Tag Archives: DOOM

Digital Playground

2023 Mobile Game Preview

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Introduction

2022 ended with a bit of a whimper around here. Other priorities caused me to evaluate the page and I came the closest I ever have to shutting it all down. In the grand scheme of things, definitely not the worst thing to happen to me last year, but this page represents almost a decade of my growth as a person and a gamer. Even if I only use it as that personal record, it’s worth the effort to keep alive. So, let’s get 2023 started with our 2023 Mobile Game Preview.

While I spend most of my time playing games on my phone, I don’t often play new games. I stick to the same rotation of about half a dozen games. Occasionally, I go back to an older game to see updates. Once in a while, I try a new game and enjoy it. Both happened recently. I picked up Magic the Gathering Puzzle Quest. I also got big into Marvel SNAP. With all of that being said, I make a resolution to branch out more into mobile gaming this year.

2023 Mobile Game Preview: The Old Rotation

As long as they keep releasing expansions, I continue to play and complete quests in MtG:A and Hearthstone. The same looks to be true for Marvel SNAP. SimCity Buildit provides a low key break from the stress of those two games. I invested way too much into Candy Crush Saga to quit anytime soon. MTG: PQ became a log in once to get the daily gift and I think it might reach that status again very soon. The game play is just far too frustrating at times to make it as enjoyable as the other match three games that I played. Fallout Shelter will be put back onto the virtual shelves now that the holiday season is over.

Older Games That Might Break Into the Rotation

Bored and reminded of their existence on Google Play, I downloaded Teamfight Tactics and Dota Underlords. I played both on the computer back when I owned a computer capable of running them. Yes, sad. My phone is now more powerful than any computer in the house. Nevertheless, once I have time to play and strategize in them, one or both can easily fit into my daily gaming routine. One day when frustrated by Hearthstone, I played the other Riot game, Legends of Runeterra. I enjoyed the game play and don’t remember why I stopped.

New Games I Might Play

Note: I searched several times and read a couple of articles before finally realizing the correct search term I needed to find new releases for this year. I used that list and limited information to put together the lists for the games I might play and the ones I will definitely play.

Mighty Doom

I told the story more than once that as a teenager, I often joked about every piece of electronics, “Can you play DOOM on this?” As I get older, that joke becomes true about more and more things. The latest I saw was a Lego block running a modded Raspberry Pi. Crazy. So, if and when this releases, I might try it for old time’s sake.

I never enjoyed the RPGs in the Mortal Kombat series. A friend played the Sub Zero Mythologies game and recommended it. I tried the game and found it limited. Also, I played the mobile version of the actual fighting game. While fun, it quickly grew stale. So, I might try this one, but I don’t expect much from it.

Always a sucker for old school D&D RPGs, I considered putting this one on the definitely list. After all, I played some Pools of Radiance a few years ago to get that fix. The only thing keeping it from that list is that I never liked Forgotten Realms all that much. I played Dragonlance and, after that, Dark Sun.

I always wanted to play Warhammer or Hordes. I collected miniatures, bought novels, subscribed to their now defunct magazine, and even purchased the games on Steam. I never played any of it. Now that it’s coming to phones, maybe I will finally give myself a chance to play.

New Games I Will Definitely Play

I started playing the Grand Theft Auto series with GTA III. I stopped playing regularly with GTA: SA. I reached the peak of my enjoyment with GTA: VC. I played some of IV and bought V but never played it. Give me the opportunity to relive the “glory days” of jumping the canal on my motorcycle and stealing some kid’s bike any day.

I thought this was a release of the original Final Fantasy VII game. Behind VI (III) in America, VII is my second favorite game in the series. Granted, it is also the last one I ever played on a regular basis. The original game already exists on mobile. This one is a compilation of spin offs. So, maybe swap this one with Baldur’s Gate.

I wish I had more self respect when it involved Warcraft games. All they do lately is take a popular formula, reduce it to its core elements, slap on the Warcraft/Hearthstone aesthetic and call it a day. And, every single time, I fall for it. This will be no different.

The Verdict

Looking over the list I found, I came away underwhelmed by the offerings this year. I came into this 2023 Mobile Game Preview article excited for the possibilities. I left with a list of retread has beens and what seems like a bunch of never will bes. I know as the year goes, I will find more and more games to try and enjoy, but for now it looks like the same old games. Also, I found this article while searching and I liked many more games on that list, so be on the lookout for them on the page this year.

Snap *censored* Pop Culture

High Score episode 6

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Introduction

We have arrived at High Score episode 6. The last episode of the first season. I say first season because I remain hopeful that there will at least be a second season. More on the episode later, of course, but let’s talk about why there should be at least one more season for a bit. Naturally, the first reason is because the show was very good. Honestly, do you need another reason? Fine, way to make me do my job.

Except this isn’t my job. It’s my hobby. And I might not even be all that good at it.

Aside from the fact that the series was entertaining and I’d like to continue to be entertained by nostalgia, they stopped with the advent of the 3D era. The last game they talk about is DOOM. That game came out when I was in high school. I’m not going to go into how long ago that was, but I often talk about being an old man gamer, so you can do the math. No mention of the N64 or Sony vs. Microsoft. Granted, that wasn’t as exciting as Nintendo vs. Sega, but it bears mentioning at the least.

Heck, they only gave passing mention to some of the greatest games of the era and missed the boat on others, like Metroid. Maybe there will be a special episode or season 3? That’s probably asking too much.

Into…the 3rd dimension! (On Game Boy?)

We start our journey on the Game Boy. Yes, that Game Boy. The very same one that you remember (or probably don’t unless you are old like me) from your childhood. The green and black monochrome dot matrix screen. 8 bit graphics and midi sound effects. Also, like I mentioned in a previous article about episode 3, it had one of the best Final Fantasy games in the series.

Speaking of Tetris, this was actually my introduction to the game.

Well, this company was attempting to show that you could do 3D graphics on current technology. I’m not sure why they chose the Game Boy. Hey, I was watching while working out. So, some of the details are missing. The point is that they got a working demo on the Game Boy.

They so impressed Nintendo with their work that they offered them a job to bring a similar experience to the SNES. I may be missing critical information. However, the overarching theme is there. Argonaut begat Game Boy 3D which begat the SNES and Pilotwings. In turn, Pilotwings begat Wolfenstein that begat…

Can you play DOOM on this thing?

The majority of the episode revolved around DOOM. I even got a bit of a nerdgasm when they revealed that they talked to the man, John Romero, for pretty much the whole segment. You young nerds might not know. But, for us oldbies, John Romero is a legend.

Some of y’all have grown up with consistent broadband internet on which to embarrass your friends and enemies. Not so for us. We had to “dial in” on a “phone line” and were excited when the speed increased almost two fold from 33.6k to 56k. None of us knew what those numbers meant, but we knew that 56 > 33.6.

And, we liked it! Yep, really leaning into that old man demo with a relevant cultural image here.

Aside from ushering in the age of online gaming, DOOM and id Software helped to popularize other trends like shareware. They gave you part of hte game for free, got you hooked, and then made you pay for the rest. No, they’re really not doing much for the old video games as a proxy for drugs narrative.

But, on a more positive note, they did open the code of the game. I know I’ve talked about this before. But, if you’ve ever played DOOM or its various clones or even World of Warcraft, you know that the games can be modded. (Can’t forget about my favorite recent moddable game, Minecraft.) Having that sort of control over a game gives it infinite replay value.

Heck, entire new games have been developed as mods to existing games.

The Verdict (High Score episode 6 is an awesome conclusion to the season)

Yes, you can tell from that subtitle that I’m tipping my hand yet again. I want another season of this show. I mean, who wouldn’t? Other than episode two, which was a bit slow (and I now understand that might have been a by design), the show was solid from beginning to end. Sure, High Score episode 6 ended it with DOOM, which is right in my wheelhouse. Nevertheless, if you are an oldbie nerd like me, you will enjoy this series. If you haven’t already.

Digital Playground

All I want for Christmas

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(Editor’s Note: The Noob of All Trades goes back to the future of two years ago to finally maybe join the present of video games.)

Regular visitors to the page (shout out to the both of you!) know that Chris and I are traditionalists–grumpy old men–when it comes to games, especially video games. We have Magic as our go to table top game, but we have branched out to others like Herclix and Dicemasters. Rarely do we ever branch out into new video game territory. Hell, neither of us even owns a PS4, XBox One or Wii U and those are soon to be last gen.

It’s not that I think new video games are bad. I will be the first to admit that I don’t understand the appeal of all of the Call of Duty games. Most new games, however, impress me with their graphics and story. I guess that I just haven’t been impressed enough to spend the money on one of the systems. If you know anything about building drama, you know that this is the point where I write, “Until now…”

Then again, games are tough to enjoy when you spend most of your time waiting for the respawn timer to expire.
Then again, games are tough to enjoy when you spend most of your time waiting for the respawn timer to expire.

Until now, none of the next generation systems from the last couple ofyears have not dropped in price to the point that i’m a comfortable paying yet, but I am considering a purchase of two of them if Santa doesn’t bring them. Which two? You may be asking. If so, thanks for asking and let me explain.

The first one should be obvious if you’ve followed my articles over the past few weeks. Actually, both of them should be obvious, but one is maybe slightly more obvious, so I will start there. I grew up with video games. We owned an Atari 2600 and even a 7800. I played (and beat) the game considered by some to be the worst of all time, E.T. I received Jungle Hunt as a gift after receiving 14 stitches in my head. I can still play Pitfall to a stand still in the timed mode.

Doesn't look so bad does it? Certainly not deserving of its reputation as a barren Hellscape of a game. There are plenty of games I'd put below E.T. Call of Duty among them.
Doesn’t look so bad does it? Certainly not deserving of its reputation as a barren Hellscape of a game. There are plenty of games I’d put below E.T. Call of Duty among them.

Our parents bought us an NES one year for Christmas. Upon playing Mario for the first time, I immediately switched allegiance from Atari to Nintendo. I had a brief fling with Sega during the Genesis days and overpaid for a Playstation, but Nintendo remains my favorite system and game maker. Even now, during a time when other gamers flock away from the “casual” nature of Wiimotes and Amibos, I remain firmly in the corner of Big N.

Two games, especially finally have me excited about the prospects of owning a Wii U. The first is Super Mario Maker. I know nothing about this game, but the name alone makes my heart flutter. When I mentioned it to him, he seemed less than enthusiastic about it. I started to wonder if maybe my own enthusiasm might be misplaced. Nintendo is capable of making bad games, after all. However,Liam has since filled me in on some of the details and I’m even more jazzed about the game.

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Nintendo can make bad games. After all, remember this turd? Yeah, me neither.

He said to me the other day, “I thought you could just make levels, Dad. But, now I realize that you can share them with people, too. That’s really cool.” See, I was under the impression from the beginning that was the appeal of the game. I’m glad that I was not wrong. I’d have been very disappointed otherwise. I mean, how many times have you played a Mario game and thought, This level would be so much cooler if they did this. If you anything like me, you’ve lost count. I can’t wait to unleash those ideas on unsuspecting gamers.

The other game for Wii U–the one that pushed me over the edge–is Smash Bros. I played the first one many years ago. I’m a fan of fighting games and a fighting game with all of the Nintendo characters sounded great. Unlike MK and SF, games that both have a robust one player mode, Smash Bros is a fighting game for people with friends. Now that Liam and Aiden are both old enough and taking an interest in games, I want to try Smash Bros as intended. Other games interest me, too, but those are the two games that make me most want Santa to bring a Wii U.

Come on, Fat Man! Don't let us down!
Come on, Fat Man! Don’t let us down!

My second system of choice on the list is also obvious, though maybe less so. I went with Microsoft during the 360/PS3 generation mainly for the Kinect that now lies buried in my big box of dead electronics. I thought about continuing with the XBox One because I figured that both machines were the same and I wanted to stay consistent. That attitude persisted until recently.

I mentioned to Kevin (he of Episode 2 infamy) that I wanted one of the systems and that I was leaning in the direction of XBox One. He stated flatly that the PS4 is better. I trust his advice and now I’m definitely going to get a PS4 at some point when I have the spare cash. I don’t have to explain two of the reasons for my interest, as I went into it in an early article.

i will write, briefly, on another game that recently got my attention again. I loaded up DOOM on my Steam account the other day. I’ve been thinking of doing some playthrough videos of the game to show secrets. While playing, it triggered in my brain that a new one is in development for the PS4 and XBox One. It is also coming out on PC, but I need another reason to convince my skeptical wife that I must ahve another video game machine. None of it, of course, will change her mind, but a new DOOM game has left no doubt that I’m soon going to own a PS4. Maybe I’ll buy myself one for my birthday next month.

Posted this to the Instagram account with the caption, "Still one of the best feelings in gaming." I hope that your character gets that same grin in the new game.
Posted this to the Instagram account with the caption, “Still one of the best feelings in gaming.” I hope that your character gets that same grin in the new game.