twiztor

like i said, not much of a PC gamer.

not much of a PC gamer, but Diablo II is either #1 or #2 for favorite game of all time. Legend of Zelda (the original) is its main competitor, and my preference changes daily. The first time i played on a LAN was a Warcraft 2 mega battle that we all felt was pretty damn epic. Wouldn't trade that for the world. Played a lot of Doom in jr. high/high school. honestly, outside of that, i've always been a console gamer. Definitely some good stuff here, although the vast majority i haven't played firsthand. wait, does Minesweeper/Solitaire count? because i've sunk countless hours into both of those. I'm kidding. Please don't lynch me, PC fans.....

about a month ago, i beat Donkey Kong Country for the first time. now, that game's not that difficult, but i didn't grow up with a SNES so never had long-term exposure with the game. I'd played it here and there at friends' or relatives' houses, but never was able to dedicate the time required to complete the game. So i plugged away at it, here and there, until i finished it. It was actually quite rewarding and brought a huge smile to my face. And the game is, of course, fantastic. Fast forward to late last week, i ordered Crash Bandicoot (the original, for the PlayStation). it arrived on Monday, and i popped that bad boy in and beat a few levels on the spot. I had never played the game before, outside of maybe 5 minutes with a friend or something. I am, for all intents and purposes, a Crash Virgin. But i gotta say that i am really enjoying this one. It has just enough challenge (or "Frustration Factor") to keep me entertained, but not so little to let me beat the game in one sitting. I'm currently 16/32 levels completed. My goal is to conquer it before the new Zelda game comes out, because i am well aware that my backlog goes out the window when that happens. So, now that you've heard my story, What Are You Playing?

it really depends on the magazine. if it's sought after and considered rare, they can go for decent bucks. if it's a faily common issue, despite being older, then the price isn't going to be that high. of course, there's also plain, stupid luck. sometimes prices will jump up out of nowhere for one sale, but be lower for the same item a week later.

if Nintendo made a phone, i'm sure someone would get upset that it wasn't the most powerful phone. they would post long paragraphs about how they could've used this other brand of chips that is more powerful and less expensive. How if they "really wanted to compete" they needed to upgrade everything and instead of catering to 'phone peasants' they need to adjust and instead market to the PC kings. just razzing. a Nintendo-brand phone i think would actually be a terrible idea. they've never dabbled in the phone market, they don't have a network, they don't have a userbase for this undertaking, i see it being a massive failure.

preordered mine via Amazon, but ended up cancelling the preorder due to lack of interest. I'll wait for a price drop and/or game bundle and/or better lineup of games. until then, Breath of the Wild will keep me occupied on the Wii-U.

wait. Donkey Kong Country is #2 on their list of most overrated games? wtf. all one needs do is look at our thread of best SNES games (https://community.retromags.com/topic/6660-top-10-super-nintendo-titles/#.WGyqYlMrKM8) and see that almost every single person lists DKC as a top 10 title. in a rare bit of continuity, i've been replaying it the last week or so. i haven't touched it in 10+ years, so i'm not so great at it, but i'm having a blast.

if i were going to rank all 8 movies (from worst to best), i would put them as follows: Ep 1- Phantom Menace Ep 2- Attack of the Clones Ep 7- Force Awakens Ep 3- Revenge of the Sith Ep 4- New Hope Rogue One Ep 5- Empire Strikes Back Ep 6- Return of the Jedi now, this order is DRASTICALLY different than it would have been a few years ago. When they released the 6 pack on Blu-Ray all together, i made myself a Star Wars weekend. Up until that point, Ep 1 was the worst, but Ep 6 was one that i never really cared for. Upon the rewatch, i found that i REALLY liked that one. i couldn't believe it, as i always had Empire as the top. Also, i want to point out that i really did like both Episodes 2 and 3, so Force Awakens falling in between them is not a knock on it. The only SW movie i legitimately have no love for is Phantom Menace. Well, and the Holiday Special, but for obvious reasons i'm not counting that. (although if an official bluray ever comes out, i will buy it day one).

"You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch" has always been my favorite. here's one of my other faves:

just got out of the theater. LOVED this film. didn't follow rumors/set photos/trailers/casting or any of that, so it was fully new to me. the new characters were all awesome if a bit undeveloped. the stuff with Vader is fantastic. i want to go into so many details but am refraining due to the spoiler thing, but definitely watch it.

the movie "Go" articulates my hatred of "Family Circus" the best:

http://www.area5.tv/blog/2014/1/29/outerlands-short-franks-magazine-collection-the-first-super-mario-bros-review here is a vid of him reading blurbs from said review. stumbled upon it last night and wanted to share.

for stuff that's still in my local paper every day/week, i always gravitate towards "Foxtrot" or "Zits". "Retail" hits a little too close to home, having worked in retail stores for 10+ years. long-term, the "Far Side" and "Calvin & Hobbes" were absolutely my faves. all of that being said, THIS is probably my all-time, favorite strip that i have ever read:

i don't mean to pick on you here, but what is the deal with "gamers" being obsessed with which system is the most powerful? The XBOne and the PS4 have nearly identical specs, yet all i heard about for the last couple years was "yeah but xbox does THIS" and "yeah but PS does THAT". They are VERY similar systems as far as power goes. the only thing that really matters when deciding which system you want is 1. which system do my friends have? and 2. which system has the exclusives that i want to play? Anything else is ridiculous. Nintendo would NOT benefit from joining into the PS vs XBox debate. in that market, they are a distant third. Nintendo's goal is to make unique and fun games, and finding new ways to achieve that. Not everything is a win, but remember that people hated on the Wii remotes when they first came out, but both Sony and Microsoft followed suit (with PS Move and XBox Kinect). and the Wii is one of the best selling systems of all time. Why would they want to fight with two other hardware makers over the same games and same developers? i agree that they need more 3rd party support, but to give up innovation and instead enter a hardware race really would leave them worse off than they are now.

i don't follow hockey really at all. i live in close(ish) proximity to the Chicago Blackhawks, so i guess i'm partial to them. in video games, i always pick the Vancouver Canucks. so i guess them too.

yes, on both fronts. it was absolutely not for me. gave me a worse headache than 3d movies do. and i really enjoy 3d World Runner regularly, so it's not like i couldn't figure out the game.

was going to post a picture of those old red/blue paper 3d glasses, but stumbled on this image instead: didn't even know something like this existed. i can't even begin to imagine how terribly they work or what games it works with.

some early Australian Nintendo mags. pretty cheap right now, only a day or so left tho. i'm not bidding, so hopefully someone else can preserve these! http://www.ebay.com/itm/Nintendo-Power-Magazine-Lot-Club-Promo-Promotional-Catalog-Pamphlet-Brochure-NES-/222321525154?hash=item33c36541a2:g:0eoAAOSwHMJYMnBf edit: fixed the link. it still redirects you to some other site first. not really sure why.

one of the best non-US released games for the system is reportedly "Mr. Gimmick". i haven't played it myself, but it gets nothing but praise so it should at least get some attention. +1 for the mention of the non-US Contra, aka Probotector. +2 for the Devil World reference. not a great game, but it WAS made by Nintendo, so i guess there's that....

regrettably, i have only seen one Ghibli film. it was great, but i haven't had the desire to go watch more of their stuff. it is always on the low end of my 'must watch' list. one of these days i should really raise it up the list.

personally, i believe that humans have never been on the moon. (an 'Areala Asks' topic on conspiracy theories, perhaps?) i would support the idea of going to the moon (again?) especially if it leads to an expedition to Mars.

oh man, there were so few arcades where i grew up, so i would devour any arcade game that would show up at the local bowling alley, skating rink, pizza place, etc. some that stick out to me: Dig Dug. probably my favorite arcade game, because it was the only arcade in the town where i grew up (it was at the bar) TMNT, X-Men: got a bit older (i'm talking 8 or 9 now) and got to go places with friends. these arcade games ruled my life. Tekken: a bit older still, fighting games were all the rage. and this one let you do wrestling moves! (this is the sole reason i picked King) Lucky & Wild: now that i've got a car of my own, me and a friend drove to all the bigger cities around to find this game and set the high score. we'd alternate. one time, he'd drive & shoot and i would just shoot, the next time, i'd drive & shoot and he'd just shoot. it was fantastic. plus, a shout out to Skee-Ball. not a video game, but easily my favorite non-video arcade game there is.

i, personally, have never played it. have heard lots of praise but never knew anybody that owned it.

must've missed this on the last go 'round. Here's mine. if i left something obvious off, it's probably because i straight up forgot. disclaimer: i have not played Super Metroid and i am not an RPG fan, so keep that in mind. 10. Shaq-Fu (ok, just seeing if everyone was paying attention) 9. F-Zero 8. NBA Jam: Tournament Edition 7. Super Mario Kart 6. Mortal Kombat II 5. Mega Man X 4. TMNT 4: Turtles in Time 3. Donkey Kong Country 2. Super Mario World 1. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past now that my list has been made, i checked out the rest of the thread. Obviously i missed Super CastleVania IV and StarFox. i should really give Super Punch-Out!! a chance, the Mike Tyson NES version is one of my faves. Super Mario RPG is rather fun as well.

i don't hold a special place in my heart for zombies. i used to, but i got bored of them a couple years after they hit the mainstream. there were just too many crap movies and stuff. the good stuff is still really good, but it feels so watered down after zombies have basically infused our entire culture at this point. what kick-started my appreciation for zombie flicks was also the remake of Night of the Living Dead. i had seen the earlier one but have never had any love for black and white films (exception: Clerks). I liked it a lot, tracked down the still-sorta-sequels and REALLY liked Dawn of the Dead. Would get into lengthy zombie debates with friends, and we rented Day of the Dead, which probably became my favorite. Bub is the man. as far as games go, Resident Evil was good, but RE2 is where it's at. i've got nothing but love for that game and have bought it numerous times on a number of systems. i feel the need to mention White Zombie/Rob Zombie right here. how much they fit into the conversation is debatable, but i love their music, with Hellbilly Deluxe being the single best album IMO. least favorites? i'm gonna start with "28 Days Later". It was promoted as a zombie movie while being anything but. i sometimes see it cited as a "new beginning" for zombie movies, which probably explains why my interest started to fade after this.