Don't Revive Your Friends

 If you are like me and you watch the Super Bowl for the commercials, you were treated to the Super Mario Bros Plumbing commercial. This featured the rap included in the old Live Action Mario Bros show back in the day.  If you were eagle-eyed or eared, and you noticed the website, you may think to yourself that it's just for show. Well. It is BUT it is also real. If you head HERE  you will be treated to an old-school designed website from two plumbers trying to get their business afoot. It's funny, its on brand and it makes me even more excited for the movie. Just check out these testimonials from the site: They even have the broken image icon in the top left. Very charming. The Super Mario Bros. movie hits theaters April 7, 2023.

  After completing Tiny Tina's Wonderlands on the Playstation 5, I have decided to go back to where my love for the looter shooter began: Borderlands. Booting up the Game Of The Year remastered edition was an instant blast of nostalgia. Even with the updated graphics and faster loading times, I could not help but think of the first time I played this game. I was living in my first apartment. Sort of rundown and sketchy but that didn't matter. All that mattered was my mind being focused on Borderlands. From it's silly little robot barking commands at me while I pew pew away at vulgar mouthed bandits, or the fact that this cel shading was so interesting and fresh from what I have been playing at the time. Borderlands is STILL great. Easily. Sure, it may feel a little flighty compared to later entries like 3 and Wonderlands but it still remains a fantastic shooter. Gunplay is such an experience since the millions of random gun combinations completely change your playstyle ever...

This is a question I think about often. If you are going to offer a live service game, should that game be free? Now this includes subscription fees and base entry fees. I understand charging for Battle Passes, DLC (expansions offering premium content), and the like. But if we look at something like Fortnite, which makes a FORTUNE off of Skins/Battle Passes/Crew Memberships, why is every game not following this model? Opening up your game to a slew of people waiting for the next big thing is in your best interest. These people are keener to purchasing skins, emotes, and whatever else you're offering.  There are games that offer the base entry fee and then either services die out OR they go to a free-to-play model months after release. The people who funded the game for the last few months do not get refunds. Now sure, that company is taking a loss as well but I really feel the way to move forward is to offer these games free initially. If you know you are going to have a gacha feat...

Scarlet Nexus released in 2021. I bought it, played for an hour or so, and then turned my attention to something else. I am sure you know how that goes. It's very rare that I do not like the game. More the "Oooh, shiny" approach I have had for the longest time to video games. Boy did I miss out. Scarlet Nexus is a fantastic action RPG developed by Bandai Namco Studios. Its anime-styled approach comes with tons of story elements through two main characters. You have Yuito and Kasane, both joining the OSF (the military of this world meant to fight Others which are monstrous alien creatures) as new recruits. They both have their own storylines that link up and to get the full picture, it is best to play through both characters. After you beat one, you have the option of a New Game Plus with the other. The writing here is great and I found myself wanting to know everything, even after I completed one story. I finished Yuito's first and absolutely had to go back to Kasane...