It's that time of year again, where we look back at all our crazy hijinks here at Stage Select Start (nothing crazy happened), apologize to all the corporations we offended with out scathing and truthful commentary of their products (nothing has been offended in any way with any form of retaliation), and mail out all of the holiday cards that are still sitting on any number of motherboards (there is only a half truth in that last one). The point is, a bunch of stuff kind of happened last year and some things that may or may not happen in this upcoming year.
Once again, I started off the article by making a list of the games that I felt highlighted the past 366 days, the TV shows (streamed and live) that I have enjoyed, the movies that came out that I fell in love with, and um, the food I ate because without food, there would be no gaming. Then I looked back at previous Year in Review articles and recalled that each year I started out with lists then pulled back from the potential of subjugating all our reader to that kind of monotony. There is probably a reason that I start off with lists though, if anything I use it as a reminder since my memory about what I did back in February is a bit misty.
So what was 2016 about for me?
Conklederp and I were introduced to the McElroy brothers and their Monster Factory videos over on Polygon's Youtube channel, but I already talked about it back in April, so you can go read more about that there. Thank you much again to Kinglouie for giving us hours upon hours of hilarious pain.
Over the last couple of weeks, I have seen a number of youtube channels and other gaming sites list their "Top Games of 2016" and that is a pretty tempting aspect until I really begin to think of the games that were released in 2016 that I have played. Yeah, I guess Pokemon GO technically counts as well as . That's when I get stuck. I mean physical game-wise, there was Exploding Kittens, Joking Hazard, and Mansions of Madness 2nd Edition, but of video games, I don't think I played one. I did dabble a bit with the DOOM demo, but with my computer maxing out around 10-12 fps (even on low settings), I figure that I will wait until my next computer arrives (hopefully not for a while since I have barely had this computer for a year and I quite like not having to buy a new computer). I have also put 101 minutes into the Resident Evil 7 demo, which is not as labor intensive and makes me at least think that I could play the full game when it is released on the 24th. Oh wait, I did also play the Mirror's Edge: Catalyst closed beta back in April, so there is that too.
But overall, I am pretty happy with the games that I did manage to play and those that I did finish. I enjoyed my first and full forays into the world of Dark Souls with the Prepare to Die Edition on Steam as well as the reboot of Tomb Raider; and technically in 2017, but before I finished this article, the reboot with Castlevania: Lords of Shadow. KHOLAT (whose article is still in the works) was another highlight for the year.
In physical games, we probably spent the most time playing Dungeons & Dragons, followed by Mansions of Madness (both editions), followed by a handful of card games (eh!?) that I received for Christmas (The Oregon Trail Card Game and Coup). Sadly though, regarding D&D, is that we have not been able to get enough people together since September, but we can blame that on scheduling conflicts involving families.
In the realm of TV, Conklederp and I are loving the second half of Vikings Season 4, and powered through Black Mirror Season 3. Game of Thrones Season 6 was great, if a little disappointingly predictable, especially now that both readers and watchers are in uncharted territory. I was also a bit disappointed with the Season 6 Blu-ray presentation, which came out a number of months earlier than previous season releases and there will be a review/rant about that in the coming weeks.
Lastly, I cannot talk about 2016 without mentioning Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and how much I enjoyed that little film, how impressed I was with Gareth Edwards treatment of a story in this universe (but maybe not as surprised considering how much I liked Monsters), and Michael Giacchino's score. Conklederp and I took The Kid (who spent New Years with us) to see it (first for The Kid, second for us) over the weekend and a second viewing reinforced my positive feelings for the film.
Okay, we've spent enough time dwelling on 2016, so what about 2017?
Well, I am not 100% sure actually.
So what was 2016 about for me?
Conklederp and I were introduced to the McElroy brothers and their Monster Factory videos over on Polygon's Youtube channel, but I already talked about it back in April, so you can go read more about that there. Thank you much again to Kinglouie for giving us hours upon hours of hilarious pain.
Over the last couple of weeks, I have seen a number of youtube channels and other gaming sites list their "Top Games of 2016" and that is a pretty tempting aspect until I really begin to think of the games that were released in 2016 that I have played. Yeah, I guess Pokemon GO technically counts as well as . That's when I get stuck. I mean physical game-wise, there was Exploding Kittens, Joking Hazard, and Mansions of Madness 2nd Edition, but of video games, I don't think I played one. I did dabble a bit with the DOOM demo, but with my computer maxing out around 10-12 fps (even on low settings), I figure that I will wait until my next computer arrives (hopefully not for a while since I have barely had this computer for a year and I quite like not having to buy a new computer). I have also put 101 minutes into the Resident Evil 7 demo, which is not as labor intensive and makes me at least think that I could play the full game when it is released on the 24th. Oh wait, I did also play the Mirror's Edge: Catalyst closed beta back in April, so there is that too.
But overall, I am pretty happy with the games that I did manage to play and those that I did finish. I enjoyed my first and full forays into the world of Dark Souls with the Prepare to Die Edition on Steam as well as the reboot of Tomb Raider; and technically in 2017, but before I finished this article, the reboot with Castlevania: Lords of Shadow. KHOLAT (whose article is still in the works) was another highlight for the year.
In physical games, we probably spent the most time playing Dungeons & Dragons, followed by Mansions of Madness (both editions), followed by a handful of card games (eh!?) that I received for Christmas (The Oregon Trail Card Game and Coup). Sadly though, regarding D&D, is that we have not been able to get enough people together since September, but we can blame that on scheduling conflicts involving families.
In the realm of TV, Conklederp and I are loving the second half of Vikings Season 4, and powered through Black Mirror Season 3. Game of Thrones Season 6 was great, if a little disappointingly predictable, especially now that both readers and watchers are in uncharted territory. I was also a bit disappointed with the Season 6 Blu-ray presentation, which came out a number of months earlier than previous season releases and there will be a review/rant about that in the coming weeks.
Lastly, I cannot talk about 2016 without mentioning Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and how much I enjoyed that little film, how impressed I was with Gareth Edwards treatment of a story in this universe (but maybe not as surprised considering how much I liked Monsters), and Michael Giacchino's score. Conklederp and I took The Kid (who spent New Years with us) to see it (first for The Kid, second for us) over the weekend and a second viewing reinforced my positive feelings for the film.
Okay, we've spent enough time dwelling on 2016, so what about 2017?
Well, I am not 100% sure actually.
I am hoping to get in at least one session a month for D&D (which I consider to be good considering that there are eight of us). I am also looking forward to Nintendo's press conference next week on the Switch and (hopefully?) picking one up sometime this year, but only if Nintendo anticipates sales that they did not plan for with the ill fated release of the Nintendo Classic Mini. I also just (as in the day I am writing this) picked up the Tides of Madness card game from Portal Games which was released last year in April, partly because I am a sucker for most anything Cthulhu or Lovecraft related, but additionally because it is a two player game that is supposed to last about 20 minutes.
On my own part, I will continue to post as regularly as I can, but as my return to the employed world of Capitalism, I may have to forgo a post or two in lieu of real world money making (which is why this article is going up on Friday January 6th and not the 2nd. Presently I am re-enjoying Chrono Trigger on my 3DS (the 2008 DS port), still working on The Witcher (2007), Mark of the Ninja (2012), and semi-slogging through the PC port of Resident Evil 5 with an article on Monday about my experience so far in that unnamed African region.
I think I am going to leave it at that for now as I feel that any more pondering about the next 349 days will result in me making up stuff and will most definitely sound like I am talking out of my ass. So hopefully 2017 will be a good year for everyone involved, the Nintendo Switch will not be Bogarted by asshats like the Nintendo Classic, and that we won't be using the Fallout series as a how-to survive guide after the first 100 days.
~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian
And All The Other Freaks Will Share My Cares
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