Top Ten Party Games

One of the best things video games can do is bring people together. Multiplayer has been around for decades, and with a general shift toward online multiplayer being the only way to play with others, local multiplayer and party games have been declining. Despite this, some of the greatest video games created were made specifically with local multiplayer in mind. Recently Nintendo seems to be the only publisher making games to fit in this genre, but there have been dozens of games released over the past years that exemplify the party genre. Here is my list of the ten greatest party games ever!

 

Top Ten Franchises Nintendo Needs to Resurrect

Nintendo is synonymous with the video game industry. For decades now, lots of folk have been calling video games in general Nintendo games, despite the games they’re sometimes referencing are exclusive to consoles other than Nintendo’s. You don’t become that iconic without a handful of recognizable and influential series’ and characters under your belt. Nintendo’s got tons of big hitters, not the least of which being the red capped Mario and pals, Pikachu and the other hundreds of Pokemon, and the epic adventures of a young boy named Link, but they’ve also got some other franchises that for whatever reason just don’t get enough love. Included in this list are the games that Nintendo seems to have forgot they made. For every one of these games we got 10 Mario’s. With the 3DS and Wii U bringing back a good amount of old classics like Star Fox and Fire Emblem, here’s hoping the ten following entries will see some love from Nintendo in the near future.

 

Worth Playing vol. 8: The Crossover Collection

Crossovers are the best fan service gamers can get. The blending of popular IPs into one unique game usually gets fans in a fever, finally being able to play as Sonic the Hedgehog in a Mario-themed game. Or finally being able to see who would win between the X-Man Wolverine and the Street Fighter Ryu. The opportunities for creating these scenarios is endless, but despite this we don’t get too many crossover games. Maybe it has something to do with publishing rights, company egos, or (most likely) money, but whatever the culprit may be, there are still a handful of crossover video games that are a hell of a lot of fun to play, and totally worth your time!

 

Sunday Roundup: 8/3/14

Get ready folks, this is a big one.
After a lovely trip back home to Indiana to visit my family and see some old friends, I’m back in California where it still hasn’t rained in months! Severe drought aside, I have to say this trip back home was a blast, and coming home to The Bay with two dozen new video games to add to the collection is quite an accomplishment as well. I don’t think I’ve picked up this many games in a single week since I grabbed a ton of games right before I actually moved out west. Coincidentally, I went to nearly every game store I went to then, and managed to pick up something from all of them! There are even a couple gems in this mix, so let’s get started!

 

Games I Have Somehow Never Played…

Well, this is embarrassing.

It should come as no surprise to anyone who has played video game for more than a few years that you just can’t play them all. No matter how hard you have tried, you can’t fit in each video game that releases in a year into your play rotation. Video games aren’t like movies: they can’t be seen and completed in a few short hours (at least most of them). They aren’t as easy to come by in some instances. And sometimes they simply don’t fit into your budget.

For this reason or that, we all have games that we’ve never gotten around to playing. Triple A games, too. The games that may have defined a generation. The games that people are still talking about to this day. The games that you kind of have to just shake your head at when others are discussing around you because you have no idea what is going on.

These are those games. Below you will find the shame of my gaming expertise. These are the games I’ve never played. At least as of yet.

 

Sunday Roundup: 3/9/14

This week’s Sunday Roundup has been long overdue, with all of the games actually coming into my collection prior to last Sunday. But, seeing as I was busy with work and a multitude of other tasks last week, I wasn’t able to get it written until today. Nonetheless, there are eight games here spanning seven systems. I kind of like it when they’re all for different systems: it’s like spreading out the wealth amongst the lonely consoles. And whenever I can procure a GameCube game I feel even better about the purchase!

 

Sunday Roundup: 2/23/14

Man, it has been awhile since I had a true Sunday Roundup to talk about! Just one game is fine and all, but let’s face it: Just one game isn’t going to cut it for expanding upon one’s collection now is it? Speaking of collections, this week is comprised mostly of Dreamcast games, a system I am always on the lookout for but never seem to come across. So here’s to you Space Cat, and to more fruitful visits!

 

 

Yearly Roundup: 2013

Another full year of game collecting has come to a close. While I don’t think 2013 stacked up as much as 2012 (in terms of amount of games added), 2013 still gave me dozens of great new games to play and cherish. I picked up a brand new console in 2013 with the Wii U, and even managed to snag a few new Sega Saturn and original Xbox games as well. This was also a strong year for downloadable games for me, especially for review on the 3DS, so a lot of games I’d have loved to own I only have in digital form. Sad, but not the worst thing that could happen. Without further adieu, here are the games of 2013:

 

 

Game Hunter’s Journal: Collecting Last Gen Games

With literally thousands of video games out there begging for your time and money, it can be more than daunting finding a starting point for a growing collection. Worse yet (or better depending on how you look at it), more and more games are being released each and every week! So where to begin? In part two of a special Game Hunter’s Journal series, we’ll go over the ins and outs of collecting games from the last generation of consoles. Used games will be your currency, getting good deals your fancy, and some quality titles to play will be your reward. Let’s get right into it!

 

Sunday Roundup: 11/24/13 – The Wii U Edition

It finally happened:

I bought a Wii U!!

And with some pretty great deals surrounding it: I was able to score the Legend of Zelda Special Edition system for nearly $75 off, as well as snag some cheap, brand new games!

And what could make this week even more awesome? Getting a trio of Saturn games off eBay, of course!! Winners all around!! More exclamation points!!!