Pokemon And Me: Part 3

You can catch Part 1 here and Part 2 here.

I left off saying that I picked up ‘Pokemon Black/White’ 6 months late and while this is true; it was technically MrsLuvva who picked me up the game. She still judges me on my predilection for the pocket monsters and still buys me each and every release day one; although in recent years she has held off giving me them until Christmas, gotta love that support of a habit!

To be honest while I still love the mainline games in the franchise and have owned every iteration of them since Heart Gold, most of my recent fond memories come from beyond the franchise. Namely the conversations, battles and trades with fellow Pokemaniacs!

Pokemon And Me: Part 2

As I pulled back the curtain into my gaming historia in my last ‘Pokemon’ post (go here to catch part 1) I hope I made it obvious that the franchise means a lot to me. As I quickly approach my 33rd birthday I still play the franchise on a nearly daily basis, however I have something to admit to you guys; I haven’t played every mainline game in the series…

…man it feels good to get that off my chest – but there is more…

Mind-blowing and life altering!

…around 2003 I fell out of love with gaming and to be honest I completely stopped buying consoles and games!

I think the last game I bought between 2003 and 2006 was the GBA game ‘Ecks Vs Sever’. Thankfully this hiatus came to an abrupt end when I saw the Xbox 360; specifically the trailer to ‘Gears of War’ – it may not be the best game ever, but it was the one that made me a gamer again!

Of course this means that I completely missed the remakes of Red/Green, the entirety of Gen III with Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald and even Gen IV with Diamond/Pearl. This tragic story of lose gets worse though guys…

…my malaise with gaming was so bad that I was completely unaware of the existence of the Gen III games. Honestly! I don’t even think I knew that Diamond and Pearl existed, if I did I really don’t remember it. What changed though?

Pokemon And Me: Part 1

I remember when I bought Pokemon Blue one autumn evening in October ’99 it was a very special moment. It was the moment that a love affair sparked between myself and a Nintendo franchise. As regular readers of these pages will know, I grew up a SEGA kid, from the master system to the Saturn it was all I played – I even returned to them when they launched the Dreamcast.

And yet there was something about those lovable little monsters, maybe it was my little brothers fault for constantly watching the anime, perhaps that time when he brought home a starter pack of trading cards or that time he brought home ‘Pokemon Red’ and proceeded to hog the Gameboy…

…or maybe, just maybe Nintendo and Creature Freak captured lightning in a bottle. There is undoubtedly something very carnal about collecting; we are all collectors, it’s in our nature. Couple that nature with a game of genuine quality and you have a sure-fire hit on your hands.

This is my account of the relationship I have had with the ‘Pokemon’ series of games.

The Dreamcast Diaries: The House of the Dead 2

‘The House of the Dead 2’ is a game that sticks out in my memory for a number of reasons;

1. It was the first game my Dad bought for me that was a) unprompted and b) not my birthday or Christmas.
2. It was the first game that my Dad played with me religiously for months after release.
3. It was the only time that my Dad went out and purchased an extra peripheral to play.

I remember when I found my Dreamcast on Christmas Day. My Dad took a real interest in it, coming upstairs with me, helping me set it up and watching me play my way through ‘Sonic Adventure’. This was the only console he took an interest in; well beyond that first day anyway. I’m not really sure what it was about the Dreamcast that he liked so much, perhaps it was all those days in arcades with us playing games, or perhaps SEGA just captured his imagination.

I’ll never forget the look on his face when he came home from work one morning (he was a night shift taxi driver) and produced a boxed Dreamcast blaster and a copy of ‘THe House of the Dead 2’ – he also had simple instructions; “make us a cuppa and I’ll fire up the SEGA”, he always called it a SEGA.

The Dreamcast Diaries: Sonic Adventure

Launch titles on new consoles need to do two distinct jobs:

1. Look utterly amazing – they must look better than any game on the market
2. Be fun while simultaneously giving gamers a taste of what the new console is all about

For my money ‘Sonic Adventure’ is the ultimate launch title! So it is fitting that my Dreamcast retrospective series would visit this little diamond.

The Dreamcast Diaries: Shenmue 2

The Dreamcast diaries is a series in which I examine my catalogue of games that helped make SEGA’s opus the best console of all time.

My last entry into the series proved to be crazy popular, there was a buzz on the ‘Shenmue’ kickstarter page and in other corners of the internet, it was great to see people talk about the game that I loved with the same affection as I have for it!

Continuing on my journey there is really only one place to stop at next, the continuation of Ryo Hazuki’s (it is not a sequel!) quest for vengeance; ‘Shenmue 2’.

The Dreamcast Diaries: Shenmue and Me

The time has come guys, the time for me to delve deep into my gaming history, the time to look at what is; in my opinion, the greatest console of all time. The SEGA Dreamcast.

I have recently dug out my Dreamcast and its game collection for my own and my stream viewers entertainment.

I will be running a retrospective series looking at what the Dreamcast means to me through its game library. Being as topical as ever though I’m starting with the daddy of all Dreamcast games, the one that has been recently resurrected on Kickstarter; a game that is always mentioned in “Best Ever” lists.

Shenmue. 

My year with my PS Vita!

The  Playstation Vita; and oft-forgotten console (even Sony seem to have erased it from their memory), and I were made acquaintances a year ago (almost to the day). I was able to pick one up at an insanely low price.

You sexy thing!

Public opinion is split on the Vita. Those who own one speak about it in an almost unanimous positive way. Those who don’t own one are unaware of its existence.

How have I found the Vita? Well let’s take a look.

My treasured gaming memory – A Recipe.

My one true MMO love

Before I begin this tale – I have another; somewhat shorter, story. A week ago I was minding my own business (this is a lie; I was playing games) when all of a sudden…I was introduced to a website called Man Crates.

Being a man myself; my interest was piqued and I investigated the website and it’s actually a pretty cool idea! They deliver crates that are full of man-swag including a new dad tactical bag, whiskey boxes and most importantly of all; retro gaming and super retro gaming crates! Hell; you even need a crowbar to open these boxes of delights! If you are a man; or you have a man in your life who’d like this stuff go check them out…as I say it’s a cool website and worth a gander.

Anyway it gave me a good idea for a post – what was the ingredients for my perfect gaming memory…I’m not one to turn my back on inspiration so…are you sitting comfortably?

Then we’ll begin.

My favourite gaming Christmas memory by MrJohnSherry

In our last blog post of the year – we finish our Christmas celebrations (BOO HISS!) MrJohnSherry has chosen his favourite Christmas gaming memory – once more we want to thank all of our readers for supporting us this year and we wish you all a very happy New Year.

Friday begins our discussions about our favourite game this year (our GOTY if you will) MrLuvvaLuvva will be choosing his favourite 3, Tuesday (because well be reverting back to our usual post days) will see MrJohnSherry choose and explain his 3 favourites.