PixlBit

I remember this year mostly for the being disappointed with the World of Warcaft MMO. I wanted another another strategy WoW. But there was also the release of the DS, which got me back into handheld gaming, and cueing up for my first midnight release for Halo 2. The rest of the world was buying GTA: San Andreas and Pokemon FireRed/Leaf Green, numbers 1 and 2 in sales respectively. Half-Life 2 was a notable winner on Metacritic. Here's some stuff I played and want to play. 

There’s a fishing game in Japan by Namco called Ace Angler, and you view the screen horizontally to the ground like you’re looking into a fishing pond.  It’s pretty popular, and I think I even played it once at Round 1 arcade here in the US, or at least an imitation of it.  And now you can play a home version of the arcade game on the Switch with Ace Angler: Fishing Spirits.  It was available digitally in the US last year, but I imported a physical copy of it because I’m a freak about stuff like that.  But the game is entirely in English so there’s no language barrier here.  I asked for it for Christmas, but since imports can sometimes take a while, I actually didn’t get it until around Easter this past year.  And I finally got around to playing it recently.  The cool thing about the Switch game is that they made the arcade game like it has its own amusement park and aquarium.  So it’s like a cross between a Namco Museum game (albeit for only one arcade game) and Animal Crossing.  You even create your own avatar that looks like something out of Animal Crossing, and since I like the aquariums in those games, as well as Namco Museums in general, this game really ticked off a lot of boxes for me!  The game says it’s Ace Angler’s 10^th anniversary, which I didn’t realize it had been around that long!  But anyway, let me take you on a tour guide through the Ace Angler Aquarium and Arcade Amusement Park found in the Switch Fishing Spirits game!

"I dont' need no stinkin' badges" you might say, but they're really nice to get in video games, and they have cool designs. I got several this week I'd like to share in addition to making comments on all the others things I played this week. It's self indulgent, I know, but maybe one of these games will spark some conversation. Onward.

Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire retook the sales crown in 2003 making it five years since '98 that the franchise won it. Mario Kart Double Dash, a game I always wanted for its co-op but never got, was #2 in '03. Steam was fully released out of beta and Call of Duty began. Here are the games I'd like to play again or for the first time. 

Pokemon finally got topped in sales by Grand Theft Auto this year with Vice City #1 and GTA III #3 in the U.S. . Critical acclaim went to GameCube's Metroid Prime and Zelda: Wind Waker. The Sims topped all-time PC sales beating out Myst this year. Microsoft bought Rare and Gametrailers began online. Remember Gametrailers? I used to check out that site all the time. Now for games I wouldn't mind playing again or for the first time. 

Specifically the Irkens from Irk, and more specficially, Invader Zim, voiced by Richard Horvitz (Chaos in Skylanders). This 2001 animated TV series didn't even make it through its second season, but its still pretty good. It especially appeals to me for its angular design, wild humor, surrealism, and sometimes dark tones. Zim is assigned to take over Earth and he assumes the disguise of a middle schooler to hide his secret. Dib, a fellow student, is not convinced and seeks to expose him. Another selling point for me was the voice of Kevin McDonald from Kids in the Hall as one of the Almighty Tallest, co-leader of the Irks and Zim's boss. Oh, and there were more aliens in the games I played this week. 

September 15 is my birthday, but the presents are for you!  More recent game reviews I’ve written over at GamerDad.com for you to read and post ‘likes’ and comments on.  And thanks for doing that.  And since it’s my birthday, in the comments section here, please give me a pretend birthday present!  It’s the thought that counts, literally!  And it’s fun.  OK let’s begin!

GameCube, GBA and Xbox were all released. Pokemon games won all sales awards across the board, again. Amongst the highest critically were: Halo, GTA III, Grand Turismo 3 and Final Fantasy X. Dreamcast was discontinued this year, which was probably when I got one on the cheap as GameStop started shipping them all back to their warehouses. I probably got a Xbox on the strength of Halo, Gamecube for the Rogue Squadron sequel, and a PS2 for the Red Faction port. Here's a bunch of games I played around that time, then alter, and then ones I'd like to play now. 

I watched some Mobile Suit Gundam Wing and MSG SEED on youtube. I only found a few episodes dubbed into English, most are with subtitles, which I like to avoid. It's a neat show. I'm constantly reminded of US IPs like Halo and Pacific Rim while watching it. GUNDAM just basically means the neural interface with a robotic battle suit, like with Master Chief and Cortana or the piltos and Jaegers of Pacific Rim. Seems this show, just like the hair styles, like their robots all spikey. Fun stuff, and complex. The stories in MSGW are deep in polical intrigue, Earth vs. Rebels, not unlike the colonial uprisings in the Halo universe. I enjoyed it in between lots of gaming that happened during Labor Day weekend as outlined below. 

2000 was the year of the PS2. Remember the lines as people wanted not just a game system but a DVD player? I got one later. However, Pokemon still ruled home game sales: Red, Blue, Yellow, Gold, Silver and Pokemon Stadium all contributed. Microsoft bought Bungie and PopCap was formed. Mad Krammer and I were really into the Dreamcast, and I bought a PC I could finally call my own. Here is a list of stuff I've played or want to play today in 2023 (darn it, that's 23 years ago!).