30 Videogame Answers, No Likes Part 1

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atari 2600, chain letter, fandom, games, gaming, i'm joining the crowd lookit me, meme, MMO, nes, one like one answer, pc, snes

Sometime last week or so, there was a fun little prompt fluttering among those I follow on Twitter. Basically, you answer one videogame-related question for every like the posted picture got, to a maximum of 30.

It looked like a lot of fun, and since I’m always a sucker for cheap easy writing prompts, I decided to take the idea and write about it here.

…I searched for “writing prompt” and got this. So let’s just move on.

On the Periphery of a Community

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community, fighting games, game community, games, gaming, gaming community, just do it, MMO, mmorpg, new things

Feeling like you’re part of a larger community is a natural human instinct. It’s the kind of thing that game devs and gaming companies make their money off of. It’s why MMO fans can be some of the best and worst at the same time. Breaking in to that community, however, feels pretty damn daunting.

“I wanna pwn teh noobzorz too…!”

This post is spawned by my own want to be a part of fighting games. So I wanted to reflect on my own sensation of feeling outside looking in, and how I’ve tried to manage the feeling of being locked out.

Stonehearth Through Wolfy’s Eyes

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early access, game, gaming, management sim, preview, steam, steam early access, stonehearth, through wolfy's eyes

I love a good surprise. Whether it’s something that I held low expectations for and get blown away by, or a title that arrives to me from out of the blue and ends up delighting, it’s wonderful to be reminded that games can surprise you. Stonehearth, a voxel-based survival/management game from Radiant Entertainment, absolutely falls in to the latter category.

Who knew blocky Funko Pop characters would bring so much charm?

Switched On

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console, console games, console gaming, livestream, nintendo, nintendo console, nintendo games, nintendo switch, twitch, twitch stream

So here we all sit, at the precipice of one of the happiest moments in my recent gaming history: the arrival of a new Nintendo console. I haven’t been swept up in this much joy regarding gaming since World of Final Fantasy came out.

I have a weakness for chibified FF VI characters. What can I say.

It’s the eve of a new nerd Christmas. The Nintendo Switch livestream event. It’s something that’s been on my mind recently, of course, and I wanted to share a few of my thoughts on what I’m hoping to see out of this broadcast.

Triple B Gaming

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console games, farming simulator 17, final fantasy xv, games, gaming, gaming opinion, mmorpg, no man's sky, opinion, popular games, triple a games

I’ve written before about how an otherwise unassuming title has made videogaming a lot more palatable to me as I get older, but my recent gaming habits have kind of expanded upon that post. It’s made me consider my love of gaming cheese, and recently I’ve embraced the idea of “triple B gaming”: games that are otherwise called garbage that still hold a place in my heart.

“Straight Line Driving: The Video Game” holds more appeal than any Call of Duty.

Overwatch Through Wolfy’s Eyes

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blizzard, fps, multiplayer, overwatch, shooter, team based, team shooter

It was, honestly, inevitable. Despite arms crossed over chest and nose upturned at the idea, I went ahead and downloaded the Overwatch open “beta”. I had my suspicions going in to how I would feel about the game, but I also had my own personal rule of “Don’t knock it ’til you try it” drumming in my head and the compulsion of my Twitter feed driving me onward.

Also: Zarya.

PAX East and Aspiration

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aspiration, con, convention, coverage, gaming press, media, mmogames, motivation, pax, pax east, writing

So this weekend prior, I was in Boston attending my first-ever con in PAX East, providing coverage for MMOGames. It was a whirlwind – a far busier experience than I had first supposed. For about eight hours each day of that weekend, I was darting around the show floor or some nearby locations, making appointments, playing games, talking to devs and otherwise living a second life.

Now that it’s all over and done with, and the coverage has ended, and I’m back in my office job’s chair…I don’t know that I want to do anything else.

Musings of a Novice YouTuber

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audience, content creation, digital media, gamer, gaming, gaming channel, gaymer, let's play, video production, youtube

So, my husband and I have this YouTube channel thing.

Complete with some seriously snappy logo art.

I was pretty skeptical about the idea, to be completely blunt. There’s myriad Let’s Play videos on YouTube and many more of them are far cleverer and more interesting than I believe myself to be. That said, I agreed to the idea on the strength of my husband’s very obvious enthusiasm and the hopes that his accent would be more interesting to hear than my own fat face. About two months removed from our launch, I think I can outline my thoughts on the project at this early stage.

Critically Considering No Man’s Sky

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exploration, gaming, myst, no man's sky, ps4, space flight, space game, spore, survival

So this game has been a curiosity for me that didn’t seem like it was possible. It sounded like one of those much-maligned Kickstarter vaporware schemes. But lo and behold, it formed from vapor to solid. Not only that, it’s a thing that’s becoming reality to my PS4, which gives it a strange sense of permanence to me somehow.

Probably because I like to have the physical copy in my hands.

It’s easy for people to think it’s not possible – a videogame where the point is to dart seamlessly from planet to planet and map out the wider galaxy? Sounds like the ramblings of Peter Molyneux after looking directly at the Elder Scrolls. But now that we’re coming to a release, there’s still grumblings about whether it’s “an actual game” or not. Which got me thinking…

Kylo Ren > Darth Vader

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bad guy, character, darth vader, force, kylo ren, sith, star wars, villain

(This blog post assumes you’ve seen the film Star Wars: The Force Awakens.  As such, this will contain some spoilers.)

HAH! YOU FELL FOR MY CLICKBAIT!  WATCH AS I BASK IN THE AD REVENUE!

….kidding, of course.  I don’t make money off of this thing, and the amount of followers I have would barely tickle WordPress’ pockets.  But the point stands that I genuinely feel this way–I feel like Kylo Ren is a better Star Wars villain than Darth Vader.  And a damn sight better than Palpatine.

Machinations so contrived, even The Dark Knight’s Joker furrowed his brow.