I’m back mutha****as!
I know. You didn’t know I was gone. That’s because I’m like a ninja. Well I’m back now, and while not a whole lot has happened while I was gone, there were some notable things that took place.
Nintendo’s online service launched. I did have my Switch with me on vacation, so it give me an excuse to sign up for the 7-day free trial and check out the “virtual console” that is included. I put in some decent time with it on the plane ride back, and while there’s nothing inherently wrong with the games themselves, the JoyCon’s kinda suck for retro games. The thumb stick really doesn’t play nice with some of those old games, and while some like Gradius and River City Ransom seem to work alright, The Legend of Zelda didn’t seem to like it very much. I found myself sticking to the buttons to move around. I didn’t get a chance to toy around with the online multiplayer, the only game I have that would support it is Mario Kart 8, and I never really played it online to begin with so I couldn’t comment on whether it’s better or worse. As it stands, it’s hard for me to pull the trigger on the $20 service. I may wait until the “VC” offers a more diverse portfolio. Most of the retro games that are worth playing are already available on my NES Classic. I can see the value in having this regularly updating library of retro titles available on the go, but as it stands right now, I’m not going to lug my Switch around for a handful of titles I’ve already played to death. What games would change my mind? How about Kung Fu, Contra, Shadowgate, Dragon Warrior, Gun.Smoke, and TMNT III: The Manhattan Project? Honestly, I’d pay it just for TMNT III.
Sony announced downloadable titles for PS Now. One of the biggest gripes I had with PS Now was that the games had to be streaming. I needed to be hard-wired to my router in order to take advantage of my service, due to wifi being hit or miss, especially with the PS4’s woefully obsolete 2.4 GHz wifi card. Unplugging that Cat5e cable meant a huge downgrade in visual quality, and that’s if the game was even playable. Sony rectified this (mostly) by now offering most of the games as downloadable titles. This is commendable, and definitely a step in the right direction. Now all they need to do is knock $10 off the price. If I can get both Xbox Game Pass and Playstation Now for $20 a month I will be one happy camper.
Sony also announced a Playstation Classic for $100. There are apparently going to be twenty games available for it, but so far have only announced a handful of them. I’ll be honest, by today’s standards, PS1 games look like complete ass. They just didn’t age well. The only way, and I mean the only way I will go back and play those games is if the emulator not only upscales the output to 1080p (which it should) but also renders the games using more AA and reduces the jitter that old PS games suffered from. I can’t really see myself jumping on this one. I still need to get my hands on an SNES Classic, and that one even has the nostalgia factor going for it.
Rockstar announced shrinking horse testacles. Not to be outdone in the attention-to-detail department, Rockstar announced several weird quirks in Red Dead Redemption 2, the most interesting one of which is the fact that your character’s horse will have a ballsack that will raise or lower depending on the temperature of the setting you are currently in. Who needs a thermometer when you can just check your horse’s package? R* also commented that the horse will dynamically poop. So there you go, dropping balls and unscripted horse shit. Welcome to the future.
The fall gaming season is officially under way, and with Shadow of the Tomb Raider and Spider-Man still on the wish list and Forza Horizon 4 on the.. uh.. horizon, it’s looking like I’m going to have plenty on my plate until the end of the year. I’m back from vacay, I’m re-invigorated, and I’m broke! Bring it on!
