Nintendo is continuing to support the 3DS by adding 3 games to the Nintendo Selects program. Nintendo Selects is cool system where Nintendo takes the most popular games and re-releases them in a new selects package for $20. The new games coming to selects are Super Mario 3D Land, The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds and Ultimate NES Remix. These are all really highly rated games and if you wanted to add a couple games to your 3DS library sticking to the existing selects releases and these new ones isn't a bad way to go.
Nintendo Selects is a program for the 3DS and Wii U and hopefully over time becomes something Nintendo brings to the Switch!
... Read All
Nintendo is continuing to support the 3DS by adding 3 games to the Nintendo Selects program. Nintendo Selects is cool system where Nintendo takes the most popular games and re-releases them in a new selects package for $20. The new games coming to selects are Super Mario 3D Land, The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds and Ultimate NES Remix. These are all really highly rated games and if you wanted to add a couple games to your 3DS library sticking to the existing selects releases and these new ones isn't a bad way to go.
Nintendo Selects is a program for the 3DS and Wii U and hopefully over time becomes something Nintendo brings to the Switch!
If you've ever had a dream to make a game that runs on the original Nintendo Entertainment System there is a new project on Kickstarter you need to check out! NESmaker looks to streamline the process of creating new Nintendo games by providing useful software tools to allow you to make NES games easier. NESmaker was born out of a project a couple friends had to make an NES game from scratch and grew into this Kickstarter project. Even if you're not interested in making NES games the Kickstarter video is worth watching featuring a fun 80's premise.
"NESmaker is a software tool for creating brand new, hardware playable, cartridge based games for the Nintendo... Read All
If you've ever had a dream to make a game that runs on the original Nintendo Entertainment System there is a new project on Kickstarter you need to check out! NESmaker looks to streamline the process of creating new Nintendo games by providing useful software tools to allow you to make NES games easier. NESmaker was born out of a project a couple friends had to make an NES game from scratch and grew into this Kickstarter project. Even if you're not interested in making NES games the Kickstarter video is worth watching featuring a fun 80's premise.
"NESmaker is a software tool for creating brand new, hardware playable, cartridge based games for the Nintendo Entertainment System...without having to write a single line of code.
A few years ago, while developing our NES game engine in the archaic 6502 Assembly language, our team (made up of mostly non-programmers) realized that we needed a much more efficient method for rapid prototyping and testing. Instead of digging into the assembly every time we needed to make changes, we conceptualized wysiwyg tools for common tasks that would output, reorganize, and manipulate the underlying code; developing screens, building animations, altering AI...things like that. We recruited Josh Fallon, tool developer extraordinaire, to help realize these tools."
NESmaker has been fully funded but if you want to try this out at launch $36 will get you the NESmaker software package and $88 gets you the software + NES flash cart you can try your prototype games on.
Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member
wrote on 01/17/2018 at 05:08pm
Cool! Nintendo hasn't shut this down?
jdodson Admin Post Author
wrote on 01/18/2018 at 12:07am
> Nintendo hasn't shut this down?
There's always tomorrow
But seriously, they don't actually take legal action on older hardware to my understanding. Hyperkin, RetreoN all make NES hardware and they seem to keep going with it. Partly I think because those old patents are long since expired.
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Azurephile gives this an astounding "Must Play" on the Ghost Scale
This achieves something special, and it would be a shame to miss it.
Azurephile gives this a "Must Play" on the Ghost Scale
This achieves something special, and it would be a shame to miss it.
Review
Recommended
Awesome turn-based strategy civilization builder with some combat
Has tutorial and demo
Multiple ways to win a game
Each game can last for hours
Great replayability
After almost 200 hours of Civ6, I find it a good time to write more about the game. Basically, Sid Meierâs Civilization is a turn based strategy game. Itâs not completely focused on combat, itâs more about growing a civilization. I donât really like the combat part of the game, it doesnât fit my play style and thatâs perfectly ok, there are many ways to play. I like to build cities. Iâm too busy building districts to worry about units, so my armies are usually very small. Unfortunately... Read AllReview
Recommended
Awesome turn-based strategy civilization builder with some combat
Has tutorial and demo
Multiple ways to win a game
Each game can last for hours
Great replayability
After almost 200 hours of Civ6, I find it a good time to write more about the game. Basically, Sid Meierâs Civilization is a turn based strategy game. Itâs not completely focused on combat, itâs more about growing a civilization. I donât really like the combat part of the game, it doesnât fit my play style and thatâs perfectly ok, there are many ways to play. I like to build cities. Iâm too busy building districts to worry about units, so my armies are usually very small. Unfortunately this means Iâm a bit more vulnerable to attack, but Iâve been playing on the lowest difficulty level to learn the game, so I havenât had too much of a problem.
Tutorial and demoThe game is very deep and complex, there is a learning curve, but itâs not too bad now that the game has an included tutorial (you can play it in the demo as well). However the tutorial only gives you a bit of a basic understanding. The Civpedia is accessible, but not always the most appealing source. I found some good videos on YouTube including things for âcomplete beginners.â I learned a lot more than the game told me and I was able to get a better understanding of whatâs going on.
I spent a lot of time with the tutorial. I like to play at a slow pace. My first goal was to beat the tutorial, but the only way to do so is with a domination victory. That means using a military to take over every other capital. I spent hours at this, especially since the tutorial doesnât allow you to save. I ended up watching someone do it on YouTube and I was able to accomplish my goal. So, I moved on to the single player game.
I started out thinking big and went with the biggest maps, I struggled. I watched another video that gave some good tips for beginners that mentioned starting out on a very small map. The bigger the map in Civ, the more opponents there are, unless you modify that. Resources and civilizations get spread out more and it can be quite difficult for a beginner. So, I started doing duel maps which only have room for two civilizations. I also chose the lowest difficulty and I still had some trouble.
The learning experience is part of the enjoyment of the game. The more I played, the more I learned and when I ran into trouble I checked YouTube. This became necessary, because after a while I ran into things I was ignorant about, like the culture and religious victories. I managed to get the science victory on my own with Teddy Roosevelt, which means I survived long enough to colonize Mars.
Cultural victory:One of the victories that caught me by surprise was when I lost to a cultural victory. I had to figure it out, so I watched someone do it on YouTube, which was, again, very helpful. Basically, you have to have the most tourists to your civilization. You can get more in a variety of ways, like building wonders, but having great works of art also generates tourism. I had previously ignored these. Other civilizations wanted to trade for my great works, and I always traded them away.
The religious victory is often the most surprising and it can be the most frustrating. I ended up losing to this a few times by surprise, so once again, I had to go to YouTube to see what was up. I found a great series that helped me figure it out. In time, I found that it was the easiest and quickest to achieve and thus how I shaped my Civ6 strategy. I won more games this way than any other.
Essentially, the religious victory is achieved by having more than 50% of cities follow your religion. You start by selecting a pantheon, which grants some religious ability. I usually go with the 15% border expansion. As your civilization generates gold, science, and culture, it also generates faith, which is mostly used to purchase religious units or structures. You are able to create your religion once you obtain a great prophet, either though building Stonehenge or great people points (choose great prophet in your wildcard diplomacy slot).
Once you get your religious structures built, you can generate more faith and then purchase units or buildings (buildings may come with religious ability). There are a few religious units and they can only interact with other religious units. Missionaries can spread religion, but can only defend. Apostles can do both and more. One thing they can do is evangelize a belief, meaning you get an extra religious ability. Another unit seems to just heal other units, I never use them. Some civilizations have other units as well.
I usually buy apostles, even though theyâre about twice as expensive as a missionaries. If I get into a religious fight and I kill the opposing unit, my religion gets more influence in the area and the other goes down. Other cities will convert in time, but you can send units to a cityâs capital and spread your religion. Before you use this ability, you can see a tool tip on how many of the population will follow your religion after that action. Cities with higher populations are harder to convert, so the best strategy is to go for low population cities. You can only spread your religion a certain amount of times with a unit, although this can be boosted, which is why I use Mosques.
Iâve been enjoying playing the game. I also like the historical aspects involved. I think the religious victory may be new to Civ6, but it does feel a bit OP. I have finally won a game with every civilization, finishing quite a long goal. Iâm taking a break from it for now, but the new expansion arrives in less than a month (2/8/18).
Hey Greg. One bit I have with some modern Civ games is that they are a bit complicated to pickup and play. Civilization Revolution really improves this I thought.
Curious how long you think it takes to get familiar with the basic gameplay to be successful at the game?
Azurephile Super Member Post Author
wrote on 01/13/2018 at 10:37pm
That is a really good question and I'm not sure I can answer. It took me a while, but I was new to the series, too.
DF Retro is on the scene with a brand new video that runs benchmarks against PC's before and after the recent Sprectre & Meltdown CPU vulnerability patches. If your not familiar with the recent bugs effecting nearly every computer, I found some great PC World articles that explain the situation pretty well.
"A pair of nasty CPU flaws exposed this week have serious ramifications for home computer users. Meltdown and Spectre let attackers access protected information in your PCâs kernel memory, potentially revealing sensitive details like passwords, cryptographic keys, personal photos and email, or anything else youâve used on your computer. These are serious flaws.... Read All
DF Retro is on the scene with a brand new video that runs benchmarks against PC's before and after the recent Sprectre & Meltdown CPU vulnerability patches. If your not familiar with the recent bugs effecting nearly every computer, I found some great PC World articles that explain the situation pretty well.
"A pair of nasty CPU flaws exposed this week have serious ramifications for home computer users. Meltdown and Spectre let attackers access protected information in your PCâs kernel memory, potentially revealing sensitive details like passwords, cryptographic keys, personal photos and email, or anything else youâve used on your computer. These are serious flaws. Fortunately, CPU and operating system vendors pushed out patches fast, and you can protect your PC from Meltdown and Spectre to some degree."
Looks like Microsoft & Apple have released patches for computers and phones but you will need to apply firmware updates for your motherboard and CPU. With all of that said, it looks like that many games aren't negatively impacted by the security patches. It seems the biggest performance hits are to virtual machines or cloud computing but since none of that matters for games running on our computers that are single player much of gaming looks to be fine. The hit to cloud computing looks pretty incredible though the end run being that either virtualization needs to be optimized or people might need to run more hardware to cover current workloads.
One thing that the patch IS doing is messing up Antivirus programs. Be sure to update your AV before installing the patch if you have that option. If you use Windows Defender you're good.
Gizmodo is reporting from CES that Hyperkin is showing off prototype for an upcoming Gameboy it will be releasing. From the article:
"The Ultra Game Boyâs housing is made from aluminum, which has a wonderful heft when you pick it up. Your original Game Boy is probably covered in knicks and scratches, but it will take a lot of abuse for Hyperkinâs remake to start showing wear and tear. The Ultra Game Boy carries over the originalâs volume and contrast dials, but the final version will include a third dial allowing you to adjust the portable consoleâs new backlit LCD display through the entire RGB spectrum. That backlight can also be turned off, if you want a truly... Read All
Gizmodo is reporting from CES that Hyperkin is showing off prototype for an upcoming Gameboy it will be releasing. From the article:
"The Ultra Game Boyâs housing is made from aluminum, which has a wonderful heft when you pick it up. Your original Game Boy is probably covered in knicks and scratches, but it will take a lot of abuse for Hyperkinâs remake to start showing wear and tear. The Ultra Game Boy carries over the originalâs volume and contrast dials, but the final version will include a third dial allowing you to adjust the portable consoleâs new backlit LCD display through the entire RGB spectrum. That backlight can also be turned off, if you want a truly authentic, squinty, Game Boy experience.
New features for the Ultra Game Boy will include a built-in six-hour battery, a USB-C port for charging, as well as a pair of stereo speakers, and left and right audio-out connections. Why the improvements to the Game Boyâs sound system when all of its classic games only generate mono sound? Aside from appealing to retro gamers, Hyperkinâs Ultra Game Boy is also being customized for chiptune musicians who use the classic console to create modern electronic tunes. Yes, itâs a thing, and a very popular thing."
There is a pretty large market for new hardware for people that love playing on their original game carts. I own a Retron 3 and it's a great way to play NES, SNES & Genesis games on one system. With a price point at under a hundred dollars this might be a must have for Gameboy lovers. Since Hyperkin can get the price under a hundred bucks and make it as nice as it is I wonder if we might be getting a Gameboy classic series from Nintendo at some point? I bet if Nintendo did that they'd be as popular as the other Nintendo Classics if not moreso.
Head over to Gizmodo for the whole article and more pictures of the new Hyperkin Gameboy.
I expect that 2018 will be a great year in gaming but how great will it be? I reached out to people in the Cheerful Ghost community to look into the future to see what awesome stuff might be coming this year. At the end of the year we can come back to this and see how well we did and use creative readings to make us all look way smarter than we actually are!
If you have any other predictions drop them in the comments!
Nintendo Releases Virtual Console for Switch
Will Ball: One person can dream, right? Nintendo will finally release a virtual console for the Switch. It will cover the NES, SNES, all gameboys, N64 and GameCube. This will keep the Switch as the number one... Read All
I expect that 2018 will be a great year in gaming but how great will it be? I reached out to people in the Cheerful Ghost community to look into the future to see what awesome stuff might be coming this year. At the end of the year we can come back to this and see how well we did and use creative readings to make us all look way smarter than we actually are!
If you have any other predictions drop them in the comments!
Nintendo Releases Virtual Console for Switch
Will Ball: One person can dream, right? Nintendo will finally release a virtual console for the Switch. It will cover the NES, SNES, all gameboys, N64 and GameCube. This will keep the Switch as the number one console throughout 2018.
Nintendo 64 Classic
jdodson: Nintendo will announce the new Nintendo 64 classic and launch it in September of 2018. It will be $100 and come with two controllers and a solid lineup of Nintendo 64 games. The system wonât be seen as better than the Super Nintendo Classic because the lineup wonât be perceived as quite as strong because of licensing issues(Rare) and some games wonât hold up to peopleâs memory of them. Iâm excited for this and will get it but I think we hit âpeak Nintendo classicâ with the Super Nintendo Classic and it will be hard to top it.
Final Fantasy VII
Travis: We will finally get some news about that long-awaited Final Fantasy VII remake that was announced a few years back. It may or may not release in 2018 but whenever it does release it will be a solid game, but many fans of the original will be unsatisfied because of the lack of traditional turn-based battles and other changes.
More AAA Games for VR
Will Ball: More AAA Games will be released for VR. Following the footsteps of Skyrim, Doom and Fallout, we will see more ports of AAA games for all the VR headsets. There will also be an MMO game released for at least one of the VR headsets
Games of Three, Let Them Be!
Travis: Valve will learn to count to three and weâll get news of either Half-Life 3 (unlikely), Portal 3, Team Fortress 3, CounterStrike 3, Left 4 Dead 3, or DotA 3.
Even More VR!
AdamPFarnsworth: VR will continue to become more and more valuable in architecture and engineering design and presentation to clients.
Noodle DLC is The New Horse Armor
Timogorgon: Square-Enix will continue their advertising program with Cup Noodles. They'll eventually move beyond product placement and roll out an entirely Noodle based DLC for one of their games.
JJâs cut of The Last Jedi is Released
Will Ball: What would a Cheerful Ghost article be without some Star Wars? After the fan backlash of The Last Jedi, and JJâs carefully laid plans being ripped apart, Lucasfilm will release a JJ Abramsâ cut of The Last Jedi. This will set up Episode 9 so it can be true to JJâs vision. It will also make The Last Jedi the highest grossing movie ever.
Let's Think About Loot Boxes
Travis: While we certainly havenât seen the end of loot boxes, the Star Wars: Battlefront 2 outcry will make EA rethink their purpose a bit and others will hopefully follow suit, making pay-to-win hard to find in a game you have to pay for up front.
Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member
wrote on 01/10/2018 at 04:31am
jdodson gives this a solid "Rad" on the Ghost Scale
This is fun, with very few issues, and is well worth your time.
jdodson gives this a "Rad" on the Ghost Scale
This is fun, with very few issues, and is well worth your time.
When the Super Nintendo Classic released last year one game people thought was missing was Square's classic RPG Chrono Trigger. I agree with that thought but the SNES Classic's inclusion of Secret of Mana, Final Fantasy VI, Earthbound and Super Mario RPG really give the SNES Classic the best of breed RPG's of that generation. All that said, Chrono Trigger is one of those games I missed playing as it came out later in the Super Nintendo's lifecycle. I put it on my list of games to play in 2018 and recently started it and I'm going to write about how that's going from time to time until I beat it.
"A chance encounter amid the festivities of Guardia's Millennial Fair in... Read All
When the Super Nintendo Classic released last year one game people thought was missing was Square's classic RPG Chrono Trigger. I agree with that thought but the SNES Classic's inclusion of Secret of Mana, Final Fantasy VI, Earthbound and Super Mario RPG really give the SNES Classic the best of breed RPG's of that generation. All that said, Chrono Trigger is one of those games I missed playing as it came out later in the Super Nintendo's lifecycle. I put it on my list of games to play in 2018 and recently started it and I'm going to write about how that's going from time to time until I beat it.
"A chance encounter amid the festivities of Guardia's Millennial Fair in Leene Square introduces our young hero, Crono, to a girl by the name of Marle.
Deciding to explore the fair together, the two soon find themselves at an exhibition of the Telepod, the latest invention by Crono's longtime friend Lucca."
After only a couple hours playing Chrono Trigger I understand why this game is one of the most beloved RPG games of the Super Nintendo Era. Released after Secret of Mana and Final Fantasy VI, Chrono Trigger is a game made at the height of "Square in peak RPG creation mode." The game feels like it's a mashup of the best parts of Secret of Mana and the Final Fantasy series that goes an entirely new direction with a fresh world and characters. Chrono Trigger keeps the top down overworld of Final Fantasy VI but goes a bit of a different direction graphically as it's not in the Super Nintendo's mode 7. Chrono Trigger borrows some fighting elements from Secret of Mana but pulls it together in the same turn based battle system from Final Fantasy.
The music from Chrono Trigger was co-written by Nobuo Uematsu who worked on the music for Final Fantasy VI. Just like most other aspects of Chrono Trigger the music feels like a best of breed 16-bit square game but also goes it's own direction as to not be mimicry. In fact i'd say the music really tips the game into something very special and I can see why fans find it so compelling.
So far i've been taking my time moving through the game and talking to people in the world while exploring as much of it I can before moving on. I'm also spending a bit more time level and gold grinding for fun and to be prepared for boss and dungeon encounters. So far it feels like i'm in the intro to the game so nothing is terribly difficult but i'm feeling out the game systems, learning what tech combos to use and the general flow of the battle system.
One cool part about playing Chrono Trigger for the first time in 2018 is that i've never played it before so I am playing it entirely fresh, something I wish I could do with other games like Secret of Mana or Link to the Past. The game holds up very well and at no point during my playthrough so far did the game feel antiquated or boring. In fact, I really understand why people rank this game so high and i'm glad I decided to pick this up when I did. Since Super Nintendo carts of Chrono Trigger sell upwards of $150 I decided to pickup the DS version and i'm playing that on my 3DS. It's a good version that pulls in a newer translation than the SNES version with some extra content but keeps the graphics and music of the original SNES version.
Azurephile Super Member
wrote on 01/09/2018 at 06:34am
I got into Chrono Trigger around 2001 or so. I still have the Playstation copy. It's a good game, I enjoyed it. There are a variety of things to do and different endings, I believe.
I have that PS version as well. I barely played it at the time, I need to get back to it at some point. I find that I have problems keeping interest older JRPGs that I donât have a nostalgic connection with, but there are some classics like this that I feel like Iâm missing out on because of that.
Azurephile Super Member
wrote on 01/09/2018 at 09:24pm
LOL @Travis Chrono Trigger reminds me of our time at RU. I remember playing the game while I was Jake's roommate in Tyler Hall.
jdodson Admin Post Author
wrote on 01/10/2018 at 04:02am
So far the game has been more fun than i'd have thought and the set pieces are really well done. I don't want to spoil anything but there isn't much downtime between really cool stuff that happens, interesting boss fights or story beats that keep you interested in the game. I've been playing it more since I wrote the article and it just keeps going and keeping the game interesting. It feels like a 90's era RPG but doesn't suffer from it at all.
I played Chrono Trigger back on the SNES when it was pretty brand new, as well as the PS1 re-release and the DS version. If the DS is your first experience with the game then that's actually a really great way to experience it for the first time. It's a great re-release and the added content is all optional/mostly end game stuff that does not affect the original experience. The only changes I can remember outside of the new content was an updated UI to accommodate the two screens on the DS and they added the animated cut scenes from the PS1 version.
Uematsu worked on a few tracks, but most of the music is by Yasunori Mitsuda, who is another phenomenal composer. He most recently contributed a song to Final Fantasy XV: Episode Ignis (one of the DLC).
jdodson Admin Post Author
wrote on 01/11/2018 at 03:20am
> they added the animated cut scenes from the PS1 version.
Which aren't awesome and sort of break you out of the game in a bad way. So far that's my only complaint and it's something they added to the game when they really didn't need to.
I also read that they changed Frog's dialect to NOT be as thick which is a bummer because I do remember him having his dialog be a bit more silly than that. I played a handful of hours on the SNES version but I had to give it back to my friend and never spent more than a bit actually playing it.
This game is ranked my number 1 favorite of all time. I'm glad you are enjoying it as well. It's got a lot of little bits at the end to keep you hunting. What's your progress? At this stage in the game, who are you playing with?
jdodson Admin Post Author
wrote on 03/13/2018 at 03:46am
Chrono, Robo and Frog. I really like that combination a lot.
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Games Done Quick is a twice yearly charity speedrun that started today and is running 24/7 all week raising money for The Prevent Cancer Foundation. You can watch the event stream linked above all day and night until January 14th!
I watch this event every year and donate because it's so much fun to watch and the charities are well worth supporting. I think we've all known someone with cancer and chipping in a couple bucks can help.
"The Prevent Cancer Foundation is one of the nationâs leading voluntary health organizations and the only U.S. nonprofit focused solely on cancer prevention and early detection. Founded in 1985, it has catapulted cancer prevention to... Read All
Games Done Quick is a twice yearly charity speedrun that started today and is running 24/7 all week raising money for The Prevent Cancer Foundation. You can watch the event stream linked above all day and night until January 14th!
I watch this event every year and donate because it's so much fun to watch and the charities are well worth supporting. I think we've all known someone with cancer and chipping in a couple bucks can help.
"The Prevent Cancer Foundation is one of the nationâs leading voluntary health organizations and the only U.S. nonprofit focused solely on cancer prevention and early detection. Founded in 1985, it has catapulted cancer prevention to prominence and fulfills its mission through research, education, outreach and advocacy across the country."
The illustrious Metal Jesus has a new video out where he shows off his Nintendo 64 hardware mod that adds HDMI. It's a pretty extensive mod that hacks into the graphic chip of the system and gives it a very clean HD output to modern televisions. Jesus does some side by sides with the composite video and the graphics output looks incredible. Much like many old system HDMI mods this seems to really crisp up those games but with a price tag of $400 I wonder if it's worth it the cost? If you love the Nintendo 64 and play yours a lot it's well worth considering but this price eclipses the cost of a modern console.
The illustrious Metal Jesus has a new video out where he shows off his Nintendo 64 hardware mod that adds HDMI. It's a pretty extensive mod that hacks into the graphic chip of the system and gives it a very clean HD output to modern televisions. Jesus does some side by sides with the composite video and the graphics output looks incredible. Much like many old system HDMI mods this seems to really crisp up those games but with a price tag of $400 I wonder if it's worth it the cost? If you love the Nintendo 64 and play yours a lot it's well worth considering but this price eclipses the cost of a modern console.
I don't typically write list posts but it's the new year and i've been thinking more about some of the better parts of 2017. One awesome part is talking to everyone on Cheerful Ghost and taking part in Cheerful Ghost Radio that launched this year! It's fun to be part of something that people enjoy even if our community is small. So let's wind up and get to my list which I wouldn't consider to be in any kind of actual order.
Mystery Science Theater 3000 The Return
I was beyond hyped that a new MST3K season was coming and happily Kickstarted it. I've talked about that process here and the results are for everyone to enjoy on Netflix. MST3K is a special show to me and was... Read All
I don't typically write list posts but it's the new year and i've been thinking more about some of the better parts of 2017. One awesome part is talking to everyone on Cheerful Ghost and taking part in Cheerful Ghost Radio that launched this year! It's fun to be part of something that people enjoy even if our community is small. So let's wind up and get to my list which I wouldn't consider to be in any kind of actual order.
Mystery Science Theater 3000 The Return
I was beyond hyped that a new MST3K season was coming and happily Kickstarted it. I've talked about that process here and the results are for everyone to enjoy on Netflix. MST3K is a special show to me and was recently renewed for another season. I saw MST3K live this year for my birthday which was a really fun experience. The new show lives up to the old seasons and I'm excited to see where it goes in season 12.
NES Classic & Mega Man 2
I got a NES Classic this year and as part of that have been focusing on playing games that are new-ish to me that I didn't previous play before. Mega Man 2 was a game i've played a handful of times but really focused on getting good at this year. It's been a fun ride and i'm glad I was able to get a NES Classic because i'm not sure i've had played the game otherwise. I like the curated aspect of the NES Classic and the fact that they sort of have you pick between a handful of amazing games, for me, makes the process of picking what to play next a lot easier.
I got a SNES Classic recently but the clear winner here for 2017 is the NES Classic as I played it a lot. In fact i've played it so much and retro games in general that I realized I haven't really played many PC titles this year. In 2018 I plan to double down here and really just play games I missed or want to come back to. Some are PC but many are older games and find that with a new kid, this seems like a good way to focus on gaming in 2018.
Alien Covenant Score
Alien Covenant is one of those movies that I really enjoyed but didn't really seem to be generally well loved by everyone. It's not perfect but when I saw it in New York on a work trip it was the perfect time for a Ridley Scott horror movie. Whereas I think the movie worked for me the score was a particular highlight. I found Jed Kurzel's score to be so noteworthy that I picked it up on CD and have been listening to it quite a bit since. The homages it plays to James Horner's original are well made and I like that score is very chill and listenable. I usually don't listen to a movie and think about the score but it was so moving it really drew me to pick it up.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
For more of my thoughts check out our recent Cheerful Ghost Radio episode on it but to sum it up, it's a much welcomed edition to the Star Wars saga. I've seen it twice now and it's worked for me both times. Watching it a second time I wasn't quite in the throes of it as I knew where it was going but the first time was one of the most heart pounding cinematic rides i've been on. For someone that goes to the theater very little now because I have a kid when I go it's special and Rian Johnson delivered a very beautiful movie that I still think about now.
NES Metroid
I played the original NES Metroid this year on the NES Classic and completed it. It's a game that holds up over time but you need to be in a certain headspace to play it. If you are looking for a more accessible entry to the franchise I recommend the Super Metroid or Zero Mission but NES Metroid is a classic and I enjoyed completing it.
Get Out
I'd rank Get Out as one of the best films of 2017. It's a horror movie with a unique twist and adds a fresh voice to the genre. Loved it so much that I bought it and gave it out as presents to a couple of my friends. It's a movie I recently re-watched and really enjoyed a second time. After watching it a second time I watched it yet again with the directors commentary. At the end of the commentary track Jordan Peele said that everyone that listened to it was a true fan and I agree with him, i'm a huge fan of Get Out.
Add Violence
It's a special time when a new Nine Inch Nails albums is released and this year was no exception because we got Add Violence. One thing I dig about NiN is that each album is a little bit different and has a new viewpoint on the things it talks about. Add Violence seems to be a commentary about our current world, relationships and choices we make and how those impact everyone. It's a haunting album and the last song "The Background World" asks an interesting question to the listener before it deconstructs the beat into a widening breath of static until you can't tell the beat from the noise. Which is, I think the point of the album and what it says about our modern world.
Stranger Things 2
We have a whole Cheerful Ghost Radio show about this but the TLDR is that this is a good season and I want to be Steve Harrington. You know.. that hair!
Link Between Worlds 3DS
A sequel to one of the greatest games of all time? Yes please. While not perfect it's a great ending to the, what I consider, LttP Trilogy with Link to the Past, Link's Awakening & Link Between Worlds. Someday I might play them all in that order too. Between Worlds is a fun Zelda game that follows many of the tropes setup in Link to the Past and spins it up enough to be interesting but not enough to be Breath of the Wild. It's a safe sequel perhaps but I appreciate it for not being too long.
If we get a a Link's Awakening sequel i'll happily refer to these games as the Link to the Past Quadrilogy! Or maybe Nintendo might just want to give Link's Awakening the HD rerelease treatment? I'd be down with that.
Logan
Logan is a fitting end to Hugh Jackman's Wolverine. That said my first time around watching the film was such a bad theater going experience it almost soured me on the whole movie. Apparently sitting behind people that talk loudly and might possibly be drunk isn't a great way to experience Logan. That said I picked it up on Blu-ray on black friday for a couple bucks and watched it in black and white and loved it. I'm not saying B&W is the best way to see it but it worked well for such a bleak film. Sad we won't get more Jackman but the movie being such a great conclusion was the right way for him to hang up the claws.
You mention that we talked about The Last Jedi in the recent episode of Cheerful Ghost Radio, and you're right, but you mentioned it here so I'm going to as well :D
I've seen it twice since we recorded that episode and it keeps getting better. You're right that the impact isn't the same, because you know what's coming, but it gels better. You know how things fit so the disjointed feeling some of it had is gone. I legitimately think it's in my top three films in the franchise. Maybe higher. Depends on the day.
Other than that, I dig your list. It's probably over half identical to mine. I'd add the Switch as a whole, what a great system, and Odyssey and Breath of the Wild are masterpieces (I'm far from finishing BotW so that may change but... doubt it).
For movies, I'd add The Big Sick (free on Amazon Prime streaming). Kumail Nanjiani is a master of his craft. He and his wife made a comedy about a woman in a coma and made it touching, tasteful, and hilarious. And it's all true (I mean I'm sure they embellished some).
I'm hoping The Last Jedi turns into a really great 2nd chapter of a fun trilogy. I don't know how much I'd like Empire if it weren't for Return of the Jedi. Empire is fantastic on it's own, but if it were the last Star Wars movie I saw, I think I'd probably feel the same way I feel about The Last Jedi. The humor was a bit too Marvel for me, but overall, I really enjoyed watching TLJ.
I don't know if I have a Top 10 list of cool things, but the theme of 2017 for me was probably Whiskey and Television. (Man, that kinda makes me sound lazy lol)
For Christmas last year, one gift I got was a mini oak barrel and a "whiskey making kit." It didn't really make whiskey, but it was similar. It started with vodka and some "whiskey essence" that you put in the barrel and then let it age for a couple months. It was really aged flavored vodka, but it got my interest piqued. I began reading all I could online and in books about the different kinds of whisky, what makes whiskey whiskey, and how it's made. I started watching a daily whiskey YouTube channel called The Whiskey Vault (here's a link to a video where I got a birthday shout out lol https://youtu.be/FX3vWHbJ_I4 ), and joined a couple whiskey groups on FB where we're constantly talking Whiskey (and have done a pretty good job of keeping away the snobs and trolls. The main motto of both groups is "The best whiskey is the whiskey you like to drink, however you like to drink it.")
I've been branching out and buying various whiskeys and have been trying my hand and blending them. It's been a lot of fun to experience and experiment. I currently have a 5L barrel on order and I'll be blending a bunch of whiskeys in it to then bottle and give out to friends and family as gifts.
In 2017, I watched a ton of television. I even began watching a lot of reaction Youtube videos after watching the shows, and joined in on conversations about the shows. Game of Thrones was probably the biggest of the year, but there were *so* many great shows in 2017! In no particular order, I loved and recommend from 2017:
The Punisher (Netflix) The Defenders (Netflix) Travelers (Netflix) Ozark (Netflix) Dark (Netflix, I'm actually only a couple episodes into this one, but it looks great so far) GLOW (Netflix) Game of Thrones (HBO) American Gods (Stars) Legion (FX) The Walking Dead (AMC) Rick and Morty (Adult Swim) Flash (CW) Supergirl (CW) Survivor (CBS, this season was actually good!) HarmonQuest (VRV) RedLetterMedia (YouTube - Best of the Worst, Wheel of the Worst, Half in the Bag, Pre-Rec, re:View)
Well, this comment ended up being longer than I expected it to be lol. 2017 was a great year for many other reasons for me, but I'll not bore you any longer lol.
(I would have put Stranger Things on my list, but technically I didn't start watching it until 2018. It's just one of those things that I always knew I'd get to, but was in no rush. Now I'm halfway through Season 1 and WOW, I get the hype around it!)
jdodson Admin Post Author
wrote on 01/05/2018 at 04:31am
> I legitimately think it's in my top three films in the franchise. Maybe higher. Depends on the day.
I rank it high but it's hard to beat the OT. As things settle I think it might push higher but it's a great Star Wars film and really happy it exists.
jdodson Admin Post Author
wrote on 01/05/2018 at 04:33am
Oh and Travis, The Big Sick was a great movie that my wife and I saw in the theater. It didn't quite hit my list but it would be in a honorable mentions list along with:
- Super Mario Maker 3DS - Norm Macdonald: Hitlerâs Dog, Gossip & Trickery - Jim & Andy The Great Beyond - War Machine - Super Mario Land Gameboy finally completed it - Old Blood - Patton Oswalt Annihilation
jdodson Admin Post Author
wrote on 01/05/2018 at 04:37am
> but the theme of 2017 for me was probably Whiskey and Television.
That sounds like an awesome year. That said I gave up drinking in 2017 so for me it would be something like Coffee and Nintendo
Lots of great Netflix shows on your list and I think this next year will see Netflix kick it into orbit with even more great stuff. For instance the upcoming The Irishman (the next Scorsese film) is going to come out on Netflix. Crazy times.
I'm thinking I want to watch Game of Thrones but will wait until they all come out and get them all on Bluray/Digital when that final set dips under a hundred bucks. Right now you can get seasons 1-7 Bluray/Digital for $130 and 1-6 Bluray/Digital for $90. So after the show wraps up and then the final collection comes out that holiday might be the time I finally head to Westeros.
(Minor edit that no one really cares about: The link the the correct youtube video is: https://youtu.be/xFrOVMon1iI lol)
jdodson Admin Post Author
wrote on 01/05/2018 at 04:42am
> I'm hoping The Last Jedi turns into a really great 2nd chapter of a fun trilogy. I don't know how much I'd like Empire if it weren't for Return of the Jedi. Empire is fantastic on it's own, but if it were the last Star Wars movie I saw, I think I'd probably feel the same way I feel about The Last Jedi. The humor was a bit too Marvel for me, but overall, I really enjoyed watching TLJ.
I get that. I guess since I always considered them together I guess they would feel odd to be a part like that so I get what you're saying. I do think there is a crazy build up at the end of The Last Jedi and when Luke is like "The rebellion is born tonight and I'm not the Last Jedi" and i'm like YEAH MAN WHERE'S IT GOING and then it ends. It's one of the only times I wanted the movie to be 2 1/2 hours longer.
I think JJ's gonna do well by the next one but I do like that we finally really don't know what's going to happen in the next film and I think that's a great place to be as a fan. I personally don't like retreading the same themes and it's nice that we finally have some mystery in where Star Wars can go.
I really liked The Force Awakens, and I enjoyed how much it paralleled A New Hope. I think one of the strengths of The Last Jedi was how many parallels it had to Empire, yet really created a new story. I am really looking forward to the conclusion of this story.
jdodson Admin Post Author
wrote on 01/07/2018 at 03:09am
On the discussion of The Last Jedi Jenny Nicholson had an interesting video called "Top 10 Worst Reasons Why You Hated The Last Jedi." Spoiler alert, she makes jokes about things people can't stop raging about online in regard to the film. Many of her points i've been thinking about for a bit but the way she articulates them is better than i've done Plus it's funnier.