Category Archives: nintendo

“Hey, not too rough” #1

Doom, fps, nintendo, switch, video games

Welcome to the start of a long series of posts about the classic video game Doom.

Back in the early nineties I was living in Guildford and working in Byfleet for a credit card manufacturer as a programmer writing software to control desktop embossing machines.

I used to use my personal computer at the time for developing on as it was better than anything the company had. Bare in mind this was a 16Mhz 386sx (so not even a full blown 386) Amstrad clamshell laptop with a 20MB hard drive, and 4MB of RAM.

It was on this “beast” that I first played the shareware version of Wolfenstein, followed by its successor Doom.

Both games captured the imaginations of myself and my colleagues. We spent every free moment of our breaks playing the games in the office. There was definitely a competitive element between us that saw us competing to make more progress in the game than the others.

I did complete both games.

Doom did really stand out at the time as something special. The lighting, level design, hidden rooms, levels that were at different heights, jump out of your skin moments, and iconic monsters.

Since then over the decades I have played Doom on nearly every capable platform I’ve owned. Whether that was a windows powered pda, member of the GameBoy family, or full blown games console like the 360.

Now some thirty years later I’m once more returning to Mars to take on the forces of hell in a dramatic play through of Doom on the Nintendo Switch.

For the record this will not be the first time that I’ve played the Switch version of Doom. When I first purchased the Switch version I naturally played through a few of the levels. Memory fails me about whether I finished the game or not.

So what’s different about my playing the game this time around?

I think this time around it will be the total immersion of all things Doom between sessions. Such as rereading Masters of Doom, and DOOM:SCARYDARKFAST, plus a first time reading of “I’m too young to die“ by Bitmap Books.

And like my Portal posts (once I put the remaining two up) there will be a look at the table top versions of the game.

So it’s possible you won’t see another post in this series for a week or two as I finish the Portal posts, keep my #dungeon23 stuff going, and prep my lessons. Until then see you in the next post.

Oops I did it again, no title!

fps, nintendo, switch, video games

I have a blog post pile of shame.

Sitting in my draft folder are posts I started but not finished.

One day I plan to return to them and finish what I started.

A couple of those posts are the final two posts that complete my replay of Portal (which I need to finish, I am near the end) and my thoughts on playing the Portal boardgame. These two are a priority.

But even with those posts haunting me (we won’t mention my Alien isolation post). When a new arrival comes in like “I’m too young to die“ by Bitmap Books for me to read, new post ideas instantly jump to mind.

I’d love to do a series of posts playing through all the different versions of Doom that I have (on the Switch at the moment). Whilst playing the original I’d reread the books I have on the game, Masters of Doom, and DOOM:SCARYDARKFAST. Then as I bore you with my posts I’ll try and work in my personal stuff along with snippets picked up from the books.

I’d love. No really I would. To get my hands on both versions of the Doom boardgame, play them, and write about that experience to. But that is a pipe dream. Cost and available funds will be a factor stopping this.

I have similar plans for other video games I have books on to. Such as Final Fantasy 7, Tempest, Metal Slug series, Mario 2 & 3.

I need to revisit the Bioshock series and play the boardgame I’ve never got to the table.

Then there is Skyrim. I own it on the Switch but never played it until two days ago whilst at Nathan’s (I started the game, and now a couple of hours in).

Sadly my preferred publisher Boss Fight Books hasn’t done a book on Skyrim. And I’m not seeing any books out there that are similar to the sort Boss Fight produce or I have in my collection.

I’m not sure what I can add to the coverage of Skyrim. But we will see how that goes.

In the meantime I need to come up with a plan that enables me to finish some of those draft posts, and write new ones. Life would be so much easier with a big lottery win!

The cakes a lie #3

nintendo, switch

A third post on the Switch port of the classic video game Portal. What have you all done to deserve such punishment?

If you are just joining us in this self inflicted madness you can read the last post where I start to look at the Switch version, or the very first post of ramblings down memory lane.

More examples of the environment telling the story

I love the little touches scattered throughout the game such as the radio that plays the “Still Alive” music, or the humorous graffiti. Yes I’ve mentioned this previously. But these little touches that you are left to discover are such a great example of using the environment to help tell the story.

Is the game too short? It’s certainly one of the criticisms I’ve read recently when I was checking facts. Back when I first played the game I don’t remember feeling that it was.

But how do I feel about the length of the game now? I’m currently on test chamber eighteen as I write this third post. With nineteen test chambers plus two “levels” in total. You could say I’m almost finished playing the game.

I have to admit I’m a little surprised I’ve progressed so quickly through the game. Admittedly some of the early test chambers are very short and quick to complete.

Then again I haven’t been rushing to complete the game. I’ve been savouring my time playing it. Especially as my play sessions have been snippets grabbed here and there.

But Jeff after seeing me bang on about Portal bought it on Steam, and completed it the morning of purchase. Whilst his son has bought the Switch version and done the same.

This kind of took me aback a little that they completed it so quickly.

So there is no denying that Portal is a short game. Whether it’s too short is very subjective. I can understand players wanting more.

The game leaves you desiring more.

But I’d argue it’s better it leaves you feeling this than over staying it’s welcome.

Besides in the Switch version we have the bonus test chambers. Which adds another fourteen test chambers to solve. Plus for those curious or addicted to the game, you can replay it with the designer commentary.

Are these enough to answer the criticism?

For me the game is the perfect length to tell what story the game has. I think from the story point of view there is only so much foreshadowing etc that you can give. I think things would start to feel stretched, even forced if told over more “levels”.

Plus I don’t think that the story is strong enough to support being told over more levels. But I’ll look into the story in the next post!

The cakes a lie #2

nintendo, switch

In my previous post I took you down memory lane and my first experience with Portal way back in the distant past of 2009.

I want to try and write intelligently about Portal and my experience of playing it in the present day. Whether I achieve that I’m not sure. I’ll give it my best shot.

Obviously the hardware I’m playing Portal on is vastly different to my first time playing the game.

Back then I played the game on a Xbox 360 connected to a 1080p HD tv (which was 48in iirc). Whilst this time I’m playing Portal on a Nintendo Switch Lite.

How I’m playing the game is also very different. In 2009 I was between jobs. So after walking the wolf pack (I miss those three so much), and the chores that needed doing round the house. I was able to spend a considerable amount of time playing the game in a single session.

Now with the Switch Lite my gaming patterns have changed considerably. My gaming patterns are more like when I played a lot of handheld games on my handheld consoles. Sneaking in a half hour of play between doing something else, or playing whilst the tv has The Big Bang Theory on in the background. I’d say on the commute into work. But I drive these days instead of catching an over priced train.

I can’t say that if I owned a full blown Switch that this would change. I know it wouldn’t as I owned one and I used it solely as a handheld console.

Since downloading Portal onto my Switch Lite I’ve played through the first 15 test chambers aka levels (?) just as described above. Five minutes here, twenty there.

I actually think Portal works quite well played like this. It’s almost as if Portal was designed to be played like this. The test chambers seem the perfect length (at the moment) for a pick up and play for five minutes between doing something else.

Menu Options

I would have loved to be able to play through with the Developer Commentary switched on from the start. Sadly you have to unlock the commentary by completing the test chambers first.

There are bonus maps, which are from the Portal Still Alive release of the game on the 360 (if my Google skills haven’t let me down). Which is a nice touch, and added value. Even better you don’t have to unlock them to play. My play through of these new to me maps will be the subject of another post for sure.

As I venture back into the Aperture Science Laboratories it felt as if I hadn’t been away.

Obviously I still remember the major twists and turns within the overall story arc as it is. So there will be no major surprises. You can never recapture that first time experience. Still it’s been long enough that the test chambers seem familiar but fresh.

As you progress through the test chambers you gradually get taught new key skills that will be needed to complete the more complicated test chambers later on. Along with gaining your portal gun and the ability to create multiple portals.

As I said in the previous post Portal makes great use of the environment to tell what little story it has. As the wall of graffiti pictured above shows. It also does a great job of embedding clues to solving the puzzle, warnings, or at least the “skill” you should be using for a test chamber.

I feel there is at least one, if not two more posts to come on this. So I’m going to leave it there for the moment. Play some more Portal, the odd board game, gather my thoughts on what I’ve played in Portal, then write a post.

In the meantime what do you think of these two posts so far? Let me know in the comments.

The cakes a lie #1

nintendo, switch

It was back in the early half of 2009 whilst I was living in Crook, between jobs, coming to terms with a failed marriage, and missing my son. Definitely a low point in my life, that I bought The Orange Box by Valve for the Xbox360.

It was incredible value for money at the time (especially second hand for a tenner iirc), consisting of Half-Life 2 plus its two stand alone expansions Episode 1 and 2, Team Fortress 2, and Portal.

Apart from being my first introduction to the Half-Life series. Which was an incredible experience, and maybe the subject of a future post. It also introduced me to (what has become a classic) Portal.

It’s rare that an unknown (to me at the time) game out shines such a high profile game as Half-Life 2 in a compilation like this. But it did.

I loved that it was a first person puzzler, some of those puzzles were so devious (I may have had to look up the solution to one or two). It may not have had the storyline of a Final Fantasy game. But you weren’t really playing the game for its story.

There was great use of the environment aiding in telling what there was plot wise. You got the feeling everything was not quite right, failing equipment, decay, and graffiti. Add in atmospheric music, plus the voice acting and dialog of the computer GLaDOS.

Then there was the Jonathan Coulton song during the end credits “Still Alive” adding a surprise twist to the story arc you’ve just completed. I love this song. It is on one or two playlists I have setup. It’s catchy and fun.

Still Alive by Jonathan Coulton

You know a game has made it when it has memes. In the case of Portal they were about the cake being a lie. People still quote this today, I do! (the title of this post for starters.)

Plus there is a Portal boardgame (sadly I don’t own it – yet!) Portal (technically Portal 2) even made it into Lego!

Portal 2 Lego (you will see this in another post)

As you may have guessed from the big clue above about “Still Alive” I did in fact finish the game. Something I can’t say about it’s follow up Portal 2 but I’m sure I’ll go into that in another post.

Jump forward several years and the purchase of a Nintendo Switch, life events forcing me to trade it in, and the subsequent purchase of a Switch Lite a year or two later.

I remember tweeting during the early days of owning a Switch I’d love to see Portal on the platform. It just seemed a natural fit for the console, especially as a handheld game. But I knew it was a pipe dream. It’d never happen.

Then imagine my surprise and excitement when Nintendo announced in a Nintendo Direct earlier in the year that Portal and Portal 2 would be coming to the platform later in the year as the Companion Collection.

I hadn’t forgotten it was coming out. But since it was announced I hadn’t seen a release date. Then Monday I saw there had been a new Nintendo Direct and that Portal: Companion Collection was out that day! Sadly no physical version (yet?). But at £13.99 as a digital download I could live with that.

So now I am downloading the game as I write this excited to return to the Aperture Science Laboratories, GLaDOS, Chell, and Companion Cubes.

Which brings us to a logical point to split the post, and give me time to play the game before writing about it again.

Spanner in the works

nintendo, switch

I thought in the past when I first had a Nintendo Switch and played Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle for the first time that I had given my impressions of the game here. Sadly after searching this very blog I was unable to find evidence that I had done that.

Which buggers things up for me.

I’m currently slowly writing a rather long (even for me) post on another game on the Switch. It’s using a “new” approach for me that is taking much longer to put words together for. It doesn’t help that apathy, getting diverted with other ideas and this game get in the way.

Now I’m going to have to make some notes and add the post for Mario + Rabbids: Battle Kingdom to the growing queue of unfinished posts. Which diverts me from that other massive post.

The good news! Is that this extra time gives me an opportunity to explore some of the DLC now that I’ve finished the Main Story Mode. Another distraction from the other post!

Crushed Eggs!

apps, Fenland Gamers, game night, nintendo, online play, switch, virtual game night

Last night there was another virtual game night for Fenland Gamers.

Sadly it was just Jonathan and myself that were able to virtually meet up to play games. So mirroring one or two of the real life meet ups of yester year.

At Jonathan’s suggestion we played a game of Wingspan. It’s not as if I’m going to say no. We both love the game. So I started a three player game with an AI player taking the third spot.

I should screen shot my opening cards and discuss my decisions about what to keep, etc. I’ll do that for the next game. In the meantime all I can remember about this games starting cards is that I had a bonus card that synergised with the final rounds end of round bonus. That I had two cards in hand that not only counted (if played) towards my bonus card (and by implication the final round bonus) but also allowed the setting up of a tuck engine on the grasslands.

The Wingspan scores and final board state for me

I think I only took the initial draw cards wetland action once, and that was my first action if I remember correctly to grab a bird needed for the engine. After that all my card draw was coming from doing an egg run.

During play I had guessed Jonathan was struggling. He was taking a lot of draw cards actions. Jonathan was hunting for something. Later during the game my suspicions were confirmed when Jonathan posted a message on Discord (and I’m paraphrasing here) that the cards in this game indeed hated him and were conspiring against him.

The final scores did surprise me. Especially Jonathan’s. His claim that this was his worst scoring game ever, was probably right. I don’t remember him doing so poorly.

But that’s the nature of the beast. You see it in every game. Sometimes the stars don’t a line, and everything seems to be working against you. In these situations I think it helps to be the optimist and write the game off as one of those things that just happen, and next time will be different. It’s not fun as it’s happening, and can be frustrating. But you have to play to the last turn on the last round. Things might turn around.

It’s like the game of Epic the Card Game I had last week (lucky for the world the app doesn’t allow you to replay the whole game to record it). Early on in the game I went down to 2 health. Whilst my opponent was gaining life also. It wasn’t looking good.

Life savers!

But drawing into the two cards above I was able to stabilise by removing big threats from attacking, and basically neutralise tokens. This bought me enough time to draw into hopefully solutions to whatever the current threat on the board was.

There has even been games of Star Realms like this. I’ve been on one authority with my opponent in the 60s, and still hung in there and won! That game might actually also be on YouTube. There have been numerous games of MtG like this. Plus just as many that didn’t pan out.

When there is a turn around like the above they become epic gaming moments that you retell time and time again. The boardgaming version of “this one time in band camp…”

I’m digressing from the fact I crushed Jonathan, and had to settle for the fact the only banter was by sharing the above screen shots showing the emphatic victory on social media.

Afterwards we agreed to start up another game of chess via discord. This time it’s Jonathan’s turn to be white.

Arkham Asylum Mother’s Embrace First Impressions

apps, nintendo, switch

Last week Asmodee Digital and FFG (both part of the Asmodee Borg Collective) released Arkham Asylum Mother’s Embrace (AAME) on the Switch and other consoles.

Naturally this post will be looking at the Switch version of the game. So when I discuss things like graphic quality or other platform specific things they will not apply to the other platforms AAME is available on. Oh and I’m playing it on a Switch Lite.

AAME is set within the Lovecraftian Arkham Asylum universe that FFG created with their board games and living card game (lcg). I’ve enjoyed one or two of the board games, like Elder Sign, Eldritch Horror and Mansions of Madness 2. But the co-operative lcg Arkham Horror didn’t appeal to me, so I never bought it or played it. As for the whole Lovecraft Cthulhu theme with the elder gods, cultists and 1920/30’s setting it’s something I can take or leave.

Upon first loading up AAME I’m hit by the loading times. I’ve not timed it, maybe I should, but it does seem slow and take an age.

But as I navigate the menu, select my investigator, and start a new game, the cut scenes and starting in front of a house take me back to the early 1990’s and the “classic” MS-DOS game Alone in the Dark. That vibe just gets stronger as I start to walk around and explore.

If you ask Nathan the graphics aren’t much better than those of Alone in the Dark either. But in reality the 3D models may not be as good as those on other platforms, and feel more PS3 level at best. However they were more than serviceable and didn’t detract me from the game and getting sucked into the story.

You start AAME with the initial investigator that you chose at the start, but you are soon recruiting others into your team as you work through the chapters that make up the story.

During the game as you explore the location that the current chapter is set in, you can investigate certain parts of the room signified by a bright dot when far away, and a magnifying glass when up close.

Sometimes when you investigate an object you have a choice of options you can take. Chose the wrong one and the mythos clock goes up by one. If the mythos clock hits the top it resets, and forces all your current investigators to do a sanity check that if they fail will give them some sort of negative condition. But it’s not always guess work, if you gave a relevant investigator in your current team you get a clue as to the right choice to make.

I like that at the start of each chapter you select the investigators you want to take on that mission. Those left behind get rested and heal back up from any conditions they have from failed sanity checks.

One aspect I dislike about the game, and it’s done in many others too, is having captions on screen at the same time as the voice acting. I’ve read the text before the voice acting has finished. I must look at the options to see if I can switch this off. At list you can advance through it without having to wait.

Combat itself is fine. It’s turn based where you get to spend a number of action points to take one or more of the actions available to the character. The action point cost of actions varies on the action and character. Plus at the start of combat initiative is generated to decide the order of characters and enemies to take their turn. Very TTRPG like.

I like the quick access to the building map, equipment screen, story summary, and the objective summary. I also like the graphic design of these to be like and feel like a notebook.

Another nice touch is the auto saving, with the option to also create your own save point. This save point within the chapter will be where you start from if you need to quit and come back later, die etc.

I’m on the fourth chapter now and I’m enjoying AAME. I love the fact it takes me back to those days of playing Alone in the Dark. And I like that Asmodee Digital and FFG have chosen that style of game play. The story, the investigating a mystery also help in taking me back to those days. It may not have the flashiest of graphics. But they do the job.

Belated Mar10 post

new arrivals, nintendo, switch

Yesterday was Mar10 day! I think this is the first time I’ve ever seen this as a thing. I hope it remains so and becomes the Nintendo equivalent of May 4th for Star Wars.

Below are the images I shared across social media via Instagram.

So that I don’t forget I’ve added a reminder to the calendar on my iPhone. Along with May the fourth.

I had been hearing good things about the roll and write Rome and Roll. And I have been known to enjoy the odd roll and write. I have a handful of them in my collection.

So when I investigated the game, which was basically looking to see how much it costs. I was pleasantly surprised at how relatively cheap it was.

And because there is a photo (above) and the fact I am briefly discussing it here. It is safe to assume a copy arrived yesterday.

I hadn’t realised this game doesn’t have the obligatory thick pads of paper to play with. But uses dry erase pens and shiny wipeable boards. The cards used in the game are not your regular MtG sized playing card, but more a larger tarot size. So if I want to sleeve them then I need to source an appropriate sized sleeve.

The game caters for 1 – 4 players. The likely hood I’ll play it solo. Slim. I like the idea of solo play. And more than a few of the games in my collection allow solo play. However the flaffing around setting up, and running some form of AI puts me off. Especially if there is a digital version of the game I can play. Although there is the lack of the tactile side of things with the digital version.

Rome and Roll does come with a reputation of being more thinky and complex that your regular roll and write. And I’m looking forward to sinking my teeth into it.

A new switch gaming project!

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I started yet another game today! I still need to finish my revisit to Rapture. But that visit got interrupted by Animal Crossing New Horizons (ACNH) and the Mario + Rabbids game (currently a lot further into this than when I played it previously).

ACNH will be an on going thing as I will be visiting Acheron daily to do various tasks that need doing, such as pick and sell fruit. And I’m currently buying my daily allocated 5 Mario items from Nook’s shop.

But this new game just had to be fired up and played.

That new game (to me) was Final Fantasy VII and VIII Remastered for the Switch.

The plan is to play FFVII and also read the book 500 Years Later between sessions. Followed by watching the FFVII: Advent Children movie.

The book 500 Years Later is all about FFVII (naturally) and it’s development. I backed it on Kickstarter and it’s been sitting on my bookshelf ever since it’s arrival. Now seems the perfect time to take it off the shelf, dust it off and savour the words inside.

This also gave me an idea for a future project for when I replay the classic Doom. I have a couple of books about that, that I could read at the same time. Plus I have books on Mario and Zelda that could accompany a play through of one or two of the respective titles for those characters.

I have an admission to make about FF7VII. An admission that will make other gamers look down on me with distain and open me up to ridicule from them. But it needs to be said. I have barely played FF7VII. I hadn’t gotten very far into the game at all. But I have played FFI – III, plus the FF Legend on the GameBoy. And I still have nightmares of the 20+ hours of FFXIII that I played (god that game was boring).

So I’m pretty excited to be able to put time into playing the game now.

To help me through this project my latest delivery of coffee from Girl with a Portafilter arrived earlier in the week.

It always helps to have a good coffee to start the day off with. And this is good coffee. It’s leap and bounds above what supermarkets try to pass off as coffee on their shelves. Not even the same league.

Leave me a comment below if you have any ideas on how you want me to cover my journey with FFVII if at all.