Sorry to hear about your job, itscalledreality, hopefully it's just a stepping stone to an even better opportunity!

This week's pick is a bit of a treasure, and before I say anything else I just want to give special thanks to fellow GOL'er BlackBloodRum for helping me out and making this one possible in the first place - I couldn't've gotten it up and running without his assistance!

So: Back in September of 2008, a small multiplayer-only WiiWare title called Bomberman Blast was released. Well, it was a small multiplayer-only WiiWare title in the West - I learned recently that, in Japan, it was actually a full retail release (though rather than Bomberman Blast, over there it was the fifth or sixth title in the series to simply be titled "Bomberman") which also had a complete-newcomers' tutorial titled "Bomberman For Beginners" (something also later included in 2009's DSiWare title Bomberman Blitz and its own Story Mode. This was a pleasant surprise, as I loved Bomberman Blast back in the day - it was the only non-Mario Kart multiplayer game that I ever had any success in getting my non-gaming relatives to try out, so I've got a bunch of good memories of the Western version already.



The Japan-only Story Mode sees Bomberman (who starts off asleep at the wheel of his spacecraft, before accidentally whacking his head on the monitor which wakes him up just as a distress-signal is picked up - he's very diligent about his galactic patrols ) tasked with rescuing a bunch of kidnapped Mii avatar characters, whilst donning custom armour that can be upgraded by spending Gems that you earn in-game (Gems would later be brought back as the means of unlocking cosmetics in 2017's Super Bomberman R, which I now appreciate is actually a neat little reference to this game and not just an arbitrary in-game currency, which I had always thought before). Thankfully, the failsafe of providing a selection of Guest Miis in case a user had not set up any of their own on their console - something common in Wii games that make use of Miis - proves handy for emulation here, as it saved me from the hassle of having to create Miis on my softmodded Wii and then get a NAND-dump from the thing.

Some of the niceties that we have in the present-day Bomberman games (for example a collection of unlockable Battle Mode taunt/emote animations took root here and in this game's contemporaries on the era's other consoles, making this game part of the Bomberman series' road to recovery after the Bomberman: Act Zero disaster, and an important return to form and fun after that event. It's a real pity that this full version of Bomberman Blast wasn't given a proper global release back in the day, as it probably would've done quite well for itself - it was clearly a casualty of Act Zero's impact on Hudson's confidence in the Bomberman brand. It also happens to be very charming, and I've very much enjoyed what I've played so far.


My other pick for this weekend is James Pond 2 - Codename: RoboCod for the Commodore Amiga. This was a popular game, and, though it was ported to a lot of other systems over time, I've gone with the original release here because it's the one that I remember getting to play when visiting Amiga-owning friends back in the day - if you knew someone who had an Amiga but didn't own one yourself, then your experience of this game is probably similar.

RoboCod also handily serves as a festive pick, because the game is set in and around Santa Claus' toy-factory! Our agile aquatic agent must track down his arch-nemesis Dr. Maybe, who has kidnapped a colony of penguins (who appear due to a sponsorship from McVitie's Penguin biscuits and taken over the workshop and stolen all the toys as well.

*Food/drink tie-ins were surprisingly common in British Amiga games during the early 1990s. See also Zool and Zool 2 (Chupa Chups - and also Morinaga, Ginza Sembikiya, Ryobi, Infocom, and Yamaha in the Japanese SNES port of the first game: https://tcrf.net/Zool_(SNES)#Branding ), Push-Over and its sequel One Step Beyond (Quavers, and Superfrog (Lucozade, to cite just a few examples.

I've been wanting to revisit this one for a long, long time, and I figured that there's no time like the present! As with Bomberman Blast, above, I've enjoyed what I've played so far, and I expect that to continue throughout the game.



I also picked up YUMENIKKI -Dream Diary- in a sale for £3.09; It's a 3D reimagining (albeit one that leans quite a bit towards 2.5D puzzle-platforming in a similar vein to Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee) of the original free-of-charge Yume Nikki, and though it's a very different game it shares a similar atmosphere, which I really like. I'll probably dip in and out of this one over a longer period of time, just as I did with the original.

Quoting: itscalledrealityAnywhere else is kind enough to turn down the music and play a light jazz versions of these songs to keep things fresh.

Ooh, I wish they'd do that here - I quite like jazz. Over here they've been playing Christmas songs in shops since before Halloween, and I've been sick of it for ages.

Quoting: itscalledrealityAnyways it has been quite a down week for me so (sorry if I skip some of these in the future) as I was laid-off by my employer. It was done in a very "cut the heads off" kind of way, almost impressive really. I saw this coming 9 months ago and expressed this to my director who assured me that it wasn't happening. My new rules are:

* C-suite is not your friend
* Any abnormal behavior means your department will be consolidated/shut-down

I put a lot of effort and time into this company that I won't get back and all I really learned from this was that I probably can't do that again. It killed my will to believe any company would care for it's employees.

Oh man, that's REALLY scummy. I'm so sorry that you've had to deal with that. I agree with denyasis - hopefully this will just be a precursor to better things! I wish you the best of luck.

Last edited by Pengling on 10 December 2022 at 8:08 pm UTC

G'Day everyone its a very overcast and raining Saturday here……. Im feeling better…… Still got an annoying cough but besides that im fine……

Its back to winter here in Aus….. Very cold, windy and a sprinkle of rain this week…… All week….. I have not really been able to do much….. The yard work has stalled thanks to the weather….. The house is still feeling very empty without Maggie…. I did sell some of her old stuff during the week…. Like the hydrobath and blow dryer that I wont be needing anymore…..

I picked up a “new” monitor during the week as well…. My mate was selling his old one quite cheap so I grabbed it….. Its an Acer H274HL…… 27” 1080p 60Hz……. Works really well so I dont have any complaints…… Its my new second monitor for watching YouTube videos and playing emulated games on…...

The Denver Broncos were leading 9-3 over the Baltimore Ravens late in the game……. And then the Ravens got a touchdown with 28 seconds left on the clock to win the game 10-9…… Its been a long year…… and its only to get longer as…..

The Broncos are going to get destroid by the Kansas City Chiefs this weekend……. And its a home game for the Broncos at Mile High Stadium……. I dont think many fans will be there…… You could get really good seats for really cheap…….. But the Broncos are so bad they would have to pay me to go to the stadium…….

As for this past week in gaming week I played……

Arcade

Hit the Ice (1990 Williams) - Sports (Hockey)


Console

ESPN NFL 2K5 (2004 Sega) - Sony PlayStation 2 - Sports (Football)
Madden NFL 98 (1997 EA Sports) - Sony PlayStation - Sports (Football)
Madden NFL 2003 (2002 EA Sports) - Sony PlayStation 2 - Sports (Football)
NBA 2K2 (2001 Sega) - Sega Dreamcast - Sports (Basketball)
NBA Give 'n Go (1995 Konami) - Super Nintendo Entertainment System - Sports (Basketball)
NHL 09 (2008 EA Sports) - Sony PlayStation 2 - Sports (Hockey)
NHL 2001 (2000 EA Sports) - Sony PlayStation - Sports (Hockey)
NHL 2002 (2001 EA Sports) – Sony PlayStation 2 – Sports (Hockey)
NHL 2K2 (2002 Sega) - Sega Dreamcast - Sports (Hockey)
Tecmo Super Bowl 2023 (2022 TecmoBowl.org) - Nintendo Entertainment System - Sports (Football)
Wayne Gretzky's 3D Hockey (1996 Midway) - Nintendo 64 - Sports (Hockey)

The 2022 Gaming Advent Calendar continues……. As a reminder I gave my lovely assistant a list of 25 games for the 25 days of Christmas…….. And they have jumbled them all up and every day I will open the door and see what game I will play that day……... Of these 25 games I have not played 24 of them at all before….. And the one I have played before I just played for a few minutes to check the rom worked back in 2016 and never touched again…….. There are 23 sports games and 2 non sports games……

Day 5 of the 2022 Gaming Advent Calendar was……..

Wayne Gretzky's 3D Hockey (1996 Midway) - Nintendo 64 - Sports (Hockey)

This is a really good fun…. Its a 3 on 3 arcade hockey game that was ported to the Nintendo 64….. It has the fully NHL and NHLPA licences so it has all the NHL teams and players….. The graphics are really nice for the N64…… The gameplay is very nice as well….. Got the usual arcade stuff of big hits, insane shots, super human speed boosts and the net catching on fire…… Its basically NHL Hitz before NHL Hitz was a thing…….


Day 6 of the 2022 Gaming Advent Calendar was……..

Madden NFL 98 (1997 EA Sports) - Sony PlayStation - Sports (Football)

Madden NFL 98 is a very good NFL game for the Sony PlayStation…….. It is the last Madden NFL game to use 2D sprites for the players…….. It looks really nice for the PlayStation game and the game play is very good as well….. The sounds are ok….. Though it could do with some better crowed noise…… The tackling sounds are really good for 1997…… Overall its really good and probably the best Madden game on the PlayStation…….

Day 7 of the 2022 Gaming Advent Calendar was……..

NBA 2K2 (2001 Sega) - Sega Dreamcast - Sports (Basketball)

This is the best NBA 2K game on the Dreamcast….. This was also released on the Nintendo GameCube and Sony PlayStation 2…… It plays really nicely….. Looks good and has really nice presentation……. EXCEPT for the menu music that is TRASH!….. Its the most genric hip hop beat with record scratching sound effects…….. And like all good menu music it has pauses in it so you think either the disc is damaged or the console is breaking…….. Besides the awful menu music the game is really good….. And I dont even like basketball…...

Day 8 of the 2022 Gaming Advent Calendar was……..

Hit the Ice: The Video Hockey League (1990 Williams) - Arcade - Sports (Hockey)

Hit the Ice is a 2 on 2 arcade hockey game from 1990 and boy it feel its age…… The graphics are really nice and all that….. But the game play is showing its age…… Players move to slow…… And the goalie is manually controlled….. The main issue is that shots can be taken while the goalie is off screen….. Meaning its hard to know where the goalie is while the puck is flying towards the net…… Its an equil mesaure of fun and frustration when playing…….

Day 9 of the 2022 Gaming Advent Calendar was……..

NBA Give 'n Go (1995 Konami) - Super Nintendo Entertainment System - Sports (Basketball)

NBA Give ‘n Go is essentially a console port of the arcade game “Run and Gun”……. But unlike Run and Gun this game has the full NBA and NBPA licence.….. So it has all the NBA teams and players…….. Its a more realistic 5 on 5 basketball arcade game while still sticking to its arcade roots……. The fixed camera angle does take a little while to get use to….. The graphics are nice with some very nice looking sprite work…. The animations are nice and smooth……. Gameplay is really good and for my money this is probably the best 5 on 5 NBA game on the Super Nintendo…..

Day 10 of the 2022 Gaming Advent Calendar was……..

NHL 2K2 (2002 Sega) - Sega Dreamcast - Sports (Hockey)

This is a much much much better game compaired to NHL 2K I played a few weeks ago…. The AI and the game play are much improved…… There was no NHL 2K1 and I can see why….. They did not take a year off….. They used that missed year to make a much better NHL game…. One that was actually worthy of being played…… This is the best NHL game on the Dreamcast…...

This week im hoping the weather improves and that im able to get the yard work done….. Im hoping to go back on my regular walks as well…….

As for gaming I have no idea what im going to be playing this week as the Gaming Advent Calendar will be continuing……. And I have no idea what are behind the up coming doors…..

Quoting: itscalledrealityThere is a crescendo of holiday music chasing after me as this time of the year presses itself upon the earth. It actually hasn't been terrible avoiding it as most of it comes from big box and grocery stores that blare it over the speaker. Anywhere else is kind enough to turn down the music and play a light jazz versions of these songs to keep things fresh.

Thankfully I dont have that problem…… Mostly cause I dont go out much……. Also the shops here in my small rural town dont really play any music in them……. And I dont watch TV so theres no christmas music there

Quoting: itscalledrealityAnyways it has been quite a down week for me so (sorry if I skip some of these in the future) as I was laid-off by my employer. It was done in a very "cut the heads off" kind of way, almost impressive really. I saw this coming 9 months ago and expressed this to my director who assured me that it wasn't happening. My new rules are:

* C-suite is not your friend
* Any abnormal behavior means your department will be consolidated/shut-down

Sorry to hear that mate…….. Hopefully you find something new and better very soon…… If you miss a week I will take your place if thats ok with you

Quoting: itscalledrealityI put a lot of effort and time into this company that I won't get back and all I really learned from this was that I probably can't do that again. It killed my will to believe any company would care for it's employees.

I learnt this myself many many many years ago…….. At the end of the day we are nothing but an employee number and the bean counters are trying their best to get rid of us as we cost the companies money……. This is doubly true if you work in the IT department of a large company……

Quoting: Pengling

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Looks like he farted and followed through…….

Quoting: PenglingMy other pick for this weekend is James Pond 2 - Codename: RoboCod for the Commodore Amiga.

Hope you were eating some Penguin Biscuits when you were playing that…….

Well thats it from me…… Have a good week everyone……

Now for my bad joke of the week……
Why are penguins shops so busy?
Because the fish fillet
*ba dum.... tssssh*

I picked up Marvel: Remix from 5 & Below this week. Played it today along with the final round of Heroclix. My indie team came in 4th place out of 7 which is not bad. Great matches and scenarios.

Heading to a Tekken 3 local bar event near me tomorrow with some friends.

I actually have this weekend off! Lol. No gaming for me though. I'll did shopping and cleaning for Saturday and I'm helping family in some home improvements for the entirety of Sunday.

If I get some spare time this week, I think I'll stick with Dishonored. I've been really enjoying these FPS's a lot lately. Usually I'm more of a builder/management sim person.

Last edited by denyasis on 11 December 2022 at 6:12 pm UTC