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zwolanerd

“I guess I just like liking things”

November 13, 2014 What I’m Playing: November 2014

The "unlimited" in the title refers to how much real-world money you could spend on stuff in the game.

The “unlimited” in the title refers to how much real-world money you could spend on stuff in the game.

It has been over a year since I’ve done a “What I’m Playing,” which seems weird to me. How have you people gotten along without this information?

I just this week got a new phone, so I’ve reinstalled most of the games that were on the last one, but my save games mostly don’t transfer, so I’m starting from scratch on them.

  • Temple Run 2 (Windows Phone) – There is one more achievement I’m after on this, the Bonus Items one. Apparently is should have popped when I played it on  my previous phone, but many say it’s glitched. Hopefully it’ll pop this time through.
  • Spider-Man Unlimited (Windows Phone) – Another endless runner game, but this one has hand-drawn Spider-Man panels and is lots of fun. I’m not very good at, but it’s going better on my new phone with a larger screen. There are a lot of things going on at the same time and my eyes and fingers can’t seem to keep up with it. You earn costumes for Spidey as you play, though, and it’s very addicting.
  • Clicker Heroes (Online) – Honestly, I couldn’t tell you why I’m playing this one. I don’t even completely understand it. It scratches my “leveling up!” itch, I guess. It’s not very interactive (unless you want it to be), so it’s more about earning money over time and upgrading your heroes so you can… earn more money over time. The scale on this thing is bananapants, and I think that’s part of the appeal.
  • The Simpsons Tapped Out (iOS) – The Halloween update is just now ending and it was fun (except I couldn’t earn Mr. Burns’ alien costume). These guys have consistently brought events, characters, and buildings to the game, which gives it longevity. I’ve been playing for over two years now! (Maybe 3? I’ve lost track.)
  • Assassin’s Creed: Unity (Xbox One) – I just started this one. I’m hearing a lot of complaints about it, but so far it seems fine. “More of the same” is never going to be a complaint I have about game series I like.
  • Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands (Xbox 360) – I got this very cheaply a couple of months ago and I’m enjoying it. Rather, I was enjoying it until recently. I got to a room and couldn’t figure out what to do – there were no puzzles or exits anywhere. I looked it up online and there’s supposed to be an enemy up on one platform that I can use a special move to get to him, but he’s not there. Without him, I can’t do the move and I can’t get to the platform, so I won’t be able to progress. I’m more than halfway through the game, but if I want to finish it, I’ll need to start another game, apparently. I am not thrilled about this, and I haven’t decided if I’m going to.
  • Alien: Isolation (Xbox One) – Borrowed from a friend. I’m very impressed with the atmosphere they’ve brought to life in the game, but I’m just not enjoying it. I don’t know if I’ll ever want to finish it.
  • Another World: 20th Anniversary Edition (Xbox One) – I won this from Windows Central while watching a stream of them playing it. I played it years and years ago (like, 20), but if I hadn’t watched their stream of it I would have been lost so many times. As it was, it ended up being a quick playthrough (like 90 minutes) for 1,000 Gamerpoints. Not too bad for a free game.

Hope to play soon:

  • Lego Batman 3 (Xbox One) – I still haven’t played the Lego Hobbit game, but I want to play this one more.
  • Dragon Age Inquisition (Xbox One) – It’s the closest I can get to playing Mass Effect on a next generation machine. I’m hearing a lot of good things about this one.

What are you playing these days?

 

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November 12, 2014 Lyn Plays Jill of the Jungle

I lied, this isn’t Jill of the Jungle. This is Jill Saves the Prince, but it’s part three of the Jill trilogy so it counts.  I did play the first one, but the recording didn’t record, and so I jumped into the third which I had not played before. It’s a shame the first one failed, because even after all this time I still rocked at the Jill. Rocked it. It’s at this point I will direct you to my first ever Zwolanerd Post (I think) in which I reminisce about Jill.

This was genuinely too much fun. My nostalgia was all nostalgic, I was 13 again. I was throwing knives and killing birds and basically being amazing. Amazing!

Jill of the Jungle is (as far as I am aware and I checked in several places) Abandonware. A search of the internet will turn it up for you, though be aware you’ll probably need something like Dosbox to play it unless you have a 1990s computer sitting around. And you might, I don’t know.

To continue the searing nostalgia, which old game should I play next week?

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November 11, 2014 Tuesday 5: Movies of 1974

Hey, since there aren’t that many movies in the list for this year, let’s add in a list of some of my favorite actors who were born this year! Two lists!

  • Amy Adams – She’s done many great movies, but I think we can agree that her turn in The Muppets was peak Amy Adams.
  • Christian Bale – The second-best Batman!
  • Hilary Swank – The second-best Karate Kid!
  • Alyson Hannigan – Willow!
  • Leonardo DiCaprio – Seriously, he should have an Oscar by now. He should’ve had one for What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, ya dumb Academy voters!

texaschainsawOkay, on to the movie list:

5. Blazing Saddles – I really don’t like this movie. Sorry, every comedy fan ever. Just not my thing at all. Honestly, I like most Mel Brooks movies less and less the older I get.

4. Benji – I don’t even remember anything about this movie, but I remember the dog was cute.

3. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre – This movie is gross. Not even scary, just gross. That upstairs dinner scene? So gross. The closest to scary in this movie for me was when he dragged that one person into his room and slammed that sliding door shut. I don’t know why, but the way he shuts that door is slightly terrifying.

2. The Man with the Golden Gun – James Bond movies are like pizza: even the bad ones are still enjoyable. This one wasn’t even bad, though! It just wasn’t great.

1. Young Frankenstein – Earlier I said I didn’t like most Mel Brooks movies. This is one of the few exceptions. I really, really like this one.

Other thoughts:

  • Zardoz – This is the one with Sean Conenry in that weird red swimsuit with the suspenders. I just feel like a person ought to see that for himself, you know?
  • Chinatown – I’ve had the disc from Netflix for a month now, so I really should watch this.

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November 6, 2014 Comparing Q*bert

I did not mean for this week to become Q*bert Week (note to self: future idea!), but Lyn’s video yesterday got me looking at other Q*bert videos on YouTube. I’m well aware that any post that has “Q*bert” in the title immediately cuts my audience by about 90%, but that 10% deserves the highest quality Q*bert posts I can muster.

This is the video I watched (in its entirety) last night:

I have only played 6 (maybe 7) of the versions included in the video, so I am not a Q*bert black belt just yet.

Couple of thoughts:

  • The Vic20 version cracked me up, with the little black boxes around everything.
  • The Amiga version creeped me out a little. It’s very smooth and pretty, but the protagonist looks more like a peg from the Life board game than Q*bert.
  • The GameBoy versions seem impossibly difficult to me, with the scrolling screens.
  • I had never heard of the Sega SG-1000 before, which is weird to me.
  • The differences in the pyramids across the version make sense to me, for the most part. The Atari 2600 version having 6 cubes across the bottom instead of the 7 it should is likely due to hardware and resolution limitations. However, I do not get the 8-cube pyramid in the BBC micro version at all. That throws everything off for me.
  • The inclusion of Adventure Mode in some of the later versions is an idea I’d like to see get expanded somehow – maybe an RPG-type thing with more characters and levels. I don’t know how it would all work, I think I just want more Q*bert stories.

I don’t have any Q*bert things planned for tomorrow, so it should be safe for you to come back then.

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November 5, 2014 Lyn Plays Q*Bert

Price: Free
Client: Browser
Play it at: freeqbert.org

Before recording this video, I had never played Q*Bert. This was a fact that Mark couldn’t even. He just couldn’t even on that one. So I said I’d play it in order to 1. Finally be able to say I had and 2. Stop looking for an MMO that wasn’t 97 gazillion gigs to download. Worked out quite neatly.

Apparently I have huge issues with the off center directions because I sent my little Berts (we’re friends, we can drop the formalities and the Q*s) over the edge many, many times. My theory is that the Q*Bert play field is actually one of millions in a vast galaxy.  Every Bert that falls over the edge reaches terminal velocity and becomes a red ball, smooshing other Berts in revenge and jealousy. “Oh, you’re not falling through the empty blackness of space? Here, let me smoosh you instead.” It’s a very good theory.

Anyway, I like this old game thing. I enjoy it, and may do this instead of MMOs for a while. There’s many old games I’d be pleased to revisit to see if I can still play them, or even if they were as good as I remember them to be. Can you look back? Into the hazy crazy days of youth and the perfection of a perfect score in Wacky Wheels? Is it wise to long for those heady days of nostalgia and delight? No idea. Probably?

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