Spelunky 2: Made It To World 5!

Posted in Best / Worst, Blog, Games, High Scores/Accomplishments with tags on October 17, 2020 by slateman

Around 500 deaths into this game, I finally unlocked the second shortcut, allowing me to skip straight to the Tide Pool, world 4. The alternate fourth world is the Temple of Anubis which wrecks me almost instantaneously. However, after just a little while of working through the Tide Pool, I managed to beat it, making it to the Ice Caves for the first time! It’s been a while since I played the original Spelunky and though I enjoyed the flashback, I haven’t made it far into this new locale. Additionally, building a shortcut to it, without having to traipse through the Tide Pool, will be a rigorous and almost-impossible task.

My first impressions of the game were not quite at the level of other review outlets, who have dished out 10s. But the more I play, the more I realize how brilliant the game is – particularly when playing with my 9-year-old son. This game is great and one of the year’s best!

The Best TV Shows Ever

Posted in Best / Worst, Blog, Lists, TV on October 13, 2020 by slateman

This is more of a mental list than a real one, as I can’t necessarily claim this to be 100% valid. This will require some expanded exposition as time goes on. I’ll come back to this and expand upon it, so don’t let this be official.

  1. Seinfeld
  2. Breaking Bad
  3. True Detective (Season 1)
  4. Fawlty Towers
  5. Haunting Of Hill House (Season 1)
  6. Band Of Brothers
  7. Vikings (Seasons 1-4)
  8. Game Of Thrones
  9. The Sopranos
  10. House Of Cards (Season 1-?)
  11. Stranger Things (Season 1)
  12. Fargo (Season 1, 2, 3)
  13. Monty Python’s Flying Circus
  14. Narcos (Season 1)
  15. Sherlock
  16. South Park?

Notable Entries: Black Mirror, Boardwalk Empire, 24, Mindhunter, Sons Of Anarchy, The Leftovers.

Still To Watch: Mad Men, Rectify, Justified, more?

More to come!

Spelunky 2 – Progress?

Posted in Best / Worst, Blog, Games on October 12, 2020 by slateman

I’m not too proud to admit it. I was stuck on Olmec for weeks, never progressing past world 2 at all. Death upon death came to me and while I knew I could get a shortcut to the next world, I also knew I’d have to beat Olmec at least three times – and I couldn’t defeat him even once!

Fast forward a bit and…I’ve done it several times! Now, that elusive shortcut is locked behind taming some sort of animal AND beating Olmec all in one go. Hmm…I’m less confident now. However, as I approach 500 deaths and witness people speedrunning the game in three minutes, I’ll have to be happy with this slight progress. Only then will I be able to tackle the rigors of level 4. Wish me luck.

Games I Missed This Generation

Posted in Best / Worst, Blog, Games, Lists on October 3, 2020 by slateman

Back in 2013, I wrote about the 9 best games of the prior generation and we’re about time to wrap up yet another gen. While I should get to doing a similar post, I wanted to recap some of the titles that may deserve a place on that list but which I never had the pleasure of playing. In addition, this serves as a sort of checklist for things to get to in the coming years. The good news is that most, if not all of these titles will work next gen, so that’ll be great when prices drop a little bit. Without any additional ado…


Titles I’ve Missed
Game Thoughts
The Last Of Us: Part 2 The first was great – but exhausting!
Ghost Of Tsushima I will play this game!
Ys IX: Monstrum Nox Getting localized soon
Gears 5 No Xbox One!
Monster Hunter: World Is this up my alley?
Final Fantasy XV Do I have the patience for FF nowadays?
Control Unsure about this one
COD: Modern Warfare Probably a gorgeous, fun romp
Hades Waiting for a PS4 port

Two Years Later Update
It’s now the 1st of October, 2022 and I figured I’d toss a quick update about this post.

TLOU: Great game, looked spectacular – but like the first, I never want to revisit again
Tsushima: Just loved this game. Visually it was just a joy. Fun gameplay.
Ys IX: Played this in early 2021. Absolutely loved it – more than 8. One of the series’ best.
Modern Warfare: Just beat this today. Usual romp – worth the $ – not the HDD space!
Hades: Played upon returning to America. Liked it but never beat, just kinda fell off.

I tinkered with 3 of the 4 others but not enough to keep me interested.

OK, Sony. It’s Time To Talk.

Posted in Blog, Games on October 1, 2020 by slateman

Here’s my very personal history and the memorable launch titles:

I bought my Playstation in January of 1997. (Street Fighter Alpha 2)
I bought my Playstation 2 in October of 2000.(SSX)
I bought my Playstation 3 in or around November 2006. (Resistance)
I bought my Playstation 4 in November 2013. (Killzone)

In fact, the ONLY console I don’t own from the past 25 years is the Xbox One – and only because of finances.

So, I’m on board with the next gen. I’ve pre-ordered. I am thrilled about the upgrade and I’m happy to choose Sony again (though I genuinely hope to pick up a Series X at one point down the line!)

But as the system is set to launch in a mere 41 days, there’s more that we don’t know than we do. How will backwards compatibility work? Will it have a suspend mode like the upcoming Xbox? Will PS5 controllers work with PS4 games? How will the UI look? How will haptic feedback feel? I could go on and on.

Sony’s hubris after the best-selling console of all time, the Playstation 2, contributed to its successor having a rocky start. All the goodwill they’ve earned in this successful generation is dribbling away. It’s not whether the PS5 is better than the Series X or not. But Microsoft’s message has been far more consistent, positive and informative. Sony should be using this time to hype up new features, show things off and get people psyched!

Get on it, Sony! Ride this excitement and give us something!!!

Biohazard / Resident Evil – 25th Anniversary

Posted in Best / Worst, Blog, Games, Resident Evil, Street Fighter with tags on September 25, 2020 by slateman

All of these anniversaries are catching up to us all. 25 for Resident Evil – we just passed Street Fighter’s 30th and Mario is celebrating 35. The worst part of it all? I remember them all launching. Getting old sucks.

But, the celebrations are cool and this new poster, revealed today, was quite cool. I fully expect Capcom to embrace this franchise as we head into a new generation. However, as is, I own and can play Resident Evil 0, 1, 2 (remake), 3 (remake), 4, 5, 6 and 7 all on my PS4 – and thus on my PS5 – alongside 8/Village next year. Not sure what they’ll need to do to rope me into buying more, but I have faith in Capcom. Not necessarily in their anniversary might, but in their ability to get me to re-buy this shit year after year! Bring it on!

Pre-Ordered: Playstation 5!

Posted in Blog, Games on September 22, 2020 by slateman

We were promised no surprises. I watched the big PS5 reveal and went to bed. I then woke up to see the PS5 sold out everywhere.

Thanks for the no surprises, Sony! Well, fortunately, I was selected as part of their pre-order program. After stopping off and trying at a local GameStop – and receiving a vague date of expectation, I secured a unit straight from Sony! In a half-drunken state, I escaped to pre-order online (hoping I entered my credit-card info properly) and that is that! Of course, sending it to my FPO address, who knows when it’ll actually arrive.

All I do know is that at some point I will get a unit. I’m just so eager to check out the UI, see how PS4 games work with it, to truly play games in native 4K. It’s not always about it being the greatest console (the Xbox is going to be a killer system too!) But being a part of a new generation, part of that dialogue, is half of the excitement. I vividly remember getting the PS4, the PS3, the PS2 and yes, the PS1 (January 1997, I was a late adopter back then!)

It’s about so much more than just the system, the bells & whistles, the games. That experience of a new console is just so exciting, no matter the generation. I look forward to it. So very excited!!!

Resident Evil 3: Finally!

Posted in Games, Resident Evil on September 14, 2020 by slateman

I’ve played a lot of Resident Evil. I’ve beaten almost every major entry barring one light-gun game, the Outbreak entries, Code Veronica and Resident Evil 3. Most are old and outdated now and I don’t expect I’ll ever go back to play them. But after Resident Evil 2’s spectacular remake, I was very excited about the third entry, having never tried it. COVID-19 threw a wrench into 2020’s plans, but $25 in PSN credit and a half-off sale made this a no-brainer purchase.

I’m only an hour or two in and with tempered expectations, I look forward to another fun jaunt into Raccoon City’s nonsensical world of zombie slaying and corrupt Umbrella employees. I thought I’d go through my history of the series, more for my own chronicling than anyone else’s enjoyment. Here are some quick snaps before the decades-long retrospective begins. Psyched to start this game.


Resident Evil Game List
Game Played? Beaten?
Resident Evil Borrowed from a friend, Didn’t complete
Resident Evil 2 Beat both campaigns – a LONG time ago!
Resident Evil 3 Never even touched!
Code Veronica Barely Touched – Probably never will
RE: REmake Too scared on GC / Beat on PS4 + speedrun
Resident Evil 0 Got farther on PS4 than GC. Don’t like this game
Outbreak My E3 Game of the Year but never beat it
Outbreak 2 I tried it – Don’t think I got far
Resident Evil 4 Beat five times…What’s wrong with me?
Umbrella Chronicles Beat on Wii, got far into PS3 version
Darkside Chronicles Got bored/never beat either Wii/PS3
Resident Evil 5 Love it! Platinum on PS3. Beat on 360 and PS4
Revelations Beat on PS3, fun entry
Revelations 2 Beat on PS4 – Liked – Didn’t love
Resident Evil 6 Beat all campaigns on PS3. Dragged on and on…
Resident Evil VII Beat + speedrun. Mia on Madhouse = too hard!
Resident Evil 2 Beat Claire’s, not Leon’s. Great game
Resident Evil 3 Finally playing! Just started!

En Minor: Quite Surprising!

Posted in Best / Worst, Blog, Music on September 9, 2020 by slateman

When The Cold Truth Has Worn Its Miserable Welcome Out is an overly-lengthy and unsurprising title for a Phil Anselmo project. I avoid most of his work, not that I have any issue with him or his vocals. The last time I saw him was with Down back in 2002 and haven’t loved any of the project’s later material, though I was hoping to see them perform the classic NOLA for the 25th anniversary this summer. :(

However, this new record is spectacular. It may be more of a passive listening experience, but it’s moody and brooding, catchy and totally chill. With a rather subdued 2020 lineup of releases, it’ll likely land pretty high on the Album of the Year charts. It will assuredly not pass Havukruunu, unfortunately. But that’s OK. Totally digging this.

Sons Of Anarchy: Series Over!

Posted in TV on September 7, 2020 by slateman

I never watched this back in the day and recall my coworkers talking about it. In search of something new to watch, I opted to Netflix the entire show, seven full seasons worth!

But as we watch the finale (slightly inebriated), it’s going to be a sad goodbye… though nothing will be as bad as Opie’s death. My wife was crying and snotting up over that one.

In any event, it’s some good TV which only leads me to wonder what we’ll watch next!

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