"Panel de PokéMon!"

“Friday Old Games” is a series of articles in which we review a game from the older generations of consoles, share why we picked it, and whether or not it holds up with time.

Long before the sequel to Meteos was themed with Disney characters, a Japanese puzzle game named Panel de Pon came over to North America after being re-branded with characters from Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island and renamed Tetris Attack. Jump four years ahead and we find the game now re-re-branded with a paint job of the ever popular PokéMon series.

(more…)

"If you're in a line long enough to require sitting, this knowledge is a must!"

If you’re anything like me, you like to engage in certain activities that involve waiting in line. Whether it be for a concert, an event at a convention, or opening night at the latest summer blockbuster, lines can seem like a never ending train of boredom without the right tools to help pass the time.

For the group of friends (or sometimes even strangers) who never leave the house without their trusty iteration of the Nintendo DS, I have put together a modestly sized list of some of my personal favorite multiplayer titles. They are in no particular order and include both old and new releases.

(more…)

"A Man Out Standing In His Field"

Technology is evolving at an exponentially faster and faster rate, but because it happens over time, it’s easy to be aloof to the ways it changes our day-to-day tasks. Those of us who are of an age that we can remember when things were “different” don’t often take the time to step back and try to remember what was in fact different about our experiences a few scant years ago. Those younger than us, infuriatingly, seem to completely take for granted the things that have developed in our lifetimes, and have no appreciation for how different things are. Other than communication, the aspect that technology has had the greatest effect on is probably entertainment. And just like any other form of entertainment, the lowest common denominator is a big seller. I’m talking, of course, about the genre of games hated by those who take video games seriously, “casual games”. Here’s a rundown of the casual games that I’ve been playing recently, when and where I play them, and what it all means.

(more…)

I've been playing this for 20 years?

When I was a young boy growing up in a small town, it was rare for us to get new games for our NES. When the system was new and shiny, my older brothers would pool their money and pick up some great release, like “The Legend of Zelda”, or sometimes a big stinker, like “Tag Team Wrestling” (this was back when we were all really into the WWF).

Then the years passed, and my older brothers started to lose interest in gaming. I ended up renting games pretty frequently (back when it was only $1 for the whole weekend), but owning them was a rare occurrence.

Along came Tetris. It was hyped in magazines and TV ads for months,even making it’s way onto some day time talk show, where they were going on about it being a game that is actually good for kids to play. It promoted quick thinking, hand-eye coordination, etc. Thanks, Nintendo fluff piece! I now had ammo.

(more…)