Tuesday, April 21, 2015
Year the Ninth
It's been a pretty shit year for games, hasn't it?
I mean, Super Smash Brothers, right? But even that didn't exactly knock my socks off. It seems like the most exciting thing Nintendo's done all year is fail to keep the store shelves stocked with little plastic toys.
Not that this is a very rigorously-maintained blog or anything, but I feel like I've been talking even less about the new video games lately. I loved Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright, but what's the point of writing about it? It's exactly the game you would expect it to be. Professor Layton style puzzles, Phoenix Wright style court battles, awesome story. Eleven word review. I feel like there's this ennui among video game fans because, while the games themselves are only becoming bigger and cooler, they still have very much the same soul that they've had for the last ten years or longer. There hasn't really been a breakout game-changer since... well, Wii Sports.
But one or two games have come along that gave me something to write about. Fantasy Life impressed me with its pacifist RPG action. Tomodachi Life made me question what makes something a game. And I find myself interested in big picture stuff, like Amazon's move toward a streaming box or what the New Super Mario Brothers games mean for Nintendo. And frankly, ThinkFun's lineup for this year has gotten me seriously interested in tabletop games again. I've probably done more Unplugged Dilintia this year than in the eight previous years combined, with Robot Turtles being one of my favorites.
It's weird to think that this blog is moving into its tenth year. I can't think of anything I've kept up for that long. Right now, it seems like this hobby is only going to get weirder. I've still got stuff on my mind, though. Let's see how it all shakes out.
I mean, Super Smash Brothers, right? But even that didn't exactly knock my socks off. It seems like the most exciting thing Nintendo's done all year is fail to keep the store shelves stocked with little plastic toys.
Not that this is a very rigorously-maintained blog or anything, but I feel like I've been talking even less about the new video games lately. I loved Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright, but what's the point of writing about it? It's exactly the game you would expect it to be. Professor Layton style puzzles, Phoenix Wright style court battles, awesome story. Eleven word review. I feel like there's this ennui among video game fans because, while the games themselves are only becoming bigger and cooler, they still have very much the same soul that they've had for the last ten years or longer. There hasn't really been a breakout game-changer since... well, Wii Sports.
But one or two games have come along that gave me something to write about. Fantasy Life impressed me with its pacifist RPG action. Tomodachi Life made me question what makes something a game. And I find myself interested in big picture stuff, like Amazon's move toward a streaming box or what the New Super Mario Brothers games mean for Nintendo. And frankly, ThinkFun's lineup for this year has gotten me seriously interested in tabletop games again. I've probably done more Unplugged Dilintia this year than in the eight previous years combined, with Robot Turtles being one of my favorites.
It's weird to think that this blog is moving into its tenth year. I can't think of anything I've kept up for that long. Right now, it seems like this hobby is only going to get weirder. I've still got stuff on my mind, though. Let's see how it all shakes out.
Labels: dilintia
# posted by CPFace @ 12:00 AM 
