GAME MUSIC OF THE WEEK - 4/16/13

Whoops!  Little late on this.  Long story.  Anyway this kid made a surprisingly awesome medley of gaming music throughout the years, using the Mario Paint composer.  It's really neatly done! 

BREAKING FREE OF THE CONSOLE WARS

Since the dawn of home console video games, there has always been war.  Bitter rivals competing head to head for your living room space.  There were minor skirmishes early on, with Atari vs Commodore, and the NES stomped the Sega Master System into the ground.  The first real war erupted when the Super Nintendo went head-to-head with the Sega Genesis, and it was bloody.  Lines were drawn.  Friendships destroyed.  Controllers broken.  Blast processing overhyped.  In the end, the Genesis held on and fought the good fight, but the SNES eventually won.  Since then, every generation has had its console wars.  The past few years have mostly seen Sony and Microsoft in an embittered Cold War, with Nintendo ineffectually waggling its sticks around at them, menacingly. 

The problem is that we as gamers and consumers never really had options.  A console is a long term investment, a heavy chunk of change that would last you 5-7 years.  You could pick a side and become a raving fanboy (or girl), you could save up your money and buy multiple consoles, or you could just opt out, build a gaming rig, and become a PC gamer.  Either way, there was nothing in between.  There were very few alternatives to the mainstream, and those we had either flopped pathetically, or just became short-lived beloved oddities (We love you and miss you, Sega Dreamcast).  Even these oddities were an expensive investment.  We never had anything cheaper, smaller, or more convenient. 

Until now.   

LIVETWEETING THE BIG SONY ANNOUNCEMENT

Hey kids!   Uncle Cranky here.   In case you haven't heard, Sony has been hyping up a BIG press release for Feb 20th.   Well hey what a coincidence!  That's today!  General consensus is that this will be the official reveal of the Playstation 4.  Sony obviously hasn't confirmed this, but they've stayed quiet with a silent, implied wink-and-nod.* 

So if you follow my site, here's what is going to happen.   I'm gonna find me a stream of the video.   I know our friends over at Attack Initiative will be hosting a stream, or you can find a portal of your choice. Once you've found a stream, and I've found a stream, I will be hosting a livetweet of my thoughts as the conference goes on.   So if you HAVEN'T followed me on twitter, now is the time to do so!

https://twitter.com/CrankyOldGamerX

The big conference begins at 6pm EST!   See you there!




*- Of course, this COULD be like the Nintendo press conference a couple of years ago, when people thought they were going to announce the Wii U, and instead they revealed a couple of games no one cared about.   But we don't think so.

AND SO IT BEGINS

Just a quickie update here.  Kaylei Bristol, writer/reviewer for Attack Initiative and a very dear friend of mine, has picked the first game for me to play and review from the list. 

She has chosen Bulletstorm.  Or as she so eloquently phrased it, "You need the game with all the dick jokes in the world to be your next game."

I'm already two or three hours into the campaign, got some piping hot screenshots ready, and am forming my opinions.  Tune in Monday for the first review of 2013!

THE NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION, PART DEUX

Wanna help control the content of this site, and keep me on my toes?   Here's how!

HOLY CRAP WE HAVE A HEADER!

Hey look!  Instead of just text saying "The Cranky Old Gamer" and a profile icon of Fallout's Brotherhood Of Steel, I actually have a real header with a cranky cartoon of me!  

Major thanks go to Josh Vilchis and his awesome designs!  Dude's never met me in person or even seen a picture of me, and yet he perfectly captured my "annoyed" look with that little cartoon. 

So seriously, if you need some design work done, shoot him an email and check him out!   Fantastic work, Josh.  Thank you so much!

AT A GLANCE - RAYMAN: ORIGINS

Ubisoft is trying to bring platforming back into the spotlight with a revival of their Playstation-era hero, Rayman.   The cartoony French mascot debuted in 1995 and enjoyed some popularity, he hasn't been seen in his own title almost a decade.   The Raving Rabbids series began as a Rayman game, but spun off into their own series, leaving Rayman behind.   Now he's back in a gorgeous retro-styled platformer that returns to the series' 2D roots.  It's been showered with accolades by reviewers and gamers alike since its release, becoming something of an underdog success story.  This week, Ubisoft put the game on sale for 50% off, and I decided to see what all the hype was about.

RETROAWESOME: CRYSTALIS

We're all dead now, apparently. 

CHILDHOOD GRUDGE

It's funny how we all have little tiny hidden rage triggers in our minds.  Just a simple word or phrase that sparks some old wound from your past that immediately sends you into a fury.   As it turns out, for me those words today were "Nintendo Power Hotline".  Fuck those guys. Seriously.  I never forgave them for an incident when I was in elementary school, when the original Legend Of Zelda came out.