Subsequently, a lot of people have been in touch asking what I'm up to now. The last couple of weeks have been really exciting -- I've put out the first episode of my new weekly podcast, which not only reunited me with Jane Douglas, Lucy James and Dan Maher, but also went to number one on the iTunes chart. I've also been busy writing for Wired, appearing on BBC and Sky News, and updating my YouTube channel with new videos. In the next few weeks I'll be sitting on a BAFTA games journalsim debate, interviewing Rhianna Pratchett at the Hay Festival, talking about the next Xbox on CNN and BBC, and of course heading out to E3. If you're going to be attending any of those events, please say hi, and if not, I look forward to hearing from you over on my website or on Twitter. There's loads more coming down the line, but for now, please let me know what you think! See you all again soon.

Jane, Lucy, Dan and I recording the first episode of my new podcast.

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The game is currently less than a cup of overpriced coffee (3.39) and worth every penny! We'll make a server and dig down to the depths to see if we can enter hard mode!

The deal is only going until 4:00 PM PST today. 

To sweeten the deal if we can get 50 people to sign up and participate in this two part game night I will make us an emblem.

MadElk will be assisting with the server, I will be posting details about how to join later this evening. Unless of course he decides to grace us with his presence and inform us in the comments. 

We'll be using a chatzy room for communication up until the event happens, then we'll be moving to a group steam chat. 

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I've been spending a lot of time pairing up characters so that they get married and then I get to meet their time-traveling  progeny. It's fun to see what characteristics the parents pass on to their kids and get an extra perspective on this doom-and-gloom future everyone is ranting on about. It's also rewarding to fill out my party with new blood; the excitement of new life offers a soothing counter to the anguish of life lost.

Today I mourn Vaike.

Look at this cocky bastard. Weird chains dangling off his neck collar like so much Ylissian bling. Can't be bothered to keep track of his axes. Refers to himself not just in the third-person, but makes himself into a proper noun: "The Vaike." No shirt, no helmet, no problem. 

But what a soldier! When he torqued those practice-hardened muscles back and uncorked a ferocious axe strike, the Risen rose no more. He was a fierce fighter and a trustworthy ally, lending unbending support and an easy smile to all his compatriots. We'll all remember "Teach" sharing his strategies and tips freely, solicited or no. His confidence, his self-assurance, and his gusto made us all better soldiers, better allies, and better friends. 

Vaike, for your rockin' hair, your rockin' bod, your rockin' attitude, and your rockin' axe, we salute you. Rock in peace.

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He didn't pull me from a burning building or rescue me from a frozen lake. But when I was suffering from a depression that had me constantly on the brink of suicide, he was the man who kept me on this side of the abyss. 

He was my therapist, but that word is so clinical, and doesn't accurately describe who Dan was to me. Friend? Yes, even though I usually only saw him in the confines of the office of a mental health clinic in Warren, PA. Father figure is more accurate, I suppose, but whatever you call him, he was the one that convinced me that life was worth living. His office was the safest place on the planet. It was there that I felt most vulnerable, and most cared for. He is the reason I am still here today, rather than a memory, or at very least, rather than a human husk, withering away in a hospital for the remainder of my days. 

He shared with me stories that a professional therapist shouldn't generally be sharing with his patient, and yet it was exactly the right thing to do in my case. I would record myself playing Christmas music on cassette tape and give it to him as a Christmas gift. I went to a church where he was a guest pastor one Sunday and marveled that this man could radiate such kindness and generosity. I read about his exploits with his boy scout troop, and wondered if those young men knew how fortunate they were that someone like Dan could be in their lives. 

I also know that Dan was an imperfect man. But I wasn't prepared to discover that several weeks ago, this man responsible for me being here to share this story today went missing. Vanished from his house, his wallet and keys left behind. No note, no goodbye to his wife Penny, no sign of a break in, no indication that something was wrong. He was simply gone. 

The police have searched, and the Conewango Creek and local branch of the Allegheny River have been scoured. No one knows if Dan, at the age of 69, wandered off to take his own life, or fell into the river and was washed away. Perhaps he was discontent and troubled, and decided to travel where he couldn't be found and live out his last days in peace. Perhaps he simply went for a walk to some unknown place and suffered a heart attack, and hasn't been found in spite of the exhaustive search. 

But it doesn't seem that Dan is coming back. 

The last time I talked to Dan was a few years ago. He sent me an email entitled "The real story...for those with a warped sense of humor." It was a typical viral email that people might send, this one with pictures of fairy tale princesses as they might have ended up. Snow White with her several babies and a good-for-nothing prince sitting in front of the TV. An obese Little Red Riding Hood wandering through the forest, sipping on a Big Gulp and carrying a basket full of bread. It certainly wasn't the most socially sensitive communication, but it's what I have. 

I love you Dan. I hope that you are close to God now. 

Edit: My mom shared this YouTube link with me of Dan leading vespers in 2012. http://youtu.be/dmVaCIoxeI0

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First of all, I want to thank Krystal for the respectful response to my piece, and for not tolerating comments in the blog from those who are more interested in directing personal attacks my way than in having a civil, open-minded conversation about this.

As for the nitty-gritty of my response, I want to start with something Krystal says at the end of her blog. "In no way would I ever defend it if I shared Carolyn's sentiments and thought that the game was even remotely disrespectful and offensive." That sounds like a reasonable position, but it's not really one I feel like I can afford to take if I want to be able to enjoy most video games, or even lots of movies and television. If I demanded moral perfection of the games I play, well, that would have prevented me from playing a great many of the games I love. Generally speaking, I think games could be so, so much better with regard to their treatment of women, cultural minorities, and LGBT people. But because I love games as much as I do, I'd much rather engage with games in these areas, thinking about and writing about the ways they could be better, than just throw my arms up in frustration and walk away. This is certainly the case with Persona 4. If you look through the comments on my feature, I think you'll see that a lot of people were clearly upset simply because I was criticizing Persona 4, a game that they hold dear. But here's the thing: I love it, too. I mean, I really love this game. I think it's one of the best games I've ever played. Even so, I'm not going to give it a free pass. I don't know if you've watched the first part of Feminist Frequency's Tropes vs. Women in Video Games series, but as the great Alyssa Rosenberg writes here:

"At the beginning of the video, Sarkeesian, explaining that This series will include critical analysis of many beloved games and characters, says something that everyone who loves a piece of culture ought to be required to recite five times every morning while looking in the mirror: Remember that its both possible and even necessary to simultaneously enjoy media while being critical of its more problematic or pernicious aspects. If that ability to hold two ideas in your head at the same time, to enjoy something while recognizing that it might have problems, is what the people who tried to harass Sarkeesian into silence are so afraid of, it only reinforces how intellectually cowardly and inept they are. The need for something to be immune from criticism isnt a sign that its perfect and everyone else is wrong: its a sign you cant defend the things you love. Thats a position any self-aware person ought to be embarrassed to defend."

I agree with this, that we need to be able to look at the things we admire and enjoy and accept that not all of them are  entirely above reproach. I can simultaneously adore Persona 4 (and I do) and feel that in certain ways, it could have been better. Krystal also states near the end of her response, "I don't think it was Atlus' intention to mock or shame homosexuals and transgender people." Well, maybe they did and maybe they didn't. This is beside the point. A work--be it a game, novel, film or what have you--can have meanings and messages that its creators did not intend it to have. Many feel that Kathryn Bigelow's film Zero Dark Thirty endorses torture. (This is not a view I share, but it works here as an example.) People who see this message in the film see it there regardless of Bigelow's assertions that the film does not endorse torture. Once a work of art is completed and is sent out into the world for the public to view and to contemplate, the artist(s) relinquish control over it. They cannot control how it will be interpreted by others, what meanings or values those who experience it might find within it.

Nothing makes you a better person quite like taking on the Aiya Rainy Day Mega Beef Bowl Challenge!

Similarly, I don't think it's especially relevant that, as Krystal says, "Japan's views of gender identity and sexuality are probably much different than they are in the US." That's certainly true, but I don't give what I see as problematic aspects of a game a pass simply because they come from another culture. If I feel a game or movie or TV show is sexist, for instance, I think that sexism is worth criticizing, regardless of where it comes from. "That's just how it is over there" is not, in my view, an excuse. Krystal goes on to say, "Couple that with the fact that video game stories still have a lot of growing to do as a whole." I certainly agree with that. It's because I feel so strongly that they can be better and because I want them to be better that I write things like this in the first place.

So, okay, let's talk about Kanji. With regard to my criticisms of Kanji's storyline, Krystal brings up the dungeons of other characters, saying, "the characters' personalities and actions do not PERFECTLY match with the personalities of their shadow selves." She gives a few examples to support this. 

"It's actually said in the game that the shadows are only one facet of the characters personality. Also, the shadows and the dungeons are very extreme manifestations of the characters' deepest troubles and fears. 

For example, Rise's strip club dungeon was the result of people not seeing the real her. Rise constantly had to be everyone's charming, cute, and most of all, perfect idol for the camera. Fed up with this fake personality she was forced to show, she left show business and went to live a normal life. But of course everyone still approached her, wanting to meet Rise the media darling, not the real her. Therefore, the whole "I'm going to strip and bare it all" was a very extreme way of saying she wanted to shed her generic idol shell and show the world the real her.

Yukiko's dungeon was a castle; her shadow wore princess' clothing, and constantly spoke of "scoring a hot stud." Her shadow, once provoked, manifested as a bird in a cage who summoned a prince to fight for her. This represented Yukiko's feelings of being trapped in a life she didn't want to pursue."

Krystal provides additional examples. too, before saying, "these are extreme and exaggerated manifestations." My feeling is that, yes, most characters' shadow worlds and shadow selves represent exaggerations of one aspect of the character's inner life, but that in Kanji's case, what we get is not an exaggeration, but a contradiction. I did not want or expect the real Kanji to be an uncontrollably lustful gay man like his repressed shadow self. Instead, I hoped that the dungeon would resolve itself with him facing his sexuality and folding it into his larger personality in a way that was healthy and socially acceptable, as others did with the aspects of their personalities embodied by their shadow selves.

We sure made a lot of happy memories together.

And now, Naoto. Krystal says that, In the west, we refer to (people like Naoto) as tomboys. But this isn't true. Naoto isn't a tomboy. Naoto has lived most of his life as a boy. Not only does he not correct others when they refer to him with male pronouns; he clearly has gone to a great deal of effort to encourage and support this perception. If Naoto were a real person at a real high school, this would mean doing things like using the boys' restroom, for instance. For someone like Naoto to be accepted as male for years and years of life would take tremendous effort and carry with it a certain amount of danger; this is not something that tomboys engage in.

Krystal says, "Also, Naoto's reason for wanting to craft herself as the hard-boiled detective did not only stem from her attachment to fictional characters. She is descended from a line of famous detectives and she intends to continue the tradition." As I said in my original feature, the idea of someone living in a gender other than the one they are assigned at birth because they hope to pursue a particular profession does not ring psychologically true. I have never heard of a young girl living as a boy for many years of her life, for instance, not because she truly identified as a boy but because she wanted to be a police officer when she grew up and thought that the male gender was more fitting for being a cop. Nor have I ever heard of a boy who lived as a girl not because he didn't identify as a boy but simply because he wanted to be a nurse when he grew up and all of his nursing role models were women. 

Some may say, "So what if it's unrealistic? You're talking about a game in which a bunch of high school students pass through television sets and save the world by fighting monsters on the other side." Well, I'd say that the one area in which Persona 4 does need to be believable is in the psychology of its characters. What really makes the game special, ultimately, isn't its battle system or its dungeons or any of those traditional RPG trappings. It's the richness and complexity of its characters and the ways in which they connect and relate to each other. If those characters start behaving in ways that we find inconsistent or false, it takes us out of our investment in their relationships with each other.

So, yes, I UNDERSTAND that, within the game, we're meant to buy that Naoto is a tomboy, that, as Krystal said, his "true intentions were to become a splendid and ideal detective, not a man." I'm simply saying that, given Naoto's behavior in life up to the point where he becomes involved in the story, living as a boy, being known as the detective prince, and so on, and given what we see in his shadow world, I don't personally buy the idea of Naoto as a tomboy. To me, it would have been much more believable and consistent with these things if Naoto were transgender.

The quaint and lovely town of Inaba. If you haven't visited it yet, you really should.

Finally, a word on why this matters so much to me. A thought experiment, if you will, and one that I hope you will take seriously and participate in with an open mind. 

Imagine that you live in a world where a group that you identify with is frequently marginalized and discriminated against. Let's call this group straight people. Now, straight people have made some progress in recent years. In some states, they have the right to get married, and there are an increasing number of straight role models in the media; famous writers, TV hosts, and so on. But in your beloved video games, straight people are all but nonexistent. Never the heroes. Only very rarely do straight people like you even show up as supporting characters. It's practically unheard of. 

Then, along comes this amazing role-playing game called Persona 4, with a rich cast of psychologically complex characters. You venture into a land that reflects one character's mind, and what you find there is a facet of that character expressing heterosexual desire. Wow! Understandably he has repressed it, you think, because straight people are often not treated very well in society, but there it is, a true part of him, yearning to get out. 

When you finally complete his dungeon, though, the game tells a different tale; he doesn't actually like girls, you see. It's just that he was so afraid of boys, because they'd been mean to him in the past. You thought you were finally about to see a well-developed straight character in a game, but alas, no. The game veers away from that possibility, and goes down a different road. 

Ultimately, the game does this not just once, but twice! 

In a world with so few straight characters in games, it's hard not to see Persona 4 twice come near the brink of giving us a straight character, and both times backing away, as really, really disappointing, especially since so many things about the game are so wonderful. To have a game come close to giving us straight characters and then in both cases run away from that, especially in a world where there are almost no straight characters in other games, sends a message about straight identities, whether the developers intended it to or not.

Maybe you can put yourself in that position via your imagination and maybe you can't. I've received a number of kind messages from LGBT readers telling me that they felt similarly about the message the game was sending and thanking me for the piece, though, and that is good enough for me.

Anyway, I'm gonna give the last word here to Yosuke. This is an idea that's at the heart of the game, and I think it's something that all of us, women and men, gay and straight, trans and cis, should strive to do.

Sounds good to me, Yosuke. Thanks for all the good times.

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Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot

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Anyways, I felt like the time was right to make another entry, specially since it's been a while that the DS and the PSP are out and practically all the great games have been released. In short this is a list of my 15 favorite games on these beloved handhelds, for me they are the games that when I think about the systems I think of them, they are the ones I had most fun with first and foremost, note that this list is not based on any review score/critical reception or such things, it's just a list by a gamer like you that loves games. With that said I will list them along with the cover art, a image of the game and a brief opinion on each one.

The 3DS and the Vita might already be here, but they have much ground to cover if they want to match or surpass their awesome predecessors.

But enough of that, now join me and let's get this started!

The PSP

CONTINUES ON PART 2

link:http://www.gamespot.com/users/GunBladeHero/show_blog_entry.php?topic_id=m-100-25991858

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Like we said in Friday's Start/Select, this is my final week at GameSpot.

I've had two marvellous years here, working with some of the handsomest, cleverest, funniest, handsomest people in the business we call writing about video games on the internet.

I'll be doing more of that in my next job, but here's not the place to talk about it.

As I set to excavating my desk out from under two years' worth of notepads and promo discs*, I wanted to say thanks for having me, GameSpot.

Thanks for watching and reading and commenting. Thanks for listening to the podcast (I'll do a last one tomorrow). I love what I do, but I love it harder because of people like you.You're alright, you are.

Jane

*If anyone was looking for Depth Hunter: The Spearfishing Simulator, I had it

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So...show kick off stuff:

We'll be bringing you live stream of all of the press conferences tomorrow and Tuesday, and then the big show itself features more live programming than we've ever done before. As with previous years we have our main stage that will be running throughout the event, which will be hosted by Chris Watters and Danny O'Dwyer. Then we also have a pro gaming stage in partnership with Major League Gaming that will be running games all day each day. Finally, we'll have our Bonus Stage which I'll be hosting, which will have more of a chat-show/podcast kinda vibe, and will feature guests from every walk of the games biz; developers, CEOs, folks from other outlets, and celebrities.

This whole thing is a huge production for us, and our approach is very different than it has been in previous years. Hopefully you enjoy what we are able to bring you from the show floor, and that you'll participate with us in the comments, and on Twitter.

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I listen to a lot of podcasts. On weekends or when I'm at the gym, I'm listening to podcast of somesort. Since I listen to a lot, I wanted to list them out for everyone and find out what podcasts other people have in their MP3 players and if there are any in particular that I should be listening to but am not.

Be forewarned, this list people is long and even contains some 'rival' podcasts. I've grouped them together so if people are interested in finding them on iTunes, it shouldn't be too difficult.

So here goes:

Comedy Related

• The Adam Carolla Show
• The Comedy Button
• Jay and Silent Bob Get Old
• SModcast

Sports Related

• ESPN: Around The Horn
• ESPN: Pardon The Interuption
• ESPN: The B.S. Report
• Radio 5 Live: Fighting Talk
• The Guardian: Football Weekly
• The Grantland Network - only a few though (Mens with Blazers and any of the TV related podcasts)
• Jason Whitlock Podcast
• BBC World Service's World Football

Gaming Related

• The Hot Spot - although I'm watching it now instead of listening to it on my iPod
• The Giant Bombcast - their 3 hour podcasts can be really taxing and often take me a couple of days to listen to
• A few IGN Podcasts - Podcast Beyond and Game Scoop (their Nintendo and Xbox Podcasts are not that interesting)
• Irrational Podcast
• A Life Well Wasted - although there hasn't been a new episode in a very long time (nearly 2 years)
• Rebel FM
• Weekend Confirmed

Geek Culture

• The Geekbox
• The Hey Ash, Watcha Podcast

Music Related

• Paul Van Dyk's VONYC Sessions Podcast
• Tiesto's Club Life

Other

• This American Life
• IGN's Knockin' Boot - Relationship Podcast (like listening to the odd dating advice they give.)

As you can see, I have quite the collection and yup, even podcasts from other gaming sites. In my defense, I think it's good to hear what other people in the gaming press have to say as there are so many interesting people in the industry with very different opinions. Both Rebel FM and The Geekbox were spin-offs of older 1Up Podcasts, which used to be the the industry standard before various people left that site.

The only thing that is really lacking for me is a good sports gaming podcast. I used to really enjoy 1Up.com's Sports Anamoly Podcast that was hosted by Todd Zuniga. I've heard that he and a few ex 1Up people started the 4th String Podcast but haven't caught an episode yet. I tried to listen to Gamesradar's Sports Podcast but not a big fan of the one person format. Sports and sports gaming should be discussed in groups and having one guy either talk to the audience solo or have an hour long interview with someone from the industry is a bit bland.

So now that you've seen my list, are there any podcasts that I'm missing that I should be listening to? No topic is out of reach. If you think there is an excellent podcast that people should be listening to, now is your chance to let me and others know. Heck, if you have a podcast and want some exposure, now's the chance!

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Perched on my tower of critical analysis, I knew that Bastion was a great game. There's an enticing relationship between your actions and the story that I've rarely seen before, and the delicate artistic style presented a serene landscape that was easy to get lost in. Fast combat kept diverse by new weapons and varied enemies demanded focus. But if you've played any of Bastion, you already know the intricacies that make it tick.

Even though I was fully aware of all the things Bastion was doing really well, I didn't ultimately care. I can point to the extremely linear level design or iffy long-range aiming as slight problems distracting me from the tasty goodness everyone seems to have been devouring, but I know that would be disingenuous. There aren't any tangible problems in Bastion that could leave me with a feeling of indifference; I just didn't have any emotional connection. It happens in every art form. No matter how impressive the craftsmanship is, it won't resonate with everyone. I resolved to keep playing, because it was still fun and I wanted to see what lay ahead, but it felt more like a duty than a passion.

And then I reached The Singer.

When the level began, the narrator started talking about something I couldn't quite understand. "There the kid hears something he ain't heard in a long while. How's it go again?" Up to this point, the narrator talked about your story and actions, things The Kid had experienced or was doing first hand. I could hear, faintly in the background, an acoustic guitar start up. Quietly at first, and then louder, with vocals slowly coming in. A woman's voice, beautiful, sad. The narrator continued, after a short pause, "That's the one.... timeless."

And I was finally invested in the world. The structure of this level is the same as the previous ones – switches, enemies, rising pieces of land forming a path – but it was much easier. Enemies were less prevalent than before. The narrator quieter. It was about the music, and it was mesmerizing. "Some day your bird is gonna fly."

It's not often that I play a game that fully realizes the emotionally potential of a masterful piece of music presented in just the right way. Whereas the visuals and combat moved me on an intellectual level, it wasn't until I was struck by the melancholy beauty of this song that my emotional side was piqued. I stood still for long stretches, just soaking it in, hoping it wouldn't stop. And when I reached the end, a singer was sitting in the grass. I had initially assumed the narrator had broken the fourth wall by recognizing the soundtrack, but that wasn't the case at all. The Singer was as real as The Kid. And I stood next to her, listening to the words and the music repeat over and over.

Zia's Song

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Some of you may have seen me lurking around on the forums, or in some of our chat rooms, or even in the occasional group photo, so obviously I'm still working at GameSpot. I've simply transitioned behind the curtain, so to speak.

Though many people probably thought I was an editor, I've never actually been part of that team. I was a site producer--basically the guy who made sure that you all were able to easily find the content the actual edit team produced by setting up promotion for it. I love to play games and I love to write, and thanks to both I was able to contribute to one of my favorite websites, which was literally a dream come true. Since last year, however, I've taken my talents and worked to contribute in a completely different way.

Since last April, I've been a product manager at GameSpot, and my area of focus is content. What that means is that it's my job to help create and improve the user experiences that everyone here from users to editors interact with and enjoy. I manage the production of recurring events such as our annual E3 page, new site feature requests, and more. I also worked on the homepage and site navigation redesign, and am working on tons of more exciting things for the coming year that I can't quite discuss just yet.

To be sure, I miss writing for GameSpot, and I'll always have Alex Navarro to thank for that because he's the one who gave me my first chance. Never did I think that I'd get to review games like Bayonetta and Dead Space or the remakes of two of my favorite games, Final Fantasy IV and Chrono Trigger.

I am still deciding how best to use this blog, but stay tuned. In the meantime, here's a great thing:

[ Watch Video ]

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Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers | Sega Genesis 1993 | Vega

Like many of the other guys here, my introduction to the fighting scene was with the original SF2. While I was able to sneak out to the arcade with a fistful of quarters every now and then at my local mall or movie theater, I didn't get a copy of the game until Super Street Fighter II on the Genesis.

I didn't really have a main in SSFII. I played the game pretty casually with some friends cycling through a roster of Ryu, Guile, and Blanka, but the character that I enjoyed using most (and ultimately got banned from playing as) was Vega/Claw. Looking back on it now, I suspect that the moment I found out about Vega's sliding sweep was the day I started trolling. This little image sums up my strategy pretty well:

The computer couldn't counter it, my friends couldn't get away from those sliding legs of death, and the big devilish grin on my face had no equal. Though I'm sure if I tried to pull the same thing at the arcade then I would've gotten double perfected, it didn't make it any less fun to try.

Super Smash Bros. | Nintendo 64 1999 | Ness

Legitimacy as an "actual fighting game" aside, when Super Smash Bros hit the N64 my friends and I had a new go-to game for the next two years. The premise alone of Mario, Link, and co. fighting up a storm was pretty much any Nintendo fan's fantasy come true. Heck, even our mothers' liked it because at the end of every match everyone would clap for the winner! None of that derogatory "family man" business.

While I moved on to Zelda/Shiek and Captain Olimar in the subsiquent entries in the series, Ness will always have a special place in my fighting-game-heart for the pure amount of arse-kickery that he was capable of in SSB. Was he overpowered? Probably, but at least he sure took some skill to unlock his full potential. There are very few things short of grabbing a hammer in that game that are as satisfying as turning yourself into a missile with a PK Thunder attack and sending a cluster of your friends rocketing off screen.

...well okay, maybe sacrificing a life with DK or Kirby.

Super Street Fighter IV | Xbox 360/PS3 2010 | Ibuki

Oh Street Fighter, it's amazing how much I've missed you all these years! While I spent a bit of time with the Alpha series, Capcom's various Vs. titles, and SFIII; none of those efforts were able to grab me the way SFIV did. For me it struck the perfect chord of old, new, and slightly obscure that keeps me hooked for hours on end.

I like ninjas a whole lot. They're sneaky and deadly and all sorts of other fun stuff. While Ibuki isn't really your typical ninja (unless you're thinking ninja schoolgirl... which case she's pretty much the epitome of that caricature), she's a ton of fun to play as with her expansive SFIII special move set, imaginative combo possibilities, and fast rushdown style. While there were definitely a huge population of neck breaker spammers when SSFIV first came out (yeah I hate them too), it wasn't nearly as bad as the flowchart Kens.

--Dishonorable Mention--

(Super) Primal Rage | Sega Genesis 1995 | Diablo

Of all the things that I like in the world (and I do like a lot of things), dinosaurs are probably one of the only things that could possibly rival ninjas. Before finally getting my own copy of SF2, I rented it. But when my local Blockbuster and Warehouse was out of SF2, I had to settle for the next best thing: Primal Rage. Okay, so not really, but as a kid with an unhealthy obsession with extinct reptiles, it was one hell of a game.

What's not to love? You had a fireball shooting T-Rex, farting monkeys, weird worshiping people in the background, and dino-fatalities! Since there was a severe (though understandable) lack of my favorite dinosaur in the game, the Brachiosaurus, I opted for the coolest looking of the bunch: Diablo. Breaths fire? Yep. Annoying as all hell teleporting move? Check. Ability to barbecue your opponents like good 'ol Scorpion? Used it every time. Heck, I even had Diablo's little Mighty-Max-like playset.

Looking back at youtube videos now though, I miss the days when my overactive imagination could make up for a game's shortcomings.

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