GameWeek: July 27-Aug 2, 2014

Star Fox 64 3D - I enjoyed this game a lot when I reviewed it way back in 2011, but after an all new Star Fox was sorta kinda announced at this year's E3 I had a hankering to go back and play this again. This time around I'm trying to get all of the medals in the game. I'll tell you what, going for the medals adds a considerable amount of challenge to this title! Also, I didn't make mention of it in my review, but all of the in-game dialogue was re-recorded for this release. The voices aren't jarringly different, but I definitely like the original N64 voice work better.

The Last of Us: Remastered - TLOU was my game of the year for 2013 and since I didn't yet own it (I rented and beat the PS3 version) I decided to pick it up for PS4. I'm most excited to play the Left Behind DLC, as I haven't yet had a chance to dig into that, but I'll probably play through the main campaign again as well. Interestingly enough, though I have owned my PS4 for over 3 months now, this is the first disc-based game I've purchased for it.

The Goonies II - I've always had a soft spot for this NES adventure/platformer from Konami. Though some of the game's goals are unnecessarily obscure (you literally have to punch an old lady in the face five times in order to receive a vital piece of equipment), it's an all-around solid game with nice graphics, above average music, and a good level of challenge. You should play it if you can, just make sure to use a guide!

GameWeek: July 20-26, 2014

Hey y'all, in an effort to write more and keep the fresh content coming, I've decided to start writing a weekly post called GameWeek (super catchy, I know). I thought this might be a good place to put all of my short-form thoughts and musings related to the wider world of console gaming. Want to know what I've been thinking about and playing this week? Read on...

Resident Evil 5 - I know, I know... Over the years I've talked a lot about the Resident Evil franchise and this game in particular. What can I say? I still LOVE playing the RE5 Mercenaries mode. Anyway, I bring it up now because my friend and I were recently able to reach a milestone in that game that we spent the better part of FIVE YEARS trying to achieve. We FINALLY got a FULL 150 kill combo on the 'Prison' stage of the Mercenaries Reunion mode! Now, those who know the game well are no doubt shouting "N0000000000B!!!!" at the top of their lungs and covering their screens in flecks of spittle, while those who don't know the game are likely thinking "Huh?" Let me explain. Yes, I HAVE gotten the full 150 combo on that stage before. Many many times, in fact. What made this run special is that I did it with a friend whom I personally trained to be the zombie killing machine he is today! I'll admit that five years is a rather lengthy period of time for the training, but it still felt like an achievement. These days, I rarely get the opportunity to play any split-screen multiplayer, and it's been AGES since I did so at a high level. God, the RE elitists are probably spewing Mountain Dew from every orifice after reading that last line.

Club Nintendo Platinum Status - I achieved platinum status in the Club Nintendo rewards program this year, and the rewards were announced last week. The rewards themselves weren't especially great this time around, but I found something that interested me in the Wii U title Game & Wario. Redeeming my game code was easy enough, but I encountered a problem as the game was downloading...my Wi-Fi signal went out! It was only then that I discovered that the Wii U can only connect to the internet via Wi-Fi. Huh. One week later, I'm still waiting for my internet service to be restored, so I'll tell you what I think of the game after that happens. Yes, I tried unplugging my router and plugging it back in. Sheesh, I wasn't born yesterday.

So that's GameWeek! I'm going to try hard to keep it up...