Tag Archives: Thankful for Gaming 2024

Thank You Atari

Introduction

As mentioned previously, Frightober died on the vine this year due to unforeseen circumstances. But, we promise to come back bigger and better next year. We also pledge to make Thankful for Gaming bigger than ever this year. I started with comics earlier this weekend. Now, today, I kick off the thankful with Thank you Atari.

Those who spend any time here know that both Chris and I are old men gamers. Me slightly older than him. As a result, I grew up with both the Atari 2600 and 7800 in the house. Whenever I get a new computer, the first thing I do is download the Stella emulator to play those games. A couple of years ago, I bought one of the Retrokin Atari systems. Just this year, I bought one of the 7800+ systems from Atari.

Okay, But, Why?

Aside from the obvious nostalgia and memories that the games bring back, they’re genuinely just fun games. When I first got the Retrokin to work, I spent a good half hour playing Frostbite until I achieved a score of almost 200,000. I then went on to time out in PItfall (something first accomplished while sleeping over my grandmother’s apartment when younger) and beating Superman, a game that I barely played when younger.

Sure, the graphics are terrible and the game play is repetitive. But, that’s why I love these games. You can have your speed runs. I want a good old fashioned high score battle any time. No pause button. Only one button and a joystick. So tests the mettle of a man. Okay, sorry, I got a bit carried away there. But, those are the reasons that I like the games. It takes away all the pomp and circumstance and gives you games stripped down to the simplest terms.

Doesn’t It Get Boring?

Well, sure, of course it does. But, you can say the same about modern games. How many times can you mine for diamonds or beat the other team in Madden by 75 before you walk away from those games? At least, in my case, I have these games to fall back on when the modern game becomes too much to bear.

Additionally, I don’t want to speak out of turn, but how many other systems will have a thriving homebrew community 40 years later? Command such respect that the company updates the software and recreates the hardware for a third generation? Granted, gaming changed and many developers release their own emulators to preserve older games. But, that takes the power out of the hands of the hobby programmers some. Plus, they continually attack those hobbyists and try to enforce decades old copyrights. How much longer until the emulation industry dies altogether?

Thank You Atari

Fun and engaging games that are almost half a century old. Homebrew games by the dozens. New releases even this year by some of the best and brightest programmers from back in the hey day. What more do you need to convince yourself that the answer to “Have You Played Atari Today?” is a resounding yes each and every day?

Marvel SNAP November 2024: War of the Nine Realms

Introduction

Frightober fell apart this year. After a promising start, things blew up due to several unforeseen circumstances. As a result, I also needed to rework the Noob’s Book Club schedule once again. I went an entire month without updating. Sorry. I will explain more with the episode coming this weekend. In spite of all that, I remain committed to getting back on track this month, starting with Marvel SNAP November 2024.

While not a first for me, I never even loaded the game last month. So, coming back might be a bit of a learning experience. Then again, this is Marvel SNAP we’re talking about. As long as you still play cards on a battlefield of three locations, I’ll figure it out. Ugh, that sounded bitter. Sorry.

New Locations

I like Valhalla. Anything that gives me a chance to abuse On Reveal cards sounds fun. Time to dust off the old Odin deck and see what shakes out. Yggdrasil just buffs power at another location. I mean, it might be fun with the one that decreases power by one each turn. But, that’s just the math geek in me laughing at all this action for ultimately nothing. Otherwise, I don’t see a huge advantage from the location.

New Characters

King Eitri

Image 1 of 6

Activate: Draw a card that didn’t start in your deck.

Fenris Wolf is the ultimate troll card, especially for someone like me who always seems to end up on the short end of the stick against disco or destro decks. Bringing back someone’s Infinaut sounds like a blast. Sutur goes right in my Skaar deck, but I don’t know which card I’d swap it in for. Eitri and Gorr are just decent cards by themselves. I think the two that I’ll have the most fun with, though are Malekith and Frigga. Especially Frigga. That recursion ability makes me unreasonably happy. Combine it with a double or triple effect and it gives you an embarrassment of riches.

The Verdict

While Marvel SNAP November 2024 offers neither compelling characters nor earth shattering card effects, I still want to come back to the game this month. So, I’ll make an effort to find the fun in the season. I don’t see anything for December yet, so I don’t know if will continue, but at least it’s a start.

Images SNAPped from here.