I still shop at the same two grocery stores, but the ratios on how much business I give to each have changed. Used to be, I’d do all my big grocery trips midweek at Winco - a 10 mile drive, but right by my work and substantially cheaper than all other options - and my emergency, “Oh, we’re having people over today?”…

I just remember there was one point where you had to either mash a button repeatedly or hold it down for over a minute, and at first I didn’t comply because I thought the game was joking before realizing that, no, it’s waiting for me to do this. This was what I needed to do to progress.

I primarily think of them as muddy buddies and would only immediately know what they are by that name. Every time I hear people sing their praises under some other name, I start to think there was some fundamental childhood snack I’d somehow missed out on for 30+ years, only to find out, “Oh, moose tracks are puppy…

The chocobo game took me hours the first try, but I don’t think it’s taken more than 10 tries on subsequent playthroughs. Either it’s something you can actually get good at, or I have raised my real-life luck stat over time.

I’d be more inclined to replay Thousand Year Door if there weren’t so many sections that intentionally overstayed their welcome. It seemed to be played for laughs, but felt like they were the devs’ laughs and not mine.

I’ve always had love for Rygar, but didn’t actually finish it until 4-5 years ago. My only, only complaint is that the grappling hook is so dang fiddly, but that really doesn’t affect too big a portion of the game. I was excited when they made a PS2 Rygar game ages ago. It wound up feeling more like low-rent God of…

House Flipper looks like a family-friendly sister game to Viscera Cleanup Detail to me, but with a much higher bar for beautifying after you’re done fixing the wreckage - something I don’t think I’d do much justice. Just as my Animal Crossing village largely consists of houses in the spots that would’ve affected the…

1980, huh? Wow. Pac-Man felt ancient by the time I first played it in the mid-80s. Even with how hard they were milking the IP with a cartoon and a breakfast cereal, I never really thought of it as something that was new and hot - maybe because it was twice as old as me. It was elemental, iconic - something that had…

I got into DDR in 2002 and quickly reached a point where my reading speed was limiting what my feet could do. I downloaded a program called Stepmania to play on a keyboard and familiarize myself with the songs and eventually improved my sight-reading to the point where I could (barely) clear the hardest song in the…

At least you don’t have to worry about games eating your button inputs with these controllers.

I did a book report on Misery in 5th grade, and then The Shining in 7th grade. I think I was mostly in love with the idea of shocking adults by being too young to be reading Stephen King. Which never actually happened, but I felt like it might at any moment. In any case, it got me started reading novels that weren’t…

Silent Hill 2's on here. All is right with the world.

Lay’s Flaming Hot Dill Pickle potato chips. Not just because I’m a garbage disposal when it comes to vinegar/spicy flavors, but because I’ve only found a bag of ‘em once, nobody else has heard of them, some I’m half convinced they were just some crazy fever dream.

Holy crap, Sam is Goofy? Somehow I’ve been a fan of Sam & Max for 25 years without knowing this. Gawrsh, is there any breed of dog this guy can’t play?

Have you played VA-11 Hall A? I don’t know if I was more receptive to the same genre of game 4 years ago, if VA-11 Hall A benefited from being the first of its kind, or if it was just the superior game, but I enjoyed it more. It’s the same concept, minus latte art, set at a dingy bar in a cyberpunk future. The…

THPS certainly paved the way for a new genre of timed, goal-based extreme sports games, but the one that really resonated with me was Dave Mirra’s Freestyle BMX 2. I was excited when they announced another sequel, unperturbed when they decided to partner with Scores and add stripper cut scenes, only mildly put off…

It was a nice running gag while it lasted.

Squids were only supposed to get one joke, too. This was a blooper.

I went into New Vegas expecting it to be a quick cash grab capitalizing on the recent popularity of Fallout 3 by just shitting out a game in the same engine, but I’ll be damned... it was a significant step up. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.