Record Of The 16-Bit War: WWF Super Wrestlemania

Today's video takes a look at WWF Super Wrestlemania from LJN for the Super NES

Record Of The 16-Bit War: Lightening Force

Today's video takes a look at Lightening Force: Quest For The Darkstar for the Sega Genesis from TechnoSoft.

Record Of The 16-Bit War: Knights Of The Round

Today's video takes a look at Knights Of The Round from Capcom.

#1ReasonWhy Male Gamers Continue To Fail

I stumbled across an article this morning that chronicled an interesting discussion that recently took place on Twitter. Using the hashtag #1ReasonWhy, several women attached to the video game industry in form or another explained the reasons behind an apparent dearth of women in game development. Most of the responses these women posted pointed to rampant misogyny from their male counterparts, as well as from male gamers. This saddens me, especially because I know women who love gaming, but feel incredibly in certain arenas because of members of the male gaming community. I will not speak for a woman because I'm not one, but I can sa my piece and hope that a male member of the gaming community, whether on the consumer end or creation end,  sees this post and takes heed. How can you feel anything other than regret or remorse for your actions when you grope a woman at a gaming convention, call a woman some lurid insult because she pwned you in Call Of Duty, or dismissed her while she's voicing her frustration at the behavior of other male gamers. Pretending that the disrespect women in gaming receive is a figment of their collective imaginations is a sad and callow action. We saw it during Cross Assault, we see it at conventions, we hear it on Xbox Live, and we read it online daily. Why are you so threatened by the talent and ability of women? Does the success that women celebrate in other arenas scare you so much that you dump all you energy into turning gaming into the last bastion of the "dudebro"? Some of us like having gamers of the opposite sex around, and some of us don't care what's between the legs of whoever is making our games as long as they're making good games. Bottom line is that we as male gamers are in the midst of a teachable moment, and we have an opportunity to change the conversation about the way we interact with women within this community. What should we do? It's quite simple, actually: STOP BEING A MISOGYNISTIC IDIOT!! That "this is our culture" excuse you continue to use to brush off racist, sexist, generally idiotic behavior isn't working  anymore.

Record Of The 16-Bit War: Nintendo Unleashes A Monster

Today's video looks at the origins of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System

Borderlands 2 = LOOT!!!!!!!

                In October 2009, GearBox and 2K Games released a video game that a lot of people overlooked initially. They released Borderlands which was a First Person Shooter with RPG elements built in. It was a well put together game that left the gaming community anticipating the sequel.  Move the clock forward three years and Borderlands 2 has come out just in time for the holiday season.  Borderlands 2 adds new playable characters, an actual villain, and the one thing that made the first Borderlands such a fun game, LOOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

                When you first start playing Borderlands 2, you have to decide which character class you will choose. The class choices are Siren, Engineer, Assassin, Mecromancer, and Gunserker.  Each character has a different talent that you unlock at level 5.  Every time you level up you get a skill point to assign to a different skill tree. Each character has 3 skill trees that vary depending on the character. After you have decided on your character class you start the game and are immediately introduced to the antagonist of the game.  Unlike the first Borderlands, this game has a clear villain.  His name is Handsome Jack, and he spends a lot of time verbally harassing you.  The whole story revolves around you trying to stop Handsome Jack from gathering Eridium and awakening “The Warrior”, a mystical entity that can destroy the world. During your play through you will encounter characters from the previous installment that are there to help you on your journey.  Also different areas that you visited in the first game make an appearance in this game as well like Fyrestone, which was the place you first visited at the start of Borderlands.  While there is a lot going on with the story, what keeps Borderlands 2 as a huge game are the plethora of side mission. The good and sometimes bad idea about having a lot of missions is that they have a chance at becoming repetitive, but there are such a variety of missions that you will never get bored playing them.

                Gameplay in Borderlands 2 is very streamlined and simple. If you have played a First Person Shooter before, then you have an idea at what the button layout is. While Borderlands 2 is a very good single player game, it is best played with a group of people online.  Up to 4 players can play together in an online Co-Op game and fight the good fight to defeat handsome Jack.  The Co-Op aspect of Borderlands 2 was the major selling point to this game.  Adding more players to the game not only increases the difficulty of the enemies you are facing, but it also gives you better loot, whether it is Grenades, Shields, Guns, Relics, or Class Mods.  Nothing is more pleasing than trading loot with your fellow players. Maybe one player is better at using a Sniper Rifle where as you are better with Shotguns. This allows you and your team to play to each other strengths.   

                Overall Borderlands 2 is a great game, but it is not without its flaws. During my pIaythrough I experienced a lot of texture pop-ins when entering new areas and opening containers.  Also during my initial playthrough I received a lot of fire elemental weapons, which isn’t a bad thing, but a vast majority of enemies I faced were fire resistant.  These problem may vary depending on your console (Xbox360 or PS3), but they are small problems and do not take away from the game itself.  I would say if you are looking for a great FPS with RPG elements attached, and gameplay that keeps you wanting to continue playing, then I would suggest you pick up a copy of Borderlands 2.  Being that this game recently came out; it will run you about $50 - $60.  If you can afford it, pick up a copy next time you see one.  

FTL.......Quiet Gem?

      Have you ever wanted to be a Captain of your own Starship? Have you ever watched Star Trek and wondered what it would be like to be Jean Luc Picard? Well Steampowered.com has a game for you. It is called FTL. FTL is a strategy simulation where you are the captain of a Starship carrying important data and on the run from a Rebel Invasion. You control every aspect of your ship like powering up weapons when it is time to fight, or diverting power from certain systems to help you survive a critical encounter. FTL is not a long game but each playthrough will be different than the last, so this game has a lot of replay.  It is $10 on Steam’s website, and I if you are into a small PC game made by the Indie community, then you should give it a shot.

Record Of The 16-Bit War: James "Buster" Douglas Knockout Boxing

Today's video takes a look at James "Buster" Douglas Knockout Boxing for the Sega Genesis

Record Of The 16-Bit War: Heart Of The Alien

Today's video takes a look at Heart Of The Alien for Sega CD

Record Of The 16-Bit War: Flashback

Today's video takes a look at the Sega Genesis port of Flashback: The Quest For Identity from Delphine Software

Record Of The 16-Bit War: Sega Fires The First Shot

Today's video takes a look at the Sega Genesis, and how it was the opening salvo in the rivalry between Sega and Nintendo.

Hideo Kojima Dangles A Carrot: Zone of the Enders HD Collection

A lot of gamers, myself included, have typically frowned upon the explosion of “HD” editions of previously released games. They usually come off as lazy and serve no real purpose other than cashing in on a game that may have been popular in the previous console generation. Every now and then, though, a publisher uses this method of recycling older games to introduce a series to another generation of gamers to a series in preparation of a new game in the series. The latter is indeed the case with the release of the Zone of the Enders HD Collection. Hideo Kojima’s other franchise from the last console generation is poised for a comeback with a new game in the series currently in development, and this HD collection does a good job of giving gamers just that.

Double Dragon Neon: A Love Letter To 80s Gamers Everywhere

The Beat Em Up is a genre that has seen better days. There hasn't been a really good entrant into the genre in a long time, and no gamer worth his salt is going to spend $60 for a Beat Em Up. This means download services like Xbox Live Arcade and Playstation Network have become the home for Beat Em Ups on consoles as well as other genres. With that in mind, what does a beloved franchise like Double Dragon do when it is poised to make a return to the gaming world? You make it extremely colorful, undeniably influenced by the 80s, and add a general truck load of nostalgia. The result is Double Dragon Neon, which isn't perfect, but it's fun and that's he most important thing.

Double Dragon Neon is essentially a remake of the original game, with a few tweaks here and there. The game even starts with the iconic exhibition of objectionable activity the led to the Lee brothers' mission to rescue Billy's girlfriend, Marian from The Shadow Warrior gang. Players guide their respective Lee brother through a number of levels, from gritty downtown streets, to a fortress in orbit around earth, to a graveyard, to the Shadow Warrior hideout. The traditional Double Dragon gameplay has been tweaked, adding special moves and powerups to accompany the punches and kicks gamers have been throwing at enemies since the original title hit arcades in 1987. The special attacks range from Double Dragon staples like the Whirlwind Kick and Knee Drop to new techniques like fireballs, lightning strikes, and a dragon summon. They can all be leveled up via collecting mixtapes (another beautiful nod to the 80s), as can a series of attribute boosts.

The atmosphere in Double Dragon Neon feels like an overly exaggerated version of the 80s, as does the soundtrack. Jake Kaufman's reimagining of the music that drove every jumpkick attached to the Double Dragon series is a blissful throwback to the cheesy martial arts movies that were a staple of late night and Saturday afternoon tv back then (you can get the soundtrack here: http://virt.bandcamp.com/album/double-dragon-neon ). all in all, Double Dragon Neon proves to be a joy both visually and aurally.

My negatives are few because I'm honestly used to the difficulty games of this genre provide, even in the case of insanely cheap boss fights. I must warn those who didn't cut their teeth on "quarter thief" arcade games that would get your money strictly because they were brutal or home ports that were just as hard or harder, this one may send you running. There's also a mild issue with floatiness that initially turned me off when I played the demo, but after a few minutes, things settled down, and I thoroughly enjoyed this title. In all though, I'm not sure if this game is for everybody, though, as it is decidedly and unapologetically a product of the 80s.

Double Dragon Neon is at it's core a love letter to the 80s. It's politically incorrect, loud, a little stupid, and full of eye-bleeding color. It definitely won't appeal to everybody, but the folks at Wayforward made a Double Dragon game that feels as fun as the one from Technos Japan back in 1987. If you remember the differences in the NES and Master System versions of Double Dragon, and you know what you can do when you get your third heart, Double Dragon Neon may be right up your alley.

Why There Hasn't Been New Content Up This Week

I'm writing this post in the spirit of annoyance and frustration. I was intending to have a post up discussing the recently released Zone of the Enders HD Collection, but because my latest frustration with AT&T, that post has been put on hold until my home internet service is restored. In my time dealing with AT&T, I have had to consistently deal with my service dropping out on it's own without any warning, therefore my time gaming online has been severely hampered. now, I am informed that I magically owe an amount that I can't currently afford to pay to restore my service, even though the payments were made from my checking account via their autopay service. you sent me a replacement modem to rectify my outages, but didn't send me a return slip or instructions regarding the old modem, then billed me for the new modem. I am about done with them and their horrible internet service and equally horrible customer service. I probably wouldn't recommend their service to my worst enemy, as it's been that bad. Hopefully, I can get my internet service back up and running so that I can continue to yell about gaming related topics with y'all.

UPDATE: I was called by multiple members of their Customer and Technical Support teams and my service has been restored.

Y'all...I'm Touched :)

This may honestly be the easiest post I've had to write in quite some time. Some time ago, readers of the  blog may have noticed a badge  on the right side of the page that recognized that this blog was nominated for a Black Weblog Award. The results were released this morning, and I am incredibly proud and ridiculously humbled to say that The Digitized Ramblings Of An 8-Bit Animal did indeed win an award for "Best Comics or Gaming Blog". I've never been one to toot my own horn or laud accomplishments at anyone, but knowing that people actually voted and care about what has been posted here since 2010 is an honor.

I want to thank folks, but the amount of people I feel the need to thank is enormous, so I'll offer up a blanket "Thank You" to everyone who has contributed, donated games or consoles, been an extra pair of eyes, offered support or constructive criticism, or urged me to not quit when I got discouraged. You all mean a great deal to me, and any growth this blog experiences in the future is a result of your immeasurable level of support.

So again, I say Thank You from the bottom of my pixelated heart. This has been a humbling experience and I have a feeling it is only the beginning.