BLOG: NINTENDO WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS “Today We’re Gonna Play Like it’s 1990.”
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BLOG: NINTENDO WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS “Today We’re Gonna Play Like it’s 1990.”

Well alright now, we’ve got the Nintendo World Championships: NES™ Edition hitting Switch this July and I’d like to share a little story of that time when yours truly competed in an actual Nintendo World Championship! The year was 2015 and by “World” Championship, really it just means that the company restricted the event to North America then threw 8 darts at a map covered in Best Buy locations. As luck would shake out, one of the stores happened to be held in San Francisco and about 10 blocks away from where I used to live. Which means? Yep. I can officially someday watch my grandchildren roll their eyes when telling them the tale of how I participated in a Nintendo tournament. Hell, I may even include it on my resume’ from now on.

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REVIEW: LATE NIGHT WITH THE DEVIL (2023) Time to Touch that Dial.
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REVIEW: LATE NIGHT WITH THE DEVIL (2023) Time to Touch that Dial.

If my frequent posts throughout the Halloween season didn’t give it away, I’m a pretty big fan of Horror films. So the excitement really kicks in when a new movie comes out that gets the scary movie nerds all worked up and talking about how “oh man, you’ve just gotta see this one!” It seems to happen on a semi-annual basis and here we are again with Late Night With the Devil. I typically like to squirrel away these new releases throughout the year and go into something I just now decided to call “Horror Hibernation”; saving them for that early August until the end of October Halloween time sweet spot.

What can I say, I was feeling a pretty strong itch and this one looked like it had the potential to be one hell of a scratch.

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Nintendo Switch IMPRESSIONS: Endless Ocean Luminous (2024)
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Nintendo Switch IMPRESSIONS: Endless Ocean Luminous (2024)

Back during the heyday of the Nintendo Wii, there was no shortage of creative swings being made by software developers, both large and small: Attempts to stretch the boundaries of what video games could be. Since the console was appealing to just about every age range, it was a great period of opportunity to take chances, make mistakes and who knows? Perhaps even stumble upon some new type of interactive experience that actually worked. This resulted in plenty of bargain bins filled with what came to be known as “shovelware.” Games that were essentially quick cash in jobs attempting to capitalize on the motion control craze. And a couple of titles which stood out as arguably successful examples of experimentation in that overpopulated sea cough crowd, were the Endless Ocean games.

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PHOTO BLOG: 1st Annual Disneyland Family Vacation (4.17.2024)
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PHOTO BLOG: 1st Annual Disneyland Family Vacation (4.17.2024)

When my wife told me back in 2022 that we were now expecting and about to become parents, naturally a slot machine of thoughts and emotions began spinning around throughout my entire being. And the jackpot that kept appearing in my head weren’t triple cherries but rather that classic silhouette, the mouse with circular ears icon hovering above my shoulder, repeating over and over: “Oh shit, I’m gonna get to take my kid to Disneyland one day.” That day happened last week and while our daughter still has yet to hit the 2 year mark, there were plenty of things to do and fun rides to go on that didn’t enforce a height requirement. Below are some snaps from our trip that I’d like to share and if you’re a parent yourself, you’ll likely check them out with a small grin.

And if you’re not, you’ve probably already stopped reading this!

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RETRO PLAYTHROUGH: MEGA MAN X (SNES/Nintendo Switch 1993- 2018)
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RETRO PLAYTHROUGH: MEGA MAN X (SNES/Nintendo Switch 1993- 2018)

Being a little idiot, I’d always written off the Mega Man X games as some kind of lame spin off from the main series, like Battle Network or Soccer or whatever. But turns out, I couldn’t have been more wrong! I mean I could try, but I would not be successful. Mega Man X is a totally awesome extension of the franchise and as close to a perfectly balanced gaming experience as I can imagine. On one hand I certainly deserve to feel all of the shame for such a massive oversight during those years growing up, but on the other, that’s one hell of a solid past me did for now me because what a game!

Let’s have a little playthrough, shall we?

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