My daughter the game reviewer.
I have a strange habit with video game collecting. Some people collect Atari 2600, or NES, Genesis, whatever system you can think of they collect for it. I don't waste my time with that shit because for a console system I only buy what I plan on playing. I DO however kind of collect those stupid plug and play games. You know the kind. You just shove some batteries in it, hook it to the TV and you're good to go. Now there are some damned good ones out there like ANY of the Sega Genesis based ones, Mortal Kombat, the Namco ones, and of course the venerable Atari Flashback 2. Which it's debatable as to whether or not that is actually a plug and play system since it's literally a reproduction Atari 2600 sans the cartridge slot (which, anyone with some skill with the soldering iron can put one on).
I recently got what you see to the left. Visually ... that's just wrong. But aside from that, NONE of the games on it are any good. But I think that of most of the plug and play games like this. The graphics are halfway decent, but that's about where it ends.
Every time I get one of these, my daughter wants to play it. She's 9, and I've deliberately started her off on a good regiment of Sega Genesis games and old arcade games, along with some select Xbox 360 games that are acceptable for her age. She wanted to play Mortal Kombat however, and that's where I drew the line. Instead I just popped in the Sega Genesis version and didn't bother to put in the blood code. But that's neither here nor there. Now ... she absolutely loves the Spider-Man movies, so when she saw this she automatically wanted to play it. Which is fine by me, hell, this thing was made with kids her age in mind.
She did what I typically do with these, started running through the different little games it has on it. After about 10 minutes of fighting with these "games" (well, okay, to it's defense there is a little first person dungeon crawler style game on it that I think is halfway decent) I hear her call from the other room. Here is how the conversation went :
Angela : "Daddy!"
Me : "Yeah baby?"
Angela : "This Spider-Man game sucks."
Me : "I tried to warn ya!"
Angela : "Can I play the Xbox?"
Me : "Sure thing baby-girl!"
So yeah, she's already started reviewing these shit games like her daddy. I couldn't be more proud. Now all she has to do is turn 26 so she will actually be allowed to listen to my podcast.
Ju-on : The Grudge - Haunted House Simulator game review
This game has a lot of potential, and it's based off of one of the few good recent horror movie franchises I've seen lately.
I won't lie to you, I'm a big fan of the Ju-on : The Grudge films, I've seen them all (and if you think it's limited to the 3 American films, you're sorely mistaken. And I’m enough of a fan to admit the American versions of the The Grudge 2 and 3 were terrible) and this game does manage to keep the feeling of suspense those movies put forth thanks to the help of Takashi Shimizu who was the creative consultant. And it's bargain price at $29.99 doesn't hurt it either and would make a great Halloween purchase.
Podcast Review - RetrofoceGo!
The reason I'm writing this because out of all the podcasts I listen to, this is by far my favorite. I didn't even get an iPod until fairly recently, like, under 6 months. I got a 30GB 5th generation iPod. When I downloaded iTunes, I'd HEARD of podcasts, but I didn't really know what they were. I downloaded a few and listened to them, then I started searching for ones about subjects that I cared about, hoping to find something. And I came across RetroforceGo! one night, and have actually gone through and listened to almost every single back episode because, with the exception of one, I love all the content.
Hosted by the constantly upbeat and positive Chad Concelmo, the quiet, monotone SHMUP master Topher Cantler, the beautiful and outspoken Colette Bennett who, unfotunately, has to play all those god awful horrible WiiWare games ... Anthony Birch who in the early days of the podcast had this awesome rant he did about whatever was pissing him off that week. Now he does a gamer dictionary for the show, which I don't think is anywhere near as good. Although it is still pretty funny to hear what people manage to come up with. Dyson, who is the overall host of the show most of the time. And finally a fan of the show who sent the hosts gifts just out of being a fan has become a regular on the show ... who is quite possibly one of t few people I wouldn't challenge to a match in any fighting game. They've had a few guest people on such as the British foulmouth Jim Sterling, who ... personally is my favorite. He manages to keep that thin line of being extremely foul mouthed (almost as bad as me) and is still able to word things very well, which is important for a writer and podcaster.
Hardware review - The Retro Duo Twin Video Game System v2.0
I originally wrote this on Amazon after I ordered it (and I use it all lthe time by the way hehe). I've changed it a bit for here considering I've gotten extra stuff for it, but ... yeah.
I ordered this mostly to save space and the lifespan of my NES systems. It came in pretty attractive and functional packaging, it was pretty cool flip up the cardboard cover and see everything.