always work out, I think of them as the Image of gaming. Image broke off from Marvel and DC to allow their creators to keep their creations and market them as they see fit. It didn’t work for everyone because not everyone is a marketing genius or able to keep a tight schedule. However, Image is still around, they are still allowing their creators full reign, and they are still making great comics. I hope to see the same from Dire Wolf.

Digital Playground

(Mine)Crafting a Story

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(Editor’s Note:

Introduction

Aiden recently let me know that I could download Minecraft Story Mode and play through at least the first episode for free. I was under the impression that it cost money. That’s the only reason that it has taken me this long to try the game. Although I haven’t played much Minecraft in any form over the last month or so, I remain addicted to the game. Because, every time I do sit down to play it, I lose several hours to whatever silly job I end up creating for myself.

I have yet to play any of the “story mode” games. I’ve been introduced to the Guardians of the Galaxy one and find it intriguing because I enjoy the movie and comics so much. I even went as far as to download the Walking Dead one. None of them, though, have enticed me enough to load up and start playing. Until Minecraft. Because we need some filler/an easy topic to get back into the podcast, I’ve played and written about the main game on more than one occasion, and I just discovered that part of it is free, join me for my introduction to “story mode” with one of my favorite games of all time.

The Good

If you’re anything like me, you will totally geek out the first time he talks.

Voice Acting – The first thing that I noticed, and I’m sure this was intentional, is that Patton Oswalt does the voice of the main character. I didn’t recognize any other voices and I’m a little surprised that Patrick Warburton didn’t voice any characters, but hearing Patton’s voice as one of the first things in the game has gone a long way to increasing my enjoyment of the game.

It’s Minecraft: I know that I was using this old trope quite a while to illustrate the good in these articles. However, I haven’t used it much recently, so I feel safe resurrecting it now. The game is recognizable as Minecraft, even if you aren’t performing many of the same actions as in the main game.

Decent Story: The story isn’t great, by any stretch of the imagination. It was interesting enough, though, to keep me playing. First, I wanted to see how the building competition might end (as I expected, but a twist to make it worth the wait), then when the pig ran away, I really wanted to chase after it, and now I want to see what happens with the Wither skull and diamond trade.

Funny: It is genuinely funny, too. Both Aiden, who heard some of the dialogue and me, as I played through it, laughed at more than one part. It isn’t side splitting, but there is humor and it is welcome.

Choose Your Own Adventure: The game tells you that your choices matter. It also helpfully reminds you at times that a character will “remember” your choice for later in the game. I don’t know exactly how true that is since I’m only part of the way through the introduction, but it is valid enough that I consider my choices before making them. I could go back to play through again, similar to how I used to read the “Choose Your Own Adventure” books until I got the best and the worst ending, but right now I’m treating it like a game, taking it seriously, and considering the circumstances of my choices.

The Bad

In spite of the bad voice acting, this game genuinely frightened me in more than one place.

Voice Acting: How can this be both good and bad? Well, as I already mentioned, other than Patton Oswalt, I didn’t recognize a single voice. That’s not necessarily bad, but at least one of the voice actors seems to have taken a class at the Resident Evil school of voice acting. It’s not awful, but it isn’t good, either. It is just bad enough that when you hear the voice, it takes you out of the story for a moment as you realign and try to fit this bad into something that overall is actually decent to good and might become great later in the game.

It isn’t Minecraft: Wait, you are probably thinking, now you are just talking in circles. While that might be true, let me explain. It is recognizable as Minecraft due to the graphics and overall feel of the game. However, and I’m not saying that it is trying to be, it isn’t anything like Minecraft in terms of gameplay. Sure, you mine and you craft, but those are accomplished only to advance the story and only by rapid pressing of a single “button”. Overall, it’s just not that engaging and doesn’t add much to the game other than make it more game and less of a movie.

The Ugly

I mean, this is running on a super duper high end computer and they look like this.

The graphics: Again, the game knows what it is and it has been successful in spite of the fact that it uses blocky, retro style graphics during a time when games are becoming more and more realistic and pushing for realism to add to the appeal of virtual reality. But, seriously, the graphics are not just retro, they are retro in 3D. Sometimes the style is just jarring and I wish for slightly better aesthetics. But, I know it won’t ever happen, so I’ll just keep complaining about it. That’s what we old guys do, right?

The Verdict

It’s not quite Minecraft, but it’s close enough. It’s named for its story, which isn’t great, but is just good enough. Some of the voice acting leaves quite a bit to be desired, but Patton Oswalt makes up for all of that. Minecraft Story Mode isn’t a great game by any measure.

What it is, though, is a good enough game. It does just enough right to make me want to finish the first episode. We will see if I can continue to forgive the not so great and keep playing once it isn’t free anymore. I get the feeling that I might end up just buying it. That will most likely lead me back down the rabbit hole of the main game and both will feed one another.

Digital Playground

Have You Played Atari Today?

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(Editor’s Note: Our summer vacation has extended for far too long. However, we hope to be back next week and every week for the rest of the year. Until then, I will warm up with a gaming article here to break the stretch of comic reviews.)

Introduction

For the last week, the answer to the question posed in the title is emphatically “Yes!” My first gaming system was the Atari 2600. It isn’t the first one I purchased myself. That honor goes to the SNES or Sega Genesis. I can’t remember which I bought first. However, our family owned an Atari 2600. We also got a 7800, but honestly, that one didn’t last long and got quickly eclipsed by the original NES. So, while you will often read about me waxing poetic about Nintendo, my gaming lineage has roots much deeper.

Why do I bring this all up? Well, recently I had the idea to acquire a method to play my old Atari 2600 games. Let’s just leave it at, “My current laptop (after all of my mishaps in the past) is not very powerful and I wanted to test the waters with something that wouldn’t tax it’s meager capabilities too much.

Plus, I have this cool retro joystick to use!

The Good

I’ve spent the better part of my adult life trying to convince people that nostalgia is a liar. Things weren’t better then and even if they were, they’re really not all that bad today. Well, I’m here to admit that maybe sometimes nostalgia isn’t a liar. I mentioned earlier that I’ve played this at least once a day since getting it. It has been for at least an hour each time. I started with Frostbite, probably my favorite game for the system. Then, I moved on to Pitfall, which I played a couple of times until I got 10 minutes of the timer cleared. As a kid, I cleared the whole timer more than once.

As I searched the games, I found Yar’s Revenge, which was a game that I “borrowed” from a friend and enjoyed so much that I never returned. The last game that I got is perhaps a more obscure game, a deep cut if you will, Plaque Attack. It is Activision and I noticed that the sound effects were recycled from Frostbite (or vice versa) and maybe that’s why I liked the game so much. I mean, it certainly wasn’t gameplay, which revolves around you controlling a tube of toothpaste and shooting food that is trying to decay teeth in a mouth. Okay, so yeah, maybe sometimes nostalgia is a liar because I didn’t last long in that game before moving on to River Raid and Frogger.

For those who think I was making up Plaque Attack. I have a good imagination, but not even I would think to make this game up if it didn’t exist.

The Bad

Unfortunately, I don’t any of these consoles anymore. I shouldn’t say that. Honestly, my mother might still have the Atari, NES, and possibly the SNES and Genesis in her basement or attic. Me, though, lacking any foresight and (as we’ve seen) little sense of nostalgia, I have either sold or given away most consoles I’ve owned as an adult.

PS1? Gave it away because it only played when flipped upside down. N64? Sold to a local YMCA for gas money, basically. Original XBOX? Gas money, too. I do still have my PS2 and Dreamcast, so I guess I got some sense in me eventually. Granted, the Dreamcast was bought after the console was already dead and I just found it at the bottom of my closet, but I still have it!

The bad about all of this is that I have to resort to questionably legal means to play all these old games. I mean, I got a 2600 joystick console one year for Christmas or birthday. It was fun and I played it a few times, but the games are limited and most of them aren’t my favorites. The classic Nintendo consoles are also limited in the games they play, and the games are often the good ones, but good luck getting one in the current environment of limited runs and eBay resellers grabbing all of the stock. So, I go the emulator route and hope that I don’t get a cease and desist from my internet provider again.

I fully admit that I’ve engaged in quite a bit of questionably legal content online and should have been warned. But, really, this was the last straw? It wasn’t even that great of a movie.

The Ugly

You probably think that I’m going to go with the obvious choice of E.T. here. Well, if you think that, you haven’t spent much time on the page. I know that E.T. is always pointed to as one of the biggest failures in video game history and said to have essentially killed Atari as a company. I refer you to the documentary Atari: Game Over for an entertaining look at the second claim. As for the first claim, the game might have failed, but I owned one. I also enjoyed the game immensely. It is one of the first games that I finished completely.

I mean, how is E.T. still considered the worst game ever with this turd out there?

The real ugly is that ultimately, nostalgia is a liar. The games are fun and they do the best that they can with limited pixels and colors. However, the graphics are still terrible, the sound effects are lame, the gameplay for most games is repetitive, and there’s not much here other than the reminder of simpler times. With all of the other options out there, what is the reason to choose a 40+ year old console with all of those limitations?

The Verdict

Playing these games gave me some insight into what people say when they go on about “the good old days”. I had some potentially bad news (that has ultimately worked out well as of right now) and going back to the games of my youth when I didn’t have to worry about all of these things was a powerful attraction. I have kept coming back to the games daily for a bit of a distraction.

In the end, though, they are little more than that. Like the games on my phone that I cycle through on a daily basis, I’m not terribly invested in the games. I play them to give my brain a break. I’d much rather be playing Skyrim, Fallout, Portal, or even the Lego games with the boys. I don’t know if it will have staying power in my daily routine, especially since I’m going back to school and time will be more limited. For now, I like the feeling of experiencing the games for the first time again and remembering other games that send me on the hunt for them. If you’re not worried about the questionable legal ramifications, I highly recommend the run, jump, and chomp down memory lane.

Digital Playground, Uncategorized

Video Game Collecting Q&A and Tips!

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As many of you who regularly peruse our website are aware, I’m known for being a retro video game collector above all else. With that in mind, I wanted to write an article that not only answers questions that I get frequently when I have friends/family stop over and see the ol’ game room, but also gives you, the noob collector, a few tips on building a collection on the cheap.

I guess the most common question I get is ?How did you afford all this stuff??

This is a pretty easy one to answer. I’m not rich. I have bills just like everyone else, so I built a gaming budget that I strictly abide by. I’ve also learned that building a collection is costly if you buy games individually. Always hunt for lots. Craigslist is an invaluable tool for this. For the most part, it will always be the cheapest route to go. eBay is useful for when you can’t find that one game you want in a lot anywhere. Lots are the quickest way to build a collection and if it contains games that you don’t want, then eBay them and put that money back into your gaming budget.

What’s your favorite system?

I don’t even have to think about this one. Playstation 2. It has such an immense library of great games, and I’m always discovering ones that I had never heard of before. Also, the price point is perfect right now, more on that later’Here’s a quick list of hidden gems:

The Red Star, Darkwatch, Castle Shikigami 2, Samurai Western, Klonoa 2, Arcana Heart 2, Blood Will Tell, Snoopy vs the Red Baron (Yes, really.)

Which one [system] do you play the most?

Well this isn’t a static answer so if I had to answer this question today, it would be the Neo Geo X Gold. I was lucky enough to receive it as a Christmas gift from my sister a couple of years ago, and I use it pretty consistently. As with most Neo Geo products the price for it has jumped significantly and it’s currently twice as much as my sister paid for it. Which, ya know, fortunate for her (and me), but unfortunate for anyone who didn’t get one in time. I’ve been on a shoot ?em up kick lately and this system came with a few really great shoot ?em up titles.

How did you get so many games?

I partially covered this in my first answer, Craigslist lots, but there is a slightly more to it than that. Game collecting is kind of like playing the stock market, you buy low, always buy low. What this means is that you wait until a console is fading away into the twilight and then collect for it. Right now is the absolute perfect time to collect for the Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360 and PS3. Even Gamestop is trying to bomb out their preowned inventory for a song, and usually has buy 2 get 1 free sales on last gen’s games. The games are super low because everyone is focused on the Nintendo Switch/Xbox One/PS4. Shawn and I have a running joke that we are always one generation behind everyone else. Well, there’s a good reason for that, it’s cheaper to build up a collection when you are buying games that the average gamer doesn’t want anymore. At this point in time, I’ve started collecting for the Wii, as the prices for the games are at an all-time low.

What’s your favorite game?

Of all time? I’ll have to go with Zelda: A Link to the Past. Currently? As I mentioned before, I’ve been spending a lot of time playing shoot em’ ups on my Neo Geo lately. My favorite kind are of the bullet hell variety, and no one does this better than CAVE games out of Japan. There are two amazing games on the Xbox 360 that I’ve been playing called Akai Katana and Deathsmiles (This game was featured in one of my articles a few years ago), and as of right now, Deathsmiles is my favorite game.

What’s your rarest game?

I’ll say Shining Wisdom for the Sega Saturn. I don’t even have a Saturn anymore, more on that later, but I held onto this game. While it’s not insanely rare, it does command a steep price ($80-$100). I found it at a indy video game store and got a really good deal thanks to a lazy employee and complete lack of price tags on all of their games. Long story short, I paid $15 for it. Don’t be afraid to haggle at your local game store.

How do you have time to play all of these [games]?

I don’t! If you remember I wrote an article a few years ago about the first time I was asked this question and my reaction to it. I’ll save you the time of trying to find that article, I sold most of my collection except for the stuff that I played on a regular basis. Something that I regret to this day. These days, I realize that it’s impossible to play every game from beginning to end. Sometimes it’s all about the hunt. I’m at peace with that fact, and I’m enjoying collecting.

Okay so here are my collecting bullet points for all my noob collectors out there:

-Set a realistic budget. Rome wasn’t built in a week and neither is a great game collection.
-Try not to buy individual games. Look for lots on Craigslist and sell off any games that you don’t want from those lots in order to stretch your budget.
-Obviously sometimes you will be forced to buy a title individually. If that’s the case, check your local goodwill first. You’ll be shocked at what you will find there. It’s hit or miss, but when you get lucky there is nothing better than paying a few dollars for a rare game.
-Narrow your focus. If you try to collect for a handful of systems at once, it’ll get costly very quickly.
When you do choose the system(s) you want to collect for, make sure they’re ones that have just faded out of the spotlight (Wii, PS3, 360) are all prime targets right now.
-Don’t be afraid to haggle at the game store. There is nothing wrong with trying to get the right price for your budget. Trust me, at your indy game store, the prices are not set in stone and if you run into an owner who is unwilling to budge, then turn to Amazon. It hurts the owner a lot more to watch that sale walk out of their store. 9 out of 10 times they will budge on the price.
-Visit your local Gamestop when they are having a preowned sale, that’s when you are getting the best deal that you can get there. Do not make them your first, uh, stop when it comes to finding that title you’ve been hunting for.

As always, thanks for reading, and if you have any questions or thoughts for us, just comment below!

Digital Playground

Mobile Mining

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(Editor’s Note: I’m pretty sure we’ve done an article on Minecraft for mobile before. However, I’m sure that there have been many updates since that article. Also, it’s been a while since I’ve fed this particular addiction. What could go wrong?)

I loaded up Minecraft on the phone earlier today. I’ve been keeping an eye on the updates that have been happening in recent weeks. For a while there, it seemed like they were coming in rapid succession. It might have just been because they were working so hard to get all of the versions compatible.

Ever since (and maybe even before) Microsoft acquired (invested in?) Mojang, there has been a push to make Minecraft cross platform. They’ve already experimented with the idea. The boys and I played on a “cross platform” version of the game. They played on their Kindles and I played on my computer on the Windows 10 version. I put “cross platform” in quotes because Windows 10 is Microsoft’s attempt at merging their mobile and PC markets with the same operating system.

Now, however, I’ve heard that they’re talking about allowing players to play simultaneously on PC, Mobile, and XBox One. There were rumors that Playstation would be included, but those have been tempered. Because Microsoft owns XBox and Sony is a direct competitor. I still hold out hope that Minecraft can be the game that overcomes the console wars and gives us our first truly cross console game.

Imagine all the Steves…living life in peace.

One of the roadblocks to bringing the three other platforms together was that some platforms didn’t allow for infinite worlds. Another was that the non PC versions were often several update cycles behind. As I mentioned earlier, they seemed to be working hard to remedy both situations through an intense series of updates earlier in the year. From what I was able to see on the mobile version, at least, they were successful.

The Good

The best thing that I can say about the mobile version is that it is much closer to Minecraft that I recognize. The last time I played it, there was much missing from the game. It didn’t impact playability, necessarily, but it did obviously limit the options in the game. The first improvement I noticed was the opening menu. It is much more user friendly. Also, infinite worlds!

That might not seem like a huge improvement. Even the old worlds are huge. However, there were a few times, mostly during multiplayer games with the boys, that we mined up to the edge of the world. It takes you out of the fantasy a bit when it happens. Plus, one of our borders was on the ocean, which is doubly annoying because there could have been a water temple down there! Alas, that’s not something that we have to worry about anymore.

This must be from an earlier edition before they added the ability to choose infinite worlds, but it’s there trust me. Or don’t. See if I care.

The other great thing about the game that I noticed was that opening your inventory automatically shows you the items that you can craft based on the items that you’ve collected. Then, you can just click on that item and it will automatically add the items for the recipe. Again, it is a small improvement, and some more traditional players might not even consider it an improvement, but I love it. The first thing I do on the PC version is I download an addon that does something similar to this. It just saves the time of not having to alt+tab to a browser and look up recipes.

There are other cool things. Addons, as you can see in the screenshot above, have been added. The nether is more than just a new dimension. The last time I played, the nether was there, but the only mobs were Zombie Pigmen, so it wasn’t very interesting to explore. Now, everything is there. Ghasts, Blazes, those little hopping things, firebats, fortresses! It’s going to be a ton of fun playing this game.

The Bad

The only bad thing that I could find about the game is that the controls are still super awkward. I don’t have a bluetooth controller for my phone, so I have to use the touch controls. While they lend themselves to an easier crafting experience, the mining and moving leaves much to be desired. I can’t cont the number of times that I’ve accidentally started combat with a farm animal instead of cutting down a tree or mined the wrong block because of the controls. It’s a minor annoyance, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say that it at times made me not want to play the game until I’m able to get a controller.

The Ugly

I know that the game is known for and defined by it’s blocky graphics. And, I’m usually a sucker for old school games with terrible graphics. But, the graphics in this game are really awful, even by the campy standards that should allow for bad graphics. I mean, honestly. The basis of the gameplay is simple. The graphics are terrible. Why is this game so popular?

Seriously, Grandpa. What am I doing with my life? What madness is Minecraft?

I know that I mentioned earlier that having the nether in the game was a good thing. That’s true in the context of making the games compatible for cross platform play. However, having lost many a game and too much inventory to even count when I made a misstep and fell off of a cliff into a pool of lava that I twitched a little bit when I set up the nether portal and took the trip into that burning hellscape, even though it was on creative and there was no chance of me dying.

The Verdict

I said earlier that I might not play again until I am able to get some kind of controller for the phone. I might even have to get a tablet for the bigger screen. I doubt that I’ll ever go through with it. First, that requires spending money, something that I’ve only done on beer and comics the last 3 months. Second, having played the game again, I realize just how much I enjoy the game.

I can and often do already play the game on the computer. There’s no reason to abandon that for a game with inferior controls. Of course, in less than a month, I will be back at work and not in front of a computer most of the day. Well, I might be in front of a computer most of the day, but my employers would frown upon me playing Minecraft instead of illuminating people on the wonders of math and physics. If I could port my PC worlds to the phone…

I agree, Batman. It’s just crazy enough that it might work.