I've been a PC gamer since I was a wee lad starting out on a Commodore VIC-20. The VIC wasn't called a PC, but it had a monitor a keyboard and played awesome games. Fast forward to 2023 and PC gaming has evolved a lot and if you can afford the hardware, is the cutting edge of graphics and performance. All that said, my profession is Software Engineering so at the end of the day I don't want to spend a lot more time at my desk playing games. I've preferred the Switch or more recently the XBox because I can kick back on the couch. I was excited when Valve announced Steam Machines but I was waiting a bit to see how folks were using them and even though Steam Machines were a great idea, they didn't catch on. Apparently Valve didn't give up on Steam in the living room because even after the Steam box streamer they came hot to the market with the Steam Deck, a premium Linux handheld that has quite a bit of PC power. I didn't pick one up at launch because I wasn't sure what to make of it. The initial reviews were good, but who knows how well they'd hold up? Well after waiting a while when the Deck recently went on sale I picked it up.

For me the Steam Deck is a shot in the arm to PC gaming and bringing me back to it to play games in my back catalog. Plus the Steam Deck runs Linux so you can do whatever else with it you want. Want to play Nintendo games you've already bought from Nintendo 5 times already? They will run. Want to play those free games you got on the Epic Games Store? Most will run. Want to play your incredible Steam back catalog? Most will work too.

Since the Steam Deck is running Linux and using Proton as the Wine emulation layer I expected things to be janky and I'm surprised it's as seamless as it is. I've been a Linux Desktop user and gamer for years and nothing in the past is this easy to use. Valve has done a ton of work and them owning all the hardware, drivers and Proton stack really adds up to a magical device that just works. Now all Steam games don't work, but I don't care much about that because I have thousands of games I'll never get around to playing anyway.

I got the official Steam Deck Dock and that works great on my TV and am currently replaying Borderlands that way. Bouncing between the Deck and my TV is seamless and occasionally there are issues, but it's nothing game breaking. The Steam Deck is so great I'll most likely purchase most new games digitally on PC because this really seems like the best way to play games.

Back in 2008 Civilization games were complicated because gamers wanted the franchise to go deeper. The balance in turn based strategy games where you advance through the Ages is making the game deep enough for long time fans but accessible enough for new fans to get into it. When Civilization Revolution launched on XBox 360 and PS3 it was a stripped down and simplified game for a console audience. Some have argued the game is too easy or takes away too many things from the main series (which it does) but I'd say that Civilization Revolution is a more streamlined game that gets you in and out and makes the game easy to understand if you haven't kept up with each entry in the Civ franchise.

I played a whole lot of Civilization Revolution on my Playstation 3 and lamented the fact that it's hard to play Playstation 3 games (no backwards compatibility on modern Playstations). Once I bought an XBox Series X I was excited to try out the 360 compatibility and was really happy to learn Civilization Revolution was a game you could play. Recently I popped the game in and was off conquering the world again like it's 2008.

Some critiques of the game are valid though. The easiest mode is quite easy but that's also a great way to learn the game. Learning the mechanics of a game where it doesn't punish you mercilessly for your mistakes is handy. That said, I quickly upped the difficulty and keep doing that as I feel like I've masted where I am.

One awesome part of Civilization Revolution is that you can download a few free DLC map scenarios that can extend the life of the game. That said, if you simply want to play a few rounds and run through a Cultural, Military and all the other victories, you can do that too.

If you have the means to play Civilization Revolution and you are looking for a fun turn based strategy game, I'd recommend picking it up. I didn't pay more than a handful of dollars for my game at a Retro Game store or you can buy it on the XBox Store for way more money.

To date my favorite entries in the Super Mario franchise are the more traditional side scrolling platformers and Super Mario Maker. The New Super Mario Bros. games are thematically similar but different enough through each release to be a lot of fun. That said, after the New Super Mario Bros. achieved it's final form in New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe on Switch and I wasn't sure what direction the game could go to keep things fresh. Then Nintendo announced Super Mario Bros. Wonder today and it made sense. The new direction is here and New Super Mario Bros. Wonder looks incredible. It also looks like it's not a proper New Super Mario Bros. sequel, it looks to be doing something different.

So after a zillion Mario platformer games how do you make a new entry in the series feel fresh? By making it look and operate in a totally unique and bonkers way such as entirely changing the level physics, mechanics and art style. Also what if Princess Peach, Daisy and all the Yoshi's were playable characters?

What's the most exciting about Super Mario Bros. Wonder is what Nintendo is holding back to tell us about as the game gets closer to launch. I appreciate that they are keeping the four player couch co-op and the game will be a day one purchase for me for sure.

Super Mario Wonder comes exclusively to Switch on October 20th!

Super Mario RPG is one of Nintendo's most beloved Super Nintendo Mario games and a classic RPG. The game is replayed by many fans and very popular in the Speedrun community as well as the retro game collector community. Since Nintendo seems hot to release remakes of their classic games the next game to join them is SUPER MARIO RPG! It's not a game I thought Nintendo would remake, but a welcome choice as it's a great game that deserves a new coat of paint and a fresh new audience. Plus many fans would love to come back and play this classic game in an all new way.

It looks like Nintendo is upgrading the battle system which fans think is a good idea considering the original wasn't very challenging. That said, I imagine Nintendo will hit the right mark for difficulty and fun.

The Super Mario RPG releases November 17th exclusively on Switch!

XBox had a direct recently and it was one of their best. That said, it was the first deep dive we've received for Starfield and it feels like the most in depth deep dive I've ever seen for a video game before launch. In fact, I've heard some video game pundits say it may have gone too deep and some of what they showed should have been better experienced by playing the game, but honestly in a world where game launches go so badly, it's good to see most of the game beforehand. All that said, the game looks incredible and I'm going to play it on launch day.

True story, I don't believe I've picked up a Triple A big release since Fallout 4 which launched back in 2015. Fallout 4 was pretty good but nothing has really caught my attention that I just had to have on launch day. (Well, Shredder's Revenge, but that's a much much smaller game in scale).

I think the standout parts of the game to me is that this looks like a different take on No Man's Sky that looks to bring in a narrative and flesh out a lot more. I'm not trying to knock No Man's Sky, but Starfield looks like the right kind of game that promises to do much of what No Man's Sky is and does. When Bethesda showed off that you can get into dogfights with spaceships and board them to steal the ship for your own I was sold. I just hope the promise of running cargo AND being a space pirate as well as the single player and run and gun stuff is as strong as what they showed.

Starfield will be a game I play day on at launch but I'm not sure how I'm going to play it. I have a few months of Game Pass I could play it with or pick up a copy on XBox. Either way, I'll let you know what I think when it comes out.

https://kotaku.com/starfield-60fps-30fps-performance-mode-xbox-series-x-pc-1850548127

https://kotaku.com/starfield-shattered-space-preorder-release-dlc-1850530859

In partnership with Krool Games, McDonalds released Grimace's Birthday a themed game that ties in with the Gimace's Birthday meal celebrating everyone favorite purple McNugget. That sentence might sound like it's entirely made up, but it's not and Grimace's Birthday on Gameboy Color is actually really really good. It's only a handful of levels long, and not very hard, but why does every game have to be Dark Souls and 5,000 hours long? Grimace's Birthday isn't and it's so fun my seven year old son likes playing it. I was happy to have been able to beat it in my second setting in 4m33s. Currently as of me writing this the Speedrun record for Grimace's Birthday is by CheeseSodaPunch at 4m23s which may be as fast as is humanely possible.

That said, you can play it right now in your browser on your phone or desktop OR in your Gameboy Color on your favorite emulator or flash kart on your system.

Browser: https://grimacesbirthday.com/

Download: https://archive.org/details/grimaces-birthday

#1 Speedrun: https://www.speedrun.com/grimaces_birthday/run/ywrk210m

Currently the developers released 1.4 to the website and the Internet Archive currently doesn't have that but you can download it through your browser by inspecting the network traffic and plucking the .gb file out of it. That's pretty technical so you could also wait for the Internet Archive to update the 1.4 file or play 1.3, which is plenty fun anyway.

Rabble, rabble!

The new Minecraft 1.20 Trails and Tales update is coming this June 7th!

For all the information on what’s included check this:

https://www.minecraft.net/en-us/article/trails-tales-update-coming

"Capcom transitions the Street Fighter franchise onto its excellent in-house RE Engine, so how does it look across consoles old and new? Tom checks out the recently released demo running on current and last-generation PlayStation consoles, plus there's a look at Xbox Series consoles too. Specs and performance may change with the final game - but this is how the game's shaping up via Capcom's own public-facing demo code."

If you have an XBox S/X, Playstation 4 or 5 or a PC running Steam you can download and play the new Street Fighter 6 demo! Remember those? You can play two of the new characters and try out the new avatar and world fighting mode against other players in the demo. Capcom is giving everyone the chance to try out the new goods and I appreciate them for it as not many big game companies release these kinds of demos.

https://www.streetfighter.com/6/en-us/demo/

Mortal Kombat 1 was announced today and looks to reboot the series entirely and was announced for a September 19th launch. It seems the Fire God Liu Kang is rebooting the Mortal Kombat-verse and whereas the game looks very Mortal Kombat-like they are promising a new re-visioning of the game.

"Mortal Kombat 1 ushers in a new era of the iconic franchise with a new fighting system, game modes, and fatalities!"

The trailed doesn't really get specific on any new game mechanics but I'm interested to know more about how they are bringing the series into a new era. I thought Mortal Kombat 11 was incredible and offered a really fun modernization on the game, frankly I'm not sure what more they could do but I'm open to a new "punch your friend in the face game" while we are hanging out together. One big part of Mortal Kombat 11 was the extra DLC characters such as the Terminator, Rambo and Joker. Hopefully this version of the game comes with quite a few memorable cross-over characters too! Hopefully Nintendo allows Pikachu and getting Eric Cruise from Mac and Me would be ideal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5le9sYdYkM

"This new expansion brings classic Age of Empires style and gameplay as a brand-new self-contained experience with all 16 original Age of Empires civilizations and the new Lac Viet civilization.

Conqueror your enemies through three new, fully-voiced campaigns, improved AI, and historically driven gameplay, all while unlocking new achievements on your Xbox or Steam account. Plus, get the bonus Romans civilization in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition!"

Microsoft released Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition which is a complete remaster to the original Age of Empires II with new visuals and a game core for modern PC's and 4K displays. It hit the scene in 2019 and Microsoft has continued to support it with updates, DLC and now with a new expansion Return of Rome. If I had my way Age of Empires would continue on indefinately and Microsoft seems to be doing that with a steady drip of Age of Empires II releases as well as as Age of Empires IV with seasons.