I’m certainly not happy about the no-physical thing, but man, the pro-physical mob is growing so hostile and unlikable that they’re just as bad as the corporate defense force— if not measurably *worse*.

You’re free, Ryan. You don’t have to listen to Stephen A. Smith yelling while pretending to be intelligent anymore. Let someone else sit there and simultaneously lose brain cells and their sense of hearing.

Pokémon Puzzle League still scratches that puzzler itch. The (compressed as they may be) sound bites from the animated show make me feel like I’m in my twenties again.

I think I prefer the SNES port of Sunset Riders over the coin-op original, if for no other reason but that the music is somehow far better to me.

Without saying your age, what's your favorite movie that came out when you were 18?

HOLY CRAP

I mean, social media/community people are paid to put up with this. Loud/obnoxious/mob-driven comment-bombing isn’t gonna do shit. The only thing that *would* work is something 99% of these loud internetizens would have the sack to do. They’ll be pissed off for a bit & then forget when GTA6 hits.

Mondays are for Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition. I’m never even remotely competitive on the leaderboards, but it’s fun to try.

So… here’s the Monday Mail Call. Four Genesis, three SNES, two original PlayStation, and one lone NES game.

Good news: There’s mail waiting for me at home. Meh news: Some of the items are sports games, so the general interest level will likely be pretty low.

When I thought I was out of the YouTube game, unexpected motivation might have pulled me back in.

"What's your favorite NES sports game?" C'mon, man. Don't do me like that. I mean, *one*? I don't want to think that hard. I could say Tecmo Super Bowl, and yeah. That works. But Super Spike V'Ball is right there, too. And Bad News Baseball is excellent. So many quality choices. A good problem.

The original Virtua Tennis is easily my favorite tennis video game of all time. Sequels vary in quality, but none come close to the Grand Slam Champ.

DAMMIT

I've said it before and stand by it: *All* social media platforms are ass. I get not being into eX-Twitter for what it's become, but maaan... this place has its own heaps of bullshit, too-- but BlueSky defenders explain it away or play the eX-Twitter whataboutism card.

Me, whenever I see a seller or store listing Bill Laimbeer's Combat Basketball for SNES at $10 or higher, loose:

One of two outcomes occurs after a nighttime shower before bed: 1) I’m relaxed & usually asleep an hour later, OR 2) I’m wide awake and wind up regretting the next day of work. Guess which one is tonight’s outcome?

Being a Congressperson in (what used to be) the United States is the most do-nothing job on the planet. I really don’t care what “side” they’re (supposed to be) on— which is usually the side of “what’s best for me and my financial interests”. Beyond useless. The whole lot.

“URNOTE? What the hell?” Some people are genuinely confused by this. And I get it. On its face, it’s nonsense. But look at the E. It’s red. Red E. Ready. You are not ready— the original PlayStation’s first tagline, stylistically/“attitude”-changed for a mid-1990s audience.

This would’ve been mine, but it’s the wrong size— and NOBODY wants to see me in a crop top.

Sealed copies of Barnyard for Wii are a lot more expensive than I would’ve assumed they would be.

Glass half-full: There seems to be some kind of resolution here. Good. Glass half-empty: Call it social media cynicism, but this explanation reeks of bullshit and really doesn’t excuse the behavior. “You’re a pest” is inexcusable— and, even if it is “external”, it represents the company, full stop.

We’re *so* close. Come on. DO IT.

It’s been almost a year since release, and yet Golden Tee Arcade Classics remains evergreen to me… no pun necessarily intended. I’m still challenging courses I somehow missed, I’m still working on my shot-shaping skills & approach strategies, and I still feel like I can improve in most rounds.

Featuring the legendary Tim Kitzrow on commentary! The original PlayStation (I’m sorry— “PS1” irks me) has a plethora of baseball games, and this one sadly doesn’t stand out.

And, to think— but a year earlier, my FuncoLand store manager & I thought for sure this while Pokeyman thing wasn’t gonna catch on. Not my sharpest moment. What a ride for Pokéfans it continues to be, nearly three decades later.

I’m grateful for the comments some left on yesterday’s trial run back on YouTube. As a fun thing to do when I get the time/motivation, I can see myself doing some videos again— though not as often as I did years ago. It’s never gonna be award-winning stuff, but a nice change from writing/posting.

Hell yes. This is fascinating, and is the strongest attribute of the game being featured.

Lucasfilm Office Break Room Randomness from 2010. 😂

Two things can be true: ✅ TTWO absolutely could have charged more, and consumers most likely would have paid more. Premium title, premium pricing. ✅ The “blood, sweat, and tears” defense is abjectly shitty and was always going to make this analyst look bad.

Well, okay. Sealed launch-day Wii game arrived today. Now into storage it goes. DO NOT OPEN UNTIL THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 19TH.

The solution is simple, but seemingly impossible. If more people just said no and withheld their money (or credit cards), choking off revenue would force change… but it has to be a ton of people and they have to be committed, and that’s just not realistic with people who buy/play video games.

I miss the days of high score challenges. Sure, you can “beat” Sonic 1, but aiming for high scores—especially against a timer— forces a different type of strategy. This is why I adored Super Star Fox Weekend. You could beat the stages, but not shooting down all targets meant leaving points behind.

They just work, like video games used to. Pop them into a machine, turn on the power, and there you go. No 150-page licenses to scroll through & accept, no updates to wait on downloading, no accounts to sign into, and corporations can’t deny you access to what you buy because reasons.

I’m over here thinking about the thousands of dollars each year that I used to spend on modern video gaming which will soon be spent elsewhere. I should thank Sony & Microsoft for breaking a 35-year habit.

The Worst PlayStation Game Ever. Perfect Weapon. 👊 www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpWR...

I hate this fucking topic, because the question has been answered over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again. How thick-headed are people? Or are we just going to ignore reality because we don’t like it?

Perhaps the biggest offense is that Google makes this stuff OPT OUT for districts who use Google for Ed. It’s active by default, so if it’s not shut off… kids get access. And they’re AI-curious, so of course they’re gonna use it if it’s an option.

This post unfortunately answers its own question. Social media users have been conditioned/programmed to be perpetually angry. They don’t (can’t?) think about the downside of “the dunk”, which is the propagation of nonsense, even if the intent is to poke fun and/or derision at it.

Here’s the full haul from today, which I showed in the video. Some sports games, as always, but a decent mix of other things.

Welp. Growing pains. I think my sound/video sync was off. I believe I’ve fixed it— I’m watching a private test video to make sure. EDIT: Yeah. I think I got it.

Did I really make a new YouTube video for the first time in 2+ years? Yeah. I guess I did. It was neat doing it from my Den of Old Video Games & Consoles, in my own house, for the first time. It’d be cool if you checked it out. It’s also cool if you don’t. I think you’re swell either way.

ALL GAMES ARE INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY IN A COURT OF LAW

Speaking of sealed games... With the Wii's 20th anniversary here in the US coming in a few months, I landed a sealed launch game to open for the occasion. I may try to find one more. And, yeah, I might shoot an Unsealed video opening it in the Den of Old Consoles (formerly the "Retro Room").

This is the $300 version-- the Ferrari, if you will. I have the Yugo version (PS2, $75 market value complete in case), which I bought new/sealed back in 2018 to open for my Unsealed series in July of that year.

It's maskless Raphael.

Building off yesterday's post, here's my custom 3DO! The modified lightbar on the front mimics the Red-Blue-Yellow colours of the 3DO logo! It has an ODE and a custom mini-DIN RGB-out that allows me to get more horizontal video (with a RetroTINK) making it nearly widescreen natively! #retrogaming

My new digital store launched, and all previous issues and volumes start at the “pay-what-you-want” price of $1.99. My hope is that this low price will introduce these projects to new readers so they can try them out and see what's inside. Check them out today! pixelsandpolygonsllc.gumroad.com

Our Network Admin has told me that internet access is going to go down shortly for some infrastructure work… and since our 4-person team is 2 people down today, I’m staying here until the end of my shift. That means… it’s just about 3DS time for the next 2 hours (or until things come back up).