The 5 Best Games of 2013: Falling Back Into Gaming, 2nd Act


GAMING IN 2013

Previously on FALLING BACK INTO GAMING… Click Here!

After my assorted gaming past, my glorious return the gaming came in 2013!

WIND WAKER is a great classic game, either on Gamecube or in HD on the WiiU
WIND WAKER is a great classic game, either on Gamecube or in HD on the WiiU

I bought a WiiU in February, but even the newest Nintendo system couldn’t stir the gamer in me. It never helps that Nintendo rarely releases an exclusive A-List  at system launch.

NINTENDO LAND, which came with the system, was good for a laugh due to new ways to play mini-games with the “WiiU Gamepad Controller” (official name according to Nintendo). It was a lot like RAYMAN: RAVING RABBITS; it’s fun to play with a new innovative controller, but mini-games get old fast.

LEGEND OF ZELDA: THE WIND WAKER HD did just come out a month or two ago, and is a fantastic game! It just isn’t… new. I mentioned it in my last post… it is a part of my gaming history.

Preface for the following list: I can only judge the games I’ve played, and, returning to gaming, the five below are about half of all the games I have experienced this year. There were others, like THE LAST OF US, which were critically acclaimed, but did not hold my attention the way these five games did.

THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: A LINK BETWEEN WORLDS Link and GanondorfTying it all back to Nintendo, I assume SUPER MARIO 3D WORLD would be worthy of the list, as would THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: A LINK BETWEEN WORLDS for 3DS. I just won’t get those until Christmas at the earliest because I’m poor as fuck!

If I waited, then how will you know which games are the best gift for the gamer in your life?

The Five Best Games of 2013!

Or, at least, the 5 that brought me back into the world of gaming. In  order of release, not overall quality. Continue reading “The 5 Best Games of 2013: Falling Back Into Gaming, 2nd Act”

Falling Back Into Gaming PART 1: A Gamer’s History


Falling into Gaming a la Don DraperI was once a hardcore gamer.

As I grew up, I slowed and then all but stopped gaming during my ‘college through early adult’ years. But for my generation, gaming isn’t a kids’ business, just as comic books and graphic novels are for adults too (often too graphic, no pun intended, for lil’ kiddos).

So, in this, the year 2013, I finally fell back into gaming.

The years when I was most into gaming initially, those were called the “Elementary School through Highschool years.” Continue reading “Falling Back Into Gaming PART 1: A Gamer’s History”

It’s Time To Cancel Cable! And DirectTV! And Dish Network! Etc.!


My favorite IMPRACTICAL JOKER, Q, also from the genius podcast TELL 'EM STEVE-DAVE
My favorite IMPRACTICAL JOKER, Q, also from the genius podcast TELL ‘EM STEVE-DAVE

Do you pay for cable? DirectTV? Dish Network? (Is Dish Network still a thing?)

Fool of a Took!

The future  is now! And ‘now’ is the age of “Menu” TV! Between Netflix, Hulu (free Hulu, not even Hulu+), iTunes and/or Amazon Instant play, you can watch every show you love, and NEVER pay for any sort of cable service again!

Trust me, I’ve lived using the “Menu” model of TV for years, last paying for Time Warner Cable in 2009. In my past 3 years in Colorado, I have NEVER paid for Comcast (besides the internet service I am on now) and have still watched all my favorite shows from BREAKING BAD to AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. to IMPRACTICAL JOKERS.

My Days as an NBC Page
My Days as an NBC Page. I put the ‘cock’ in Peacock, baby!

During my year at NBC Universal as an NBC Page (yes, like Kenneth on 30 ROCK), I learned a great deal about cable. It didn’t hurt that I was working there during the period in which GE handed off the NBC keys to Comcast.

The basic idea behind cable is this; you pay the cable company (Time Warner, Comcast, etc) and a certain fraction of your payment goes to each and EVERY network. (Well, each corporate conglomerate that owns channels: Time Warner, Fox, Viacom, Disney, and Comcast’s NBC Universal gets paid.)

Based on the viewership of each channel, your money is distributed accordingly. ESPN is a channel that always reaps a big percentage of the pie for Disney. If MTV is having a good year due to shit like JERSEY SHORE, than Viacom gets a bigger cut.

You are paying for every channel! Every show! Even the ones you never watch!

And the show/channel you like the best may only be getting pennies compared to the shit you can’t stand.

Continue reading “It’s Time To Cancel Cable! And DirectTV! And Dish Network! Etc.!”