Category: History

2022 In Games

December 13, 2022

Another year, another look back at my game purchases…

2022 was an interesting year, and unique amongst all the years I’ve been buying games (since arriving in the US), in that I only bought games for a single system. Yes, this means no charts this year since there would only be one entry: the Switch! In total I spent $1286 bought 43 games for the system for an average price of $30. This is my third lowest ever total amount spent and number of games bought. The reason for only one system is we have not yet replaced our PS4, mostly since we have never seen a PS5 (or replacement PS4) for sale. However since the Switch has more than enough great games and the PS5 is – in my opinion – lacking compelling software, I’m in no hurry to buy one.

This is not to say my game playing saw a decline in 2022 – quite the opposite! There were some important releases this past year, and coupled with the fact we consume more and more media on our iPads, this meant lots of evenings playing the Switch and watching shows at the same time 🙂

Before to my usual ‘best of’ list, I’ll add that I made a third game sale this past year, a bit smaller than the previous, parting with my NES/SNES/N64 and Gamecube collections. I’m now down to about 1100 physical games and as with the previous chunks of my collection I sold, I don’t regret it one bit and am sure that one day I will sell more.

So, what did I enjoy most this year? No prizes for guessing the top spot:

Monster Hunter Rise Sunbreak (Switch)

This was a massive update to the base game that introduced several new monsters, loads of new weapons and armour and an entirely new difficulty level (what we used to call ‘G Rank’), and it was amazing. As with every MH game I devoured this, playing 16-hour days during Spring Break and reaching the endgame very quickly. The new fights were so much fun, and the added complexity of gear (especially creating sets around the vast amount of skills) was very satisfying. Looking back on Rise/Sunbreak as a complete game, this is without a doubt my favourite Monster Hunter ever, and I can only imagine where the series will go from here.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 (Switch)

The third (or fourth…) game in this beloved series also came out in 2022, and once again it hooked me quickly and didn’t let go until about 150 hours later. With well-written characters, an engrossing story and a massive world to play around in this was another triumph of an RPG. This series is known for leaving some questions unanswered, but I’ll say the finale of this third and final game left me with a warm feeling. Now can we see a port of (or sequel to) Xenoblade Chronicles X?

Dungeon Encounters (Switch)

This was a surprise! I bought this one from Playasia since I wanted it on cartridge (it’s digital only in America), and didn’t open it for a few months. When I did I found a super old-school dungeon crawl in the Wizardry vein, only the dungeon is viewed from above and looks like a simple drawing on grid paper! Combat is turn-based and employs a simple gimmick involving two types of attack (physical and magic) and defense and at first everything seems a bit sparse. But very quickly the depth of the game becomes apparent, and 75 hours later when I beat it I knew it had become one of my favourite RPGs of all time. It’s very hardcore and certainly not for everyone, but I hope it does well enough for a sequel since it was absolutely my sort of game 🙂

Last year I wondered if 2022 would have brought a PS5 into our house and the answer was no. But I’ll make a prediction: 2023 will. I’m sure I’ll keep buying Switch games as well, but I think this time next year we’ll see both more games and more systems played in the annual round-up. Come back and see!

Gumball Machines

November 10, 2022

As a child, no trip to a grocery store was complete without a coin spent on a gumball machine, usually near the exit. The same was true for visits to the mall or cinema or any other place where the machines could be found.

There were two types of machines: those that vended lollies, and those that gave toys. Usually the lollies – almost always gum – only cost 5 or 10 cents. Toys cost more – up to 50 cents! – and we’re usually either ‘super balls’ or a motley collection of plastic trash.

As far as the lollies were concerned, I always preferred the standard gumball, and would often spend the coin mum or dad have me on one. Sometimes a machine would sell a (child’s) handful of tiny gum pieces, and since these seemed to be better value for money I could never resist them. As I grew older the gumballs became more exotic – some even had fizzy crystals inside – and I occasionally bought them all the way up until I left Oz.

As mentioned the toys were usually dreadful: cheap tchotchkes from China that would have cost the machine owner considerably less than 20c apiece! But as a kid I hardly cared, and one type of toy in particular I loved: the tiny rubber car. These were about an inch long, molded from hard unpainted rubber, and usually quite detailed for their size. If ever I saw a machine that sold these I always had to get one, and as a young boy I had a small, prized collection of them. Coming home from grocery shopping was always more fun with a tiny rubber car in my pocket!

Recently I’ve been paying attention to the gumball machines in our local shops, and all the photos in this blog were taken these past weeks. There are fewer machines than there used to be – Covid killed many it seems – but they’re remarkably similar to the ones I recall from my youth. The stock of machines is remarkably similar to what I remember from my youth, and still contains mostly gumballs, super balls and disposable ‘toys’.

The above was the closest I could find to the rubber cars of my youth. These are about the same size, seem to be made of similar material (or perhaps a flexible plastic) but as you can see are painted now, which gives them an extra dash of sophistication. At $0.75, I couldn’t resist buying one…

I reckon I would have loved this tiny rocket as a kid. It’s probably the ‘worst’ in the machine, but it’s also the one that my young imagination could have easily thought of as an alien spaceship. For me, that would have been enough 🙂

My Collection: SNES

July 13, 2022

The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) was released in Japan in 1990 and worldwide starting in 1991. In those days, still in Australia, I knew about the SNES but was content playing NES and PC games. It wasn’t until shortly after I arrived in America (in 1993) that I bought my SNES.

These days this system is renowned for a large library of high quality games. In particular it heralded the arrival or best installments in many famous series including F-Zero, Mario Kart, Castlevania and Metroid. The first (and only!) Mario game on the console – Super Mario World – is considered to be one of the best platform games ever made, and the system includes many famous and beloved RPGs in its library.

In time I would buy 35 games for the system, most of which are shown above. For several years the SNES and Game Boy were my only consoles, and I have very fond memories of long nights playing epic RPGs such as Final Fantasy 6 (one of my favorite games of all time) or Wizardry 5.

Games were expensive in those days! The above game cost me $74.99, which is about $150 today! I recall I used to save up for games and treasured every one I got 🙂

Due to the quality of the library, the large amount of RPGs, and the fragility of the cardboard boxes the games were sold in, the SNES has become arguably the most collectible console. Some games have skyrocketed in value, and very rare ones are bought and sold these days for thousands of dollars. If you wanted to collect a full library of SNES games today, you’d need very deep pockets.

I don’t have any of the super rare ones, but a few of mine are worth a tiny fortune these days. The above game, Chrono Trigger, is probably worth ten times what I paid for it in 1995, or possibly even more since I’ve kept mine in pristine condition!

For me the legacy of the SNES are the very happy memories it has given me. This was the system that really got me into console gaming. The system that hooked me on Japanese RPGs. And the system that inspired me to start my fanzine which eventually led to a job (of sorts) playing and reviewing games. The SNES represents the foundation of one of my personal stories, and for that reason will always remain special to me.

Robot Claw