Book Review: The History of Pokémon Games

Pokémon is one of the biggest entertainment franchises of all time, and video games have always been at the heart of the series. From the nine generations (so far) of mainline RPGs to popular spin-offs such as Pokémon Go, Pokémon Snap, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon, and digital editions of the Pokémon Trading Card Game, Pikachu and his pals have delighted millions of gamers for almost thirty years.

This book offers an extensive guide to every title ever released in the franchise, from the original Red and Blue games that first made Pokémon a worldwide phenomenon to the latest outings for aspiring Pokémon trainers. And not just the main entries; this guide also covers rare and obscure titles, from Japan-only arcade machines to PC tie-ins that were only available with a certain brand of chicken nuggets.

Book Review: Play Nice

For video game fans, the name Blizzard Entertainment was once synonymous with perfection. The renowned company behind classics like Diablo and World of Warcraft was known to celebrate the joy of gaming over all else. What was once two UCLA students' simple mission — to make games they wanted to play — launched an empire with thousands of employees, millions of fans, and billions of dollars.

But when Blizzard cancelled a buzzy project in 2013, it gave Bobby Kotick, the infamous CEO of corporate parent Activision, the excuse he needed to start cracking down on Blizzard's proud autonomy. Activision began invading Blizzard from the inside. Glitchy products, PR disasters, mass layoffs, and a staggering lawsuit marred the company's reputation and led to its ultimate reckoning.

Book Review: The Most Relaxing Video Games

Video games are so much more than just full throttle blasts of gunfights, violence and white-knuckle competition. They can also be beautiful, cosy and even emotionally uplifting journeys too. The ideal escapism after a day you’d sooner forget or the perfect sedative following a particularly stress-filled afternoon.

The Most Relaxing Video Games will walk you through a selection of gaming experiences sure to help you unwind. From the familiar warmth of sitting down with a good classic board game (51 of them to be exact) through to the solving of hundreds of puzzles on a mysterious island using nothing but lines, there’s a world of delightfully comforting video games just waiting to sooth your gaming soul.

Book Review: The Con50le

The Con50le is a comprehensive yet conversational account of 50 years of home video gaming history, leaving no rarely sighted system unturned and providing a chronological account of the evolution of the biggest entertainment medium in the world.

From the earliest consoles of the 1970s to the cutting-edge machines of the here and now, a line is drawn from one man’s eureka moment to the multi-billion-dollar global industry of today. All the well-known names and massive-selling consoles are here: the Nintendo Entertainment System, the SEGA Mega Drive, the Atari 2600, the Xbox 360, the PlayStation 2.

Book Review: The History of the Adventure Video Game

Adventure video games have provided players with epic and hilarious storytelling for over fifty years. What started from the humble beginnings of text adventures led to a blast of point-and-click and graphic adventure games throughout the ‘80s and ‘90s. Trailblazers like Roberta and Ken Williams, Ron Gilbert, Tim Schaffer and Dave Grossman brought timeless characters, stories and puzzles to life, lighting the imaginations and wracking the brains of gamers around the world.

This book showcases the companies, games and creators that have made the adventure video game one of the most passionately-adored genres in the medium. In these pages you’ll find histories on influential companies such as Sierra On-Line, LucasArts and Telltale Games, as well as some of the most revered games in the genre. With a bright future emerging as veterans and newcomers forge ahead with new ideas and visual flourishes for adventure games, there’s never been a better time to become acquainted (or reacquainted!) with a colourful and exciting part of gaming history.

Book Review: Creating Q*bert and Other Classic Video Arcade Games

Creating Q*bert and Other Classic Video Arcade Games takes you inside the video arcade game industry during the pivotal decades of the 1980s and 1990s. Warren Davis, the creator of the groundbreaking Q*bert, worked as a member of the creative teams who developed some of the most popular video games of all time, including Joust 2, Mortal Kombat, NBA Jam, and Revolution X.

In a witty and entertaining narrative, Davis shares insightful stories that offer a behind-the-scenes look at what it was like to work as a designer and programmer at the most influential and dominant video arcade game manufacturers of the era, including Gottlieb, Williams/Bally/Midway, and Premiere.

Book Review: A Selective History of 'Bad' Video Games

Did you grow up playing video games when you had to wait online to get them? Do you remember the bad, weird, or otherwise underrated video games of your youth? Did you like a few of them more than your friends did? A Selective History of ‘Bad’ Video Games will walk you down memory lane and perform unholy excavations of games you remember, games you’ve forgotten, and games you never knew you wanted to read about during your lunch break. From a seemingly nude Atari 2600 karate referee to a basketball star doing martial arts to a tiger that speaks broken English and walks through walls, the book will try to uncover what the developers were thinking — and occasionally succeed.

Star Wars and Me

A long time ago in a galaxy far far away...

It was the summer of 1977 and I was twelve years old living in a small town in western New York. On that fateful day, the much younger next door neighbor kid Teddy came up to the group of us who were hanging out playing and excitedly said, "I just saw the coolest movie! There were space ships, and robots, and this guy got his arm sliced off by a laser sword!"

Elder Scrolls Online: My First Impressions

I had the opportunity to participate in a beta test weekend (Feb. 7th through 10th) as part of the stress testing for the upcoming Elder Scrolls Online MMO RPG (massively, multi-player online role-playing game). This posting will give you all an overview plus my first impressions of the game.

Skyrim (or "Where Did the Hours Go?")

Confession: I am very much into Bethesda Games’ The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim video game.

Okay, that’s not really such a shocking statement. Anyone who has played this video game, where you are dropped into a fantasy realm and play a character of your own creation (from their race to their looks to how you decide to build up their many skills and choice of combat techniques), will likely say the same thing to you.

I am, however, very late to the party.

Buckner & Garcia - Pac-Man Fever (30th anniversary)

March of 2012 marks the 30th anniversary of the release of Jerry Buckner and Gary Garcia's novelty album Pac-Man Fever. The duo scored with a Top-10 hit with the title song in January of 1982 and followed it up a few months later with a ten song album paying tribute to video games that were lighting up the arcades at the time.

For my review of this album, please click here.

Buckner & Garcia - Pac-Man Fever

In the early 80’s, the musical duo of Jerry Buckner and Gary Garcia started out with a novelty Christmas song about the NFL. But their biggest claim to fame came in 1982 with Pac-Man Fever, the song and album that celebrated the biggest arcade video games at the time. The album was certified Gold and sold over 900,000 copies by the end of that year.

Now, it is no secret that I am a huge geek. And back in early 1982 when I was halfway through my junior year of high school, I was a very much the same way. I often spent my weekend nights down at the Central Avenue arcade, feeding allowance money into the token machine so I could get the right tender to play all of my favorite games. My best friend John and I would spend the entire evening there among the neon glows, blips and bleeps, and then cap things off with some pizza and Pepsi at the snack place next door.

Of course, when Pac-Man Fever hit the record stores that March, I immediately snapped that album up on vinyl. I was in game-geek heaven! Was this record considered cool? Only among us nerds. Was it groundbreaking music? Not so much but it was well composed and performed. Was it fun? I certainly thought so. And did I listen to it a ton? You better believe it!

I Found My Calling...

With today being Christmas, my wife and I got our 13 year old son (our only child) the one thing he wanted for Christmas - Rock Band 2 for the XBox 360. Now, I've mentioned in the past how we all enjoy Guitar Hero games, so this seemed like a natural next step. It combines great rock music (past and present) with an interactive video game and it comes with a couple instruments (a guitar and drums).

So, what's my calling?

I'm the singer of our house band - Da Rockrrrzzz! (my son named the band)

Yup, finally knowing the lyrics to "Hungry Like the Wolf" and "Eye of the Tiger" can pay off. I can rock those tunes like a master.

Good thing too since I can drum worth a darn. I'm okay on the hand-eye coordination needed for guitar and the main drums, but my foot-eye coordination sucks big time and that kick drum note kills me every time! This why my wife couldn't teach me to drive a standard.

So, we'll be doing a lot of rocking out over the holidays - until I go back to work on the 1st of the year.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a "are you ready to rock?". :)

We Wii Fit!

Last month, my wife decided that we should get for her birthday the Wii Fit board and game. Though it was her present, we all are getting benefit out of it.

For those unfamiliar with this, basically this is a wireless exercise board that interacts with the Wii video game system. The board is able to take a person's weight as well as use shifts in footing and balance to play a variety of games and such. What kind of games? Balance games like slalom skiing, tight-rope walking, soccer ball heading and more. It allows a person to do a variety of yoga poses to help tighten muscles and increase flexibility. It also has aerobic activities like hula hooping, running in place, step aerobics, rhythm boxing (using the Wii numchuck) and more. There are also strength building exercises too. It is pretty amazing the variety that it has.

It also allows you to set goals for weight loss every two weeks or month. It keeps the data daily so you can track your progress. It keeps track of your activity and even allows you to add outside activity (I do that when I go walking some nights or when I work out at the YMCA on the weekends). And when it takes your weight, it also calculates your BMI (based on your height entered). It is really an amazing piece of equipment/software.

The best part, for me and our son, is that you really don't realize you are getting a good amount of exercise while you "play" some of the games. It is fun and it makes getting fit a joy, not a pain like it can be.

Downsides? Well, the board does tend to guilt you when you don't weigh in every day. Heck, my wife and son missed almost a week of weighing in and it kept asking me if I had seen them! LOL. It also keeps wanting to give you health tips (you don't have to listen to them). Still, as I said, it is fun for the whole family - and family that fits together gets, well, fit together. ;)

A Hero In The Hand

For Father's Day, my son got me the Marvel Trading Card Game for my Nintendo DS. I tried it out briefly then but put it aside when I started my marathon of Potter reading over the rest of the summer. We'll, I've finally gotten back to playing this video game - and man is it a challenge!

The game is an electronic version of Upper Deck's Vs (versus) collectible-card game. The cards, of course, feature the characters from the Marvel comic books (folks like the Fantastic Four, the Avengers, Spider-Man, the X-Men, etc.). Now, unlike games like Yu-Gi-Oh and Pokemon which I had seen the card games before playing the electronic versions, this one was brand new to me. And the game has some very complex mechanics that take a little while to master. The first few times playing in the storymode of this video game, I got my butt handed to me by the very capable AI opponent you face. The tutorial in the game was a little hard to follow, so I actually had to go back and read the book and then visit the CCG site that had a better tutorial to get a handle of how things are done.

Even after all that, it is still going slow. I lose at least as many times as I win (sometimes more). I still on the first arc of many arcs in the storymode. And I've barely begun to modify my starter deck by purchasing additional packs of cards with points won from the battles.

All in all, this is a good thing. That means I'll definitely get tons of playing hours from this game - making it well worth the money spent. There are also puzzle challenges (ones you have to win in a single hand) and some stand-alone battles that allow you to win new character avatars. There also is a mulitplayer mode and wireless mode, allowing you to challenge others who have the game too. That might be fun. The game does only limit you to having five decks made up (and you cannot give them unique names beyond 'deck 1', 'deck 2', etc.) but something tells me I won't be doing as much deck experimentation as I do in the Yu-Gi-Oh games.

This is a lot of fun - and a chance to explore this CCG without having to spend tons and tons of money on cards. I wouldn't mind the same company putting out the DC Comics based version of Vs (versus) in the DS format too - especially now that I'm learning the mechanics.

Failure to Celebrate

I overheard on the radio that yesterday, September 12th, was "National Video-Game Day" (I kid you not - there is a holiday for everything it seems). Honestly, I didn't have a spare moment last evening (between working late, a rushed dinner at the in-laws, then home to do a very little reading before bed) to even consider picking up a portable game system or powering up the PS2 or GameCube.

I better keep the doors locked and the shades down today. I worry that the Geek Patrol will show up and revoke my geek license. ;)

Word Play

I've been into doing crossword puzzles since I was about ten years old or so. I probably got introduced to the concept in elementary school - when teachers would give us puzzles to help us with things we were studying. As a kid, I probably made my own share of simple ones as well on loose-leaf paper.

I think I got into them though because my father often did them. I recall fondly him sitting down with the Sunday paper, the section folded over for easier use, and working with a pencil or sometimes a pen (shudder!) working the puzzle. He'd occasionally ask me for help with some of the clues - since current pop culture was not his strong suit. But, man, could he get those historical and science clues.

I'd often pick up puzzle books at the local newsstands (US News, Pete's) if there were no new comic books to buy. They were a great way to keep my mind sharp, especially during summer vacation when school was out.

Today, we have technology to give us a way to do puzzles. Many newspapers have online sites that include the crossword. But a week or so ago, I picked up something very cool for my Nintendo DS system: the New York Times Crosswords game.

What is so cool about this portable game is that it uses the DS' touchpad and stylus for working the puzzles. There is a box where you 'write' the letter in with the stylus - and the character recognition part of the program converts the letter drawn into the box as part of your answer. Very neat. It has problems gettng my 'N's but that is probably because I do those too fast.

Now, this is a puzzle game so it doesn't have all the flash and action of other video games. However, it has long term playability which is a big plus for me. It includes over 1000 puzzles that have appeared in the New York Times over the past few years. The puzzles are organized in a daily fashion, Monday through Sunday, and just like the real newspaper puzzles they get harder as the week progresses. That means even the most seasoned puzzle solver can be challenged by this game.

I definitely give this game high marks.

I Wanna Rock!

Last week, the latest release in a Playstation 2 game franchise that we enjoy in our household came out. Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80's is the third installment in the Guitar Hero line. It takes the same game engine from Guitar Hero II, alters some of the character designs and settings, and drops in a new soundtrack featuring all tunes from the 1980's.

My son and I got into this game last Fall. We had constantly been seeing folks playing the demo version at the local Best Buy, usually with a crowd of folks around them. The player uses an actual-size guitar shaped controller (with a strap to hang it properly over your shoulder) with five color coded buttons, a strum bar and a whammy bar. The concept is that you play the various notes (combos of buttons with a strum) as they cross the line on the scrolling fret bar. The game has various levels of play from easy (only three colors for notes that move rather slowly) to expert (all five colors for notes in various combos and a rather rapid scrolling pace). Hit the notes right, your score and crowd meter goes up. Miss notes and crowd gets upset. Miss too many and you're booed off the stage.

At first, I was hesitant about getting the game because it really requires two hand coordination to play. My son has a birth injury (brachial plexus) which included nerve damage in his right arm and hand. He's had corrective surgery over the years to help improve things some, but his usage of that hand is still limited. What amazes me is that he is actually better at this game than I am! I don't know how he does it, but he is able to play full songs on Hard while I'm lucky if I can get through 15% of the first song on the first difficulty tier on Hard. I actually think, in some way, that playing this type of game with such complex controls can actually be a kind of therapy for him. I am really thankful he excells at it. It is always encouraging for him to have something he can do better than someone with two good hands.

One of the coolest parts of the game is the rock n' roll soundtrack. The first game had cuts from Joan Jett, the Ramones, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Boston, Judas Priest, ZZ Top, Queen, David Bowie, and more. 30 classic tracks in all. Then there were another 17 songs you could unlock by some indie bands. The second game added in another 40 licensed tracks from Motley Crue, Cheap Trick, Spinal Tap, Kiss, Nirvana, the Police, Van Halen, Kansas, the Pretenders, the Rolling Stones, Guns N' Roses, Aerosmith, Heart, Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird" (the ultimate rock song!) and many more. And it also included another unlockable 26 independent tracks. The most recent release is a bit skimpy on tracks - only 30 licensed tracks and no bonus tunes. The classics include songs by Quiet Riot, the Go-Go's, A Flock of Seagulls, Skid Row, Scorpions, Asia, the Vapors, .38 Special, Scandal, Twisted Sister, Ratt, Oingo Boingo, Poison and more. I can tell you that my son has gotten a better appreciation for the "older" music from the game. He'll ask me to put tracks on his MP3 player for some of the songs. I guess I don't have to worry about him complaining about "old fogey music".

I can't begin to tell you how quickly the time flies when we're playing this. My son and I take turns doing a set of songs, or sometimes we'll play in cooperative mode or head-to-head. Even my wife has succumbed to the game's siren song and tried a few tracks on easy. It is a lot of fun, especially when you have a lot of people around. I actually stand when I play, totally getting into the moment and moving to the music.

I look forward to having a few months to master these tunes. Then, just when we're getting a little tired of it, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock is slated for an October 2007 release. Rock on!

Caught 'Em All

I'm a collector - books, comics, CDs, DVDs, trading cards. I always have been, for as far back as I remember. Perhaps it's the thrill of the 'hunt' or the feeling of satisfaction of having a complete set of something, all neat and everyone in their proper place.

After over 220 hours over the past three months, I can finally say I caught 'em all. What I am I talking about? Just the 490 different Pokemon in the most recent games in the Pokemon series - Diamond and Pearl. From Abomasnow to Zubat, my National Pokedex is complete.
My son and I have been active Pokemon fanatics since I first introduced him to the tv series in early 2000. This was before we had any games or before the phenomenom really hit full-tilt where we lived. At the start, it was just about this kid Ash who was travelling about, making friends, helping others and getting into battles with his funny little creatures. And the stories even had some moral lessons hidden into the mix so it wasn't so bad viewing. While my son connected to Ash, I really enjoyed the comic antics of the ever-present troublemakers - Jesse and James of Team Rocket.

It really didn't extend beyond the show until I gave my son my old Gameboy Color when I got a Gameboy Advance in the Fall of 2000. My son started us off with Pokemon Blue, the Americanized version of the popular Japanese game. We quickly found many of the elements from the cartoon show came directly from the game (big surprise - not; most of these cartoon shows these days are product tie-ins to other things). When a version called Pokemon Yellow came out, I decided to get that one for myself to play That introduced us to the first 150.

Every few years after that, new versions popped up for the game to expand the world. Pokemon versions Gold and Silver came next, adding another 100 to the mix. This worked out well: I got one version while my son got the other. And since you needed to cooperatively trade with others, it worked out well to have it all in one house hold. Next came versions Ruby and Sapphire. Again, more characters were introduced into the game and again the whole cooperative factor. Because these newer games only came for the Gameboy Advance, my son got to upgrade his system a bit. A few years back, they rereleased the original games with improved graphics and color for the Advance system in the forms of Leaf Green and Fire Red versions. Again, two way split. Tie-in games like Pokemon Collesseum and Pokemon XD for the Gamecube allowed by son to get his game fix in a more three-dimensional form, while the Pokebox software allowed for transferal of characters from the Gameboy games into the Gamecube games, and vice versa.

All of it came to a head this Spring. First came Diamond and Pearl for the Nintendo DS system. This most recent version took the same classic concepts but allowed for players to get all the monsters from all the games - all 490. First one had to complete the first 150 listed in the regional Pokedex, and then the list expanded out to all from all the various games together in the National Pokedex. The catch: you really needed the former games to get some of them. This required breeding of eggs, transferring from other games through the DS cartridge port, etc. It was a lot of work. Some of the hard to get ones required even using the Global Trading Station, a way in the game to use an Internet connection to trade with folks around the world. My son got one Pokemon from someone in Japan, then bred it to make an egg so I could have this hard to get one in my game too. I even did a trade on the GTS for one, with someone from Colorado.
And that's one thing I really liked about these games: the cooperative aspects. It wasn't just about beating down some monsters or leveling up or solving puzzles. It promoted teamwork. Being an only child, my son often looks to my wife and I to share some of his interests. This is one I could share with him readily; my wife's eyes glaze over every time he and I get so deep into discussions about Raichu, Feebas, Chimchar and the like (she says it's like we're speaking our own language at the time - when in some ways it is).

The other thing I liked is that when my son was first starting out it was a good way to encourage him to read more things. The game has text aspects to it - so you often have to pay attention to what the people you encounter are saying. It was a nice way to get him to do something he typically didn't like to do often. Also, through these games, my son realizes the importance of studying up and memorization. I can ask him what level a Krabby evolves into a Kingler or what fossil a Cranidos comes from, and he knows. I figure if he can memorize all this stuff, he shouldn't have any problems in school down the road.

So, having caught 'em all, I feel that little weight lifted off my shoulders. I can put this game aside for awhile, focus on other things, and still have that satisfied feeling of a job completed. Until the next game comes out, at least.