AD DW ART DEPARTMENT WEEKLY ISSUE 101 VOL. 12
HOW READY ARE YOU? HALLOWEEN
IS ALMOST HERE AND WE’RE BUILDING KIDS’ COSTUMES
WE FINALLY ASSEMBLED THIS THEME SO MANY SYSTEMS
DECADES OF VIDEO GAMES
MINI BOARD
Our newest bird definitely lives up to all the negative descriptions of its call, like “jeering.” Luis cannot say enough about how gorgeous the Blue Jay is, though. In Issue 87, we ran a meme of “Day 6 without sports... Cardinals 3, Blue Jays 1.” Luis obviously prefers the Blue Jay because it is Yankees/ Cowboys/Duke colors. I thought the House Finch and then the Cardinal were obnoxios when the bowl was empty, but the Blue Jay is too much.
ADOBE MAX 2020 I had never heard of Adobe Max before because I’d never paid attention or paid for Adobe products. This year they sent me an email about how the creativity conference was headed online. My first instinct was to pass, but then I started checking the schedule and booked myself for several sessions across three days. I expected it to be live for some reason, but the sessions were actually pre recorded and edited down. Again, my first instinct was to be annoyed but, now that I know all of this content will be available on Adobe’s site for a year, that’s really cool. Some sessions were structured like classes. Some were simply talented people walking viewers through their portfolios and what difficulties they overcame. All of it was inspiring. I barely saw anything, though, over the three days because the mayor’s office has locked my kid out of his track practices. They moved to a new location. I drive extra far to protest the city defying education laws. And still finish this issue! —MV
BLUE JAYS FAN
October 26, the third time
Art Department Weekly is published by Dinosaur Girly Productions, 184 Bay 26th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11214. The entire contents of ADW are protected by copyright and may not be reproduced without expressed written consent of the publisher. ADW accepts no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts and/or photographs and assumes no liability for products or services advertised herein. ADW reserves the right to edit, rewrite, refuse or reuse material, is not responsible for errors or omissions, and may feature same in other mediums for any and all purposes.
D R A HE
T R NA
R E V O
I
“Get out of my chat. I don’t want your emojis” -Lauren
SPOOKY In a neighborhood full of outdoor dining, it did not seem strange to see the lights on at the AMC. But then every poster is promoting a March opening.
“It’s the same. Madden League Baseball” -Kal
“How I Met Your Donor” -Madeline
“We have stuff” -Luis
“Are you going to choir practice?” -Madeline
“You call it Pride Month, so obviously they’re proud boys and girls” SEEN IT BEFORE If I hadn’t been hunting for old video gaming photos, the picture of Leia mailing her vote would have seemed more original. Mailboxes were wrapped to look like R2-D2 in 2007 for Star Wars 30th anniversary, but now it looks even more like a reminder the Republic is evil. —MV
-Luis
“We’re not going to control the pandemic” -Mark
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ARTISTS WE LOVE: CLAY MANN With a flare for details and compositions, this artist drew Luis back to the mutant titles
M
Back in 2011, I had stopped being a regular purchaser of the Marvel mutant books. The stories were inconsistent, the art was pedestrian, and the mutants overall seemed to be an afterthought. As I scoured the comics aisles, I started to pay attention to a new alternate reality story titled Age of X. This was for one reason, the art of Clay Mann. Clay had been illustrating at Marvel off and on for about five years up until that point. The only thing he was missing was a consistent breakthrough run. (Runs in comics are everything.) Age of X would catapult him into the comic artists stratusphere. Clay’s work was reminiscent of early Jim Lee crossed with some Travis Charest. His line work was impeccable, his crosshatching skills were Lee-esque, and his pages overflowed with detail and composition that were a staple of Charest’s work. All of these phenomenal pencils inked by his brother Seth Mann. True superstardom would arrive for Clay in 2016 when he started pencilling for DC Comics. His work on the Poison Ivy mini-series marked a sort of reintroduction to comic fandom. With a new series of characters to work with, Clay’s work was better than ever, all culminating with a career-defining run on both Heroes in Crisis (the best drawn mini-series of the past decade) and Batman teaming with Tom King. His new highly-anticipated collaboration Batman/ Catwoman drops in early December, and I for one can’t wait. Clay Mann and Jorge Jimenez are hands down at the pinnacle of comic art today.
Notice how “Heroes in Crisis” is. worked into that top photo Also, Madeline cropped this Poison Ivy illustration to fit her layout
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TEST DRIVE Ryne announced at the beginning of 2020 that he wanted to be a Camaro that actually transformed into Bumblebee. Last year everyone but Boom got a special costume. He got pajamas. Madeline set aside a box in January and then put off construction for as long as possible. 1) After watching a dozen videos about how to build the costume, Madeline chooses the vacuum cleaner box and starts to reshape it as she sees fit. 2) She decides the lining of a box from a fan could be the roof. The tape is too transparent. 3) Ryne tries on the boxes to see if they will fit.
4) Madeline glue guns more pieces together, adding a spoiler but avoiding attaching any straps. 5) She runs out of tape. 6) Madeline goes to Spirit Halloween.
ear the cardboard w d ul co he ay w no There’s use he can’t sit in it ca be l o ho sc r fo e costum
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TEST DRIVE Madeline’s original plan was to finish the Bumblebee costume in time to shoot it for this issue, but that’s not happening. So here is Betty test driving her bad Spinel makeup in her reversible costume based on the character introduced in Steven Universe: The Movie.
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Baby Kal trying to get involved
PARENTS WHO GAME HAVE CHILDREN WHO GAME All of the ADW offspring were exposed to video games at an early age. The PS2 is older than Meg and the idea for a video game themed issue is older than Betty. Some of the content included in this issue is slightly younger than her, like 2016. This year hasn’t been good for much, but it has been good for finishing video games. Let us tell you all about it...
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LV had to score 81 points with Kobe Bryant against the Toronto Raptors. In the first still, a teammate just took the shot that shoudl have been Bryant’s 81st point. Bryant gets a freethrow.
VIDEO GAMES IN CASA VEGA: A BRIEF HISTORY Madeline wanted to write about how much she hates video games because all anyone ever talks about around here is what they plan to do next in a video game. Literally every conversation. School is just something to be done in order to get back to gaming. Books are based on games. Toys are based on games. Whatever is happening in real life sports will affect what happens in the video game version. Even politicians are showing up on Twitch. Video games are life.
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A Hollow Knight teacher trophy was unlocked the same day Boom taught Betty how to play. On October 21, 2020, Alexandria Ocasio Cortez played Among Us for more than 400,000 viewers on Twitch. She even took the time to talk to a crewmate about healthcare in the U.K.
WHAT’S GAMING GIVEN US?
EXPECTED
MORE WAYS GAMING BENEFITS EVERYONE
A page from the first try at a gaming issue
reach for our phones or tablets and open up Angry Birds and Candy Crush—they obviously improve players’ moods, promote relaxation, and ward off anxiety. WII BOWLING AT THE RETIREMENT COMMUNITY
While some octogenerians will always be wedded to their 500-piece puzzles, morning TV shows are happy to remind viewers on a regular basis that octogenerians also love Wii— that it will improve cognitive and motor skills on top of the social aspects.
OLIVIA MUNN
Without entire channels devoted to gaming, there would be no place for Lisa Olivia Munn to get her start as a host of Attack of the Show! on G4. And then how would she ever make her way to The Newsroom so Aaron Sorken can create all these opportunities for her to stare down people who are not intelligent enough to be in the conversation with her character?
VIDEO GAMES ARE NOT REALLY ISOLATING (UNLESS YOU ARE CYBER-BULLIED)
The stereotype of a gamer is someone sitting alone in a dark room, but Farmville and Words with Friends require multiple players. While some might argue that these massive virtual communities teach us all to make quick decisions about who to trust, there are other people who will never game online after hearing some of the commentary exchanged between strangers.
RESILIENCE IN THE FACE OF FAILURE
From Flappy Bird to Call of Duty, we will always have a reason to give it one more try. And when you don’t have time to play again, that burning annoyance with yourself for scoring so terribly is an amazing life skill. By learning to cope with ongoing failures in videogames, we all become better people emotionally.
A MULTI-GENERATIONAL GATHERING POINT
My mom is here, waiting to be my helper after I give birth to her fourth grandchild. She has intensely watched my 3-year-old play Plants Vs. Zombies on the iPad while the 5-year-old tried to show her how to play it on the PS3. She was so wrapped up in bemoaning how unfair the iPad version was, she mostly missed what was on TV (and the fact I’m in labor). Now she is trying to follow that Little Big Planet Karting is not the same at all as the LBP Minecraft mash-up. Can you imagine if I just said, “Here are some blocks” or “Here’s some paint”? I’m sure the world could have done without the Super Mario Bros. movie, but studios just keep optioning them. Sometimes they are good enough, like Resident Evil, which, with all its sequels, has probably grossed a billion dollars in box office and DVD sales. Sometimes there’s no explanation for how bad it might be, like The Sims, which is “in development.” Update: Announced on May 25, 2007, it was officially cancelled by Disney after their acquisition of 20th Century Fox, on August 10, 2019. Meanwhile, two Angry Birds movies were released that we have watched multiple times.
VIOLENT GAMES BOOST LEARNING According to an
UNEXPECTED
ALL THESE WEIRD MOVIES
VIDEO GAMES MAKE US HAPPY There’s a reason we
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American Psychology review in 2014, playing video games, including violent shooter games, may boost children’s learning, health and social skills. While one widely held view maintains that playing video games is intellectually lazy, such play actually may strengthen a range of cognitive skills such as spatial navigation, reasoning, memory and perception. This enhanced thinking needed for STEM subjects was not found when playing other types of video games, such as puzzles or role-playing games.
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THE GAMES WE PLAY A stack of what can be found right near the PS4 for quick access
See Page 42
LV and Kal started up Avengers.“ The graphics are spectacular. Each Avenger has its own control system. It feels like it’s the best of all the worlds.”
Order games have been completed in quarantine See Page 15 See Page 15 See Page 21 See Page 19
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STAR WARS JEDI: FALLEN ORDER developed by Respawn Entertainment, published by Electronic Arts
Kal and Luis downloaded and completed this actionadventure game. Set five years after Star Wars: Episode III, Jedi Padawan Cal Kestis is hunted throughout the galaxy by two Inquisitors while attempting to complete his training, escape his troubled past, and rebuild the fallen Jedi Order. Enemy types range from droids and Purge Troopers to wild beasts and skilled Zabrak warriors native to each planet.
First Edition Force Friday 2019 Black Series Cal Kestis and Second Sister Inquisitor
“That’s the same girl?” RISE OF THE TOMB RAIDER developed by Crystal Dynamics, published by Square Enix
Kal doubted the PS2 and PS1 versions had anything to do with the game Luis had downloaded. Lara Croft utitilizes pick axes, ziplines, and bows and arrows to complete objectives and side content. She needs a lot of stealth—not Kal’s default mode. He likes to run around and shoot things. Before Luis got involved in Horizon Zero Dawn, Kal liked to run out and confront enemies. Kal completed both games.
VIDEO GAMES IN CASA VEGA: A DETAILED HISTORY My journey with video games started very early. I was completely entranced by the tiny ColecoVision box my mom brought home. We plugged it into the adapter that connected to the TV and it allowed us to turn the dials and move the little Pong sliders up and down to bounce the ball back and forth. It was a crude version of tennis, and I simply could not turn away. We all fought for turns on this new device. We truly loved this new gaming machine. This was quickly followed up by my oldest brother buying a new Atari. If Coleco was a bike with training wheels, Atari was a Ferrari. Games were in color (not the tones of green of Coleco), you held a buttoned joystick (very similar to the arcade experience) and there was a large library of games to choose from. It instantly became the most popular device in the family. I remember spending hours on end playing my favorite of the games, Defender. Defeating enemy ships who constantly try to swoop down and steal citizens while you blast them out of the sky and catch the citizens was everything. As my brothers got older and showed less interest in games—and realizing how important they were to me—my mother bought me a Nintendo. Video games for me had become a way of life. As the fourth kid out of five, I was significantly younger than my older siblings, and my younger sibling didn’t really play video games at all. Continued Page 43
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HOLLOW KNIGHT developed and published by Team Cherry
As Madeline remembers the story, her kids are obsessed with listening to video game music which led them to listening to the Hollow Knight soundtrack. And the graphics were so cute they needed to see gameplay. Then they needed to download it. The first person to play it was Boom, but Betty might be the biggest fan. Everyone draws pictures of the characters and no one can shut up about the game. Team Cherry is an indie team of three people based in South Australia, according to their press kit. “Hollow Knight is a challenging, beautiful action adventure game set in the vast, inter-connected underground kingdom of Hallownest.” While it took years to develop the game, “‘Keep it simple’ was our visual goal. That mantra carried through to the rest of the art, and was probably integral in us being able to create so large a world in two years.” It’s probably also why my kids are so compelled to draw the characters. —MV
Betty drew the characters of a game she hadn’t played yet, while Kal drew Ghost battling Hornet and then the Flukemarm.
Hornet and Ghost plushes
GOOD AND BAD INFLUENCE My kids discovered the music of Undertale and became terrified but obsessed. They cannot download the game, but should maybe feel free to be more like the creator. Undertale was developed by Toby Fox and financed through Kickstarter. The campaign launched June 25, 2013, with a goal of $5,000 and ended 30 days later with $51,124 raised by 2,398 people. Fox worked on the project independently, with only artwork and sprites being supplied by other creators, mainly freelance artist Temmie Chang. —MV Betty’s Jevel, Papyrus, Muffet, Sans, Mettaton, and Flowey from Undertale
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Not video game art
Forget My Father characters
NEW GAMES Betty loved to draw stick figure versions of Teletubbies. Then she started drawing Power Puff Girls and “just girls.” She has created maybe four games in her head. This is some of the artwork. —MV
Forget My Mother end boss
Imaginary Castle characters
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ARE THEY SEEING OLD GAMES IN THE NEW GAMES THEY PLAY? Betty’s favoralitse stuffed anim BENDY AND THE INK MACHINE developed by Joey Drew Studios, TheMeatly Games, LTD.
LITTLE BIG PLANET developed by Media Molecule, Sumo Digital, Tarsier Studios
With a combination of action adventure and sandbox modes, the Little Big Planet series has been in rotaion at Casa Vega for more than a decade. Sackboy is cute and customizable. Karting was fun for head to head competition, but LBP3 unlocked more sack creatures with a bigger variety of skills. Building new worlds was difficult, but the existing levels were fun and challenging. —MV
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Betty seemed to discover Bendy by watching too much YouTube before the game came out in 2017. Boom played a demo of the survival game at one of the publisher’s, Rooster Teeth’s, booth at New York Comic Con. He received an activation code, but I refused to download it. —MV
SPORTS SIMULATION GAMES Who needs live professional sports when there are so many great virtual versions? I love NBA2K20. The gameplay was fun. The steady of stream of content was something I greatly appreciated once the lockdown happened. With nowhere to go, it became fun to try out new lineups and grind for G.O.A.T. Kobe, Bird, and Curry cards. It required tons of gameplay, but what else was going on? After the last blast of a full G.O.A.T. series (even though there is no way TMac, Vince Carter, and Yao deserved those top tiers), the new content slowed to a trickle and it became apparent that no new content would reflect bubble gameplay. The game fizzled out. While searching for a new sports simulation to play, I remembered that I had MLB The Show 19 in my library due to it being free in October ’19 to PSPlus members. With nothing to lose, and it being completely free, I downloaded the game and instantly fell in love. The Diamond Dynasty mode was far better than I had
remembered from previous editions. I even learned to love Conquest (a feature that had vexed me in the past) as it allowed for fun gameplay with Kal. The amount of free cards and content was staggering. You could build a highly competitive team in days. I was hooked.
shortened season. The content and gameplay truly put 2K to shame. The grind in The Show is so much more rewarding. You can easily build a team catered to your likes and needs over a series of days. For a Yankees fan like me, I was able to have Mariano Rivera, Mickey
MENTION MADDEN TO LUIS, AND HE WILL DIAGRAM THE POWER I. KAL IS NOW THAT WAY WITH MAPS As the real MLB season was just getting started in late July, I figured I could pick up MLB The Show 20 right at the beginning of August. I was so happy I did. It has instantly become my favorite game, and the best card collecting sports simulation I’ve ever played. SDS content team has continued to deliver new, fresh and timely content throughout the
Mantle, Don Mattingly, and Gleyber Torres all on Day 1... It was baseball nirvana. I find myself happily devoting so much more time to The Show (which originally came out in March) than I do to 2K (which came out 6 weeks ago). As 2K on the PS4 continues to be an afterthought as the content team gears up the PS5, I’ll continue to be all about The Show. —LV
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MADDEN MASTERCLASS
I love mobile QBs in Madden. Even a stiff like Tim Tebow becomes the perfect QB in my read option offense.
From 2016? If there is a video game I’ve played more than any other, its Madden. My craziness over the release of Madden would often cause me to request the week of release off of work so I could master the game and the nuances of my selected playbook. I was first introduced to the game on the Sega Genesis. My oldest brother and I had decided that we would draft up every team in the league and play the full seasons for the whole league. With this piece I’m hoping to pass on some of the wisdom I’ve learned as a Madden veteran of 20 years. Control the line of scrimmage. Put together a great offensive line that can wear down opponents. A giant Left Tackle is key. A nimble center is next in order of importance. Playcalling wise, I like to establish the run behind the Left Tackle’s side. Once established, I can effectively start to call playaction and roll to the right where I generally position my primary receiver. On defense, I generally control a Defensive Tackle. I also always line shift my defense to cover the Tight End. This generally leaves me susceptible to counter runs, but counters take so long to set up that they are usually pretty unpopular. In controlling a Defensive Tackle off the snap, I’m trying to do one thing: collapse the pocket. It forces the opposing Quarterback to make a quick read which generally leads to a bad throw. It’s also a great way to cover for a bad secondary. Beyond passing, it also greatly affects the running game.
Because you have a Tackle rushing the line, the Running back has to commit to a hole really quickly. Crashing the line is a great way to force the opposing to double-team the user controlled Tackle, leaving a free-run for one of your teammates to cause havoc. I also substitute my DLine often, it keeps your defense fresh (more on that later). Control the clock. Now this isn’t a sexy tactic, but it correlates directly to controlling the line. Shorten the games, give your opponents less time to work. There are few things more demoralizing to opponents than playing 8 minute quarters and having a 6.5 minute drive. You’ll find your opponent will quickly overreact and start going for big plays which will leave them exposed. Like I said, not sexy, but effective. On defense, put pressure on every play. Sure, you’ll give up the occasional big play, but you’ll get your fair share of sacks and picks. Plus you’ll see how quickly teams abandon the run when extra blitzers are coming. When your opponent is passing a lot, it gets the ball back in the hands of your offense quicker. All of which allows you to keep control of the clock. Basically you should dust off those old Bill Parcells and Mike Ditka videos. Three yards and a
cloud of dust on offense, and pressuring the line on defense. Master your playbook. This is extremely important and very simple. Find the playbook that’s right for you, and master about 10-15 plays. You can do so much customization at the line pre-snap that trying to learn more plays than that would be detrimental. Read the defense pre-snap and simply adjust accordingly. For example, the defense is selling out with a blitz and leaving only one Safety over the top. Send both outside receivers on go routes. The safety can only cover one. Instant big play. Shifting your Tightend around is also key on offense. Read those linebackers pre-snap and find the best mismatch for him. It’s also a great way to figure out if the defense is in man to man or zone coverage. All of this is done pre-snap. Since the introduction of the Read Option (Madden 25) it’s been my primary offense. I run roughly 75% of all plays out of it. The 2 RB, 1TE, 2WR formation works to my strength controlling the line and the clock. The one requirement is a mobile QB. The NFL may have moved on from the read option and the wildcat, but it’s well and thriving in my Madden. On defense, do the same. Keep it
Speedy guys who operate well in space, like Tavon Auston, are gold in Madden.
MADDEN’S RANKED simple. Master 10 to 15 plays. Keep certain base packages. Early down run, Big run package, 3 WR, 4WR. After that, learn how to lineshift to create mismatches and running lanes (all done pre-snap). There is so much customization that you don’t need a massive playbook. Just a few set fronts. Have at least one great space guy on the team. Think someone like Tavon Austin. He may be a bust in the real NFL, but he is gold in Madden. He is extremely fast and very shifty. He’s great in the return game. Great in multiple receiver sets out of the slot. Plus you can even have him in the backfield in read option plays. He’s a versatile multi-dimensional weapon. Darren Sproles, Julien Edelman, C.J. Spiller, and Reggie Bush also fit this mold. If you are fantasy drafting a team, it’s okay to wait till late and draft guys like those mentioned above instead of reaching for guys like Dez and Megatron. Speed is key on defense. When I’m building a defense in Madden, my key attribute is speed. As realistic as the game is, it’s just that—a game. One of the easier attributes to recreate in game is speed. Strength is relatively subjective, same as awareness. Speed is easily quantifiable. The offensive lines are usually slow. Load up on speedy linebackers . If you’re crashing the line with your tackles, your linebackers should have plenty of alleys to run through to get to the QB or the RB. Also, if you have a speedy secondary you’ll be able to make more plays on the ball. Speed kills.
Also, substitue freely on defense. Madden novices forget to do this and usually have an incredibly tired defense late in games. Substituting is so easy to do now, it’s a simple pre-snap button press. It’ll keep your team fresh and your best players will be effective in late game situations The most important player on offense... the Tightend. Anyone who knows me or has played against me is not surprised by this. The TE is generally the focal point of my offense. In the running game, I move my TE everywhere. He is very active pre-snap. Either as an extra blocker, or simply to clear out an area to give my runner more room. In the passing game, they are my everything. I change their route on almost every play based on what I read from the defense. They are usually surehanded middle of the field (and redzone) giant targets who create mismatches everywhere. They are the base of my offense, and, if you ask me , the key ingredient to any great Madden offense. On defense I pay a massive amount of attention to the TE as well. I tend to shift my defense to cover the TE. This is important because if the TE is breaking into the flat, it leaves a free run to the QB. If he is a blocker, your DE should have a strength edge. Always cover the TE, you’ll be sorry if you don’t. These are my tips for Madden gleamed over 20 years of gameplay. They won’t work for everyone (or even help you beat me), but they should help with most players. Happy Madden. ADW
Luis’ definitive list on the best Madden games of all-time. 1. MADDEN 2005 This game made a refocused and dedicated effort to get more defense into the game. The introduction of the hit stick was hugely successful. Easily my favorite Madden. 2. MADDEN 2007 New blocking schemes helped the running game ruled here. 3. MADDEN 2004 The ’04 version of Michael Vick might be one of my favorite players ever. 4. MADDEN 2015 Great graphics, playbooks, and substitutions overhauled. 5. MADDEN 2003 Great leap in gameplay over ’02. Offenses ruled. Faulk was lights out. 6. MADDEN 2010 Update to realistic tackling engine. 7. MADDEN 2012 Really solid gameplay and presentation. 8. MADDEN ’97 Introduction of free agents and managing the salary cap. 9. MADDEN 2000 Much improved franchise mode. 10. MADDEN 25 Huge roster of legends and classic teams make this one of my faves.
Not as close to the PS4s, but still on a nearby shelf, ready to be played
Besides Disney Infinity, Minecraft Story Mode is the only one Madeline remembers her kids playing Madeline finds Lego games equal parts annoying and rewarding We had Rock Band, but mostly just wanted to sing Beatles songs
We need to buy another toy before we can finish this one There seem to be quite a few games here from the giveaway table at Maxim 18
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DISNEY INFINITY developed by Avalanche Software, published by Disney
The perfect way to combine Luis’ loves of collecting and gaming. Online communities kept an eye on what was coming and how to trade away unwanted discs. Disney did release action figures based on designs, but has missed major opportunities, according to Luis. —MV
Boom poses in 2017 with discs from Infinity
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BAD WORDS AND VIOLENT TACTICS Written maybe five years ago without corrections
Kal opens Vanellope on Christmas morning
For Luis’ birthday, Madeline constructed three shelves to display some of the Infinity characters
Sir Threats-a-lot (a.k.a. Boom)has been exposed to crazy cartoon violence since he was born because of all the videogames played regularly in our house. He says he will break your face, you will die, etc. (He also likes to teleport, but those statements don’t really move the needle.) And none of it means he wants you to die—he just wants you to feel his suffering in the only exaggerated terms he knows. Angry Birds and Plants vs. Zombies are extremely cartoony, but they are still ultra-violent. It’s hard to rationalize with any therapist or teacher how Boom and Kal are allowed to play so much for so long. I don’t even remember which games Kal was playing at the time, but I don’t think there was ever a time in Boom’s life without videogame violence. Infinity is plenty cartoony, but the only objective really is to kill— especially if you are Kal in a Toy Box. Infinity rewards your violence and kills with more skills and upgrades to your character. The Cars playset in Infinity is the least violent because you have to learn to do stunts. But after that? You can equip your car with a variety of missiles and guns. For a long while, it was Kal’s favorite thing on earth to build a race track from scratch so that a variety of characters could destroy each other with elaborate weapons. Great, you used your brain to build a race track. Boo, all you did was shoot me for 30 minutes straight. When Tinker Bell was released for 2.0, after so much power and violence from Pixar and Marvel characters, I was livid that her super power was to just swirl some pixie dust. It didn’t do anything! I was literally dying. So many curse words. Tinker Bell is officially dead to me. Playing games with levels with Kal introduces all sorts of colorful language from me. Most of the time he does not repeat it. He might say “screwed.” But that’s about it. It’s more likely that Boom will say everything is completely fucked now. [screams of frustration] Or, my favorite, “Fuck you, Jesus” instead of “Jesus Fucking Christ!” The characters in our games don’t curse—that’s the only reason I can assume Kal and Boom (and Megan) don’t curse. Me cursing is not as cool as if Annoying Orange said it. It’s hard to be nice when Kal’s not listening to simple directions. (“The other way. The other way! The OTHER way!”) It’s hard to be nice when he’s also so much better at a game than me. Kal is a gamer at heart. He figured out how to use buttons quickly. He wanted to learn to control what was happening on the screen. We had a tiny PS2 controller because it had a Superman design. Kal learned to hold that and pretend to play Cars. Then he learned to control his car for real and could aimlessly drive around the town. Then he started to be able to race, but I would have to switch controllers with him and help him win. Then he learned to simply play for real. —MV
Madeline speaks ill of gaming with Kal She does not miss Infinity or Skylanders
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Betty poses in 2017 with Infinity discs
SKYLANDERS developed by Toys for Bob, published by Activision
Kal ventured into the Skylands when a version went on clearance at Toys R Us, as far as Madeline remembers. It was entertaining enough to inspire books and challenging enough to require multiple players cooperating to win. —MV
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s y To
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While Luis is an intense collector often focused on simply collecting, Kal is pretty sure he used everything in this picture at least once.
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TO INFINITY AND BEYOND If you’re a reader of the Dubbs or know me more personally, you know I’m a huge fan of Disney Infinity. As much as I loved the original game, I loved Disney Infinity 2.0 even more. Don’t get me wrong I enjoyed the exploits of The Incredibles, but for a true superhero fan like myself, it doesn’t compare to saving Manhattan from Loki and the Frost Giants with the Avengers. The game missions in 2.0 were more clearly defined, and a lot more linear. (I still can’t defeat the Incredibles level because I handle the missions in the incorrect order.) The graphics seemed to improve, and the customization in the ToyBox was almost limitless. The cherry on top is the actual collectible figures themselves. The poses are iconic, the sculpts are playful yet powerful, and are made to crossover for all audiences. My 5-year-old loves the figures as much as his comic-obsessed dad does. DI 2.0 also includes a Spider-Man playset which also takes place in Manhattan, that is vastly different from the Avengers playset. This playset contains two of my favorite 2.0 figures, Nova and Venom. Nova may be my favorite character in 2.0. He is sneaky powerful and fast. The third and final Marvel playset is Guardians of the Galaxy. This game is set on Knowhere and utilizes the powers of each of the characters. Rocket Racoon is a ton of fun to play. Similar to the movie, the game is completely centered in outer space so it’s a nice change from the other two sets which feature NYC. If 2.0 wasn’t enough, Disney Infinity 3.0 ventures into a galaxy far, far away to incorporate the newest members of the
Disney family—the Star Wars universe. Initial screenshots and gameplay make this version look like it will be the best yet. Each of the jedi (Luke, Obi-Wan, Yoda, Ahsoka, Kanaan, Ezra, and Anakin) have a unique skill set and fighting style. The same is true for the Sith lords (Darth Vader and Darth Maul). Great attention has been spent on the details of the planets as well. Hoth, Coruscant, Tattoine, and Felucia all look amazing. I can’t wait to load up Han and Chewie and fly around from planet to planet while having dogfights in outer space. Star Wars will have two separate playsets when the game launches. One set during the Clone Wars (Twilight of the Republic) and the other set during the original trilogy (Rise Against The Empire). Not only will the gameplay be great within the missions, but I imagine the possibilities will be even more endless in the toy box. I can’t state enough how excited I am for the Fall release of this. It’s going to be epic.
DI 3.0 will also see Marvel and Disney continue to be supported. Marvel will have a whole new playset featuring HulkBuster Iron Man as well as Ultron (with some potential other characters to
be announced at a later date). Disney will have an Inside Out playset featuring an all new original story. The five emotions will each get figures. Disney will also have a new batch of ToyBox characters that have been high on the want lists of many collectors (Olaf, Mulan, Minnie, Mickey, and Sam and Quorra from Tron). There will also be a new batch of ToyBox Games similar to Escape from the Klyn and Asgard Tower Defense. The first and most exciting is the ToyBox Speedway. Think Mario Kart except with all of the Disney properties. This has been requested since almost the inception of this game. The advance previews look very promising for this expansion. The other ToyBox game is ToyBox Takeover which seems to put every villain and every playset in play from every DI playset. I can see this being an extremely popular feature for Infinity supporters who have built up an impressive roster of characters. The release of Madden used to be a holiday to me. That’s no longer the case. For me, the most anticipated gaming release of the year (for the second year in a row) is Disney Infinity. ADW Note: Pre-order the Star Wars saga bundle as it is the only way you will get Boba Fett and the Rise Against the Empire playsets (with Luke and Leia) the first day of release. If you don’t you’ll have to wait at least a month for Luke and Leia and till the holidays for Boba.
VIRAL VIGILANTE THE MUSIC OF
From 2015?
VIDEO GAMES For as long as I can remember music has been an integral part of video games. I bet almost anyone that has played a game in the past 20 years can remember or hum a video game tune, like the Super Mario Bros theme song or the Tetris song. The music in video games goes hand in hand with the pace and structure for the game, and sometimes essential to the story line for the game. The music creates an atmosphere like music in a film would. However the music in a video game does much more than create an atmosphere or a tone. It also communicates information to the players such as winning a level or when the game is over. Whenever the background music changes from a moderate pace to faster pace, we all know to expect that the boss is coming or that unsettling music that comes on after you wasted your last life. Over the years, music in video games developed as fast as its technology. From the 8-bit synths once heard in earlier games like R.B.I Baseball in 1987 to the video games of today that have amazing orchestral accompaniments such as Final Fantasy VII and on, to Elder Scroll V: Skyrim. Creating an immersive fiction in which to set the narrative is an important duty for any developer but music is a huge part of successfully
achieving this immersion. Whether it is experienced directly by the character such as the radio stations in Grand Theft Auto, or having a symphonic backing score. Great and appropriate music can speak volumes about the world of the protagonist. We also have rhythm games that take the direct use of music one step further by making the player perform their favorite songs using controllers inspired by musical instruments. Or rhythm games that let us dance like Britney Spears. This allowed people to live out their fantasies of being a rock star or a pop star. It also brought people together to jam out on a Friday night. I still remember long Friday and Saturday nights with my friends playing Rockband, trying to get the perfect score for every song. Almost every gamer remembers the music of their favorite moment in a video game. Mine would have to be the battle with Sephiroth and his song “OneWinged Angel” came on in Final Fantasy VII. The song was haunting and epic, which intensified the moment. It felt like I was battling a god. The music in video games invoke many emotions as we play through and they will always resonate with us for years to come. –Sterling
To listen to Sterling’s curated Top 20 Video Games songs click the link below: https://play.spotify.com/user/steventura/playlist/1xuxI8DhrH3Hkoiw0s3WeW
The Batgirl of Burnside One of the most refreshing comics of 2015 has been the reinvented Batgirl. Batgirl had been a steady and consistent performer in the new 52 while she was handled by Gail Simone. DC then completely spun the character on its heels and gave the book to indie darlings Brenden Fletcher and Babs Tarr with a helping hand from comics veteran Cameron Stewart. The premise was simple. Barbara was a down on her luck millenial trying to make it out on her own after moving away from Gotham. When all of her crime-fighting gear is destroyed, she basically creates a cosplay friendly version of her costume (deftly designed by Stewart and Tarr) and uses her big brain and quick wit to continue fighting crime. She basically has a chance to reinvent herself and become the Batgirl she wants to be. What Barbara didn’t expect was that being in Burnside (Gothams trendiest neighborhood–think Williamsburg) she would become a social media darling and viral sensation. Instead of avoiding the spotlight (ala Bruce) Barbara completely embraces her new status quo. She truly is a viral vigilante who is done living in the shadows. Besides the new outfit, she has a whole new supporting cast (could Frankie be the new Oracle), college classes, and an intersting new dating life. On top of that, there is the her relationship with the new Batman (her dad James Gordon) which should provide fertile ground for fresh new stories. Swipe left on this title and hook up with this new take on Batgirl —Luis
BEFORE TOYS TO LIFE There are plenty of physical Minecraft toys—Legos, HotWheels, 3D printed fan pieces—even if players can’t bring them into the game. Kal spent hours playing Minecraft on and off the TV “Why are there chests full of uncooked meat and weapons?” “In case we come back as survival.” These are the conversations I had with my small child. Survival is going to be like Tutorial—you will need real tools and fuel and a furnace. You need a farm with irrigation. You have to protect it from Creepers (because there are no real world problems like flooding or a drought). Your farm and your animals need to be accessible. You can’t live on a beach or at the top of a mountain cliff and just zip over to the farm in survival. If you are going to slaughter animals, you ought to breed more first. And then you need to feed and shelter the new animals. Real animals are not spontaneously spawned. You can make puppies if you feed the wolves first. It’s hard to whip up a cake in survival mode. Kal knows all the parody songs about mushroom stew but he’s not helping me write the recipes for how to go farm to table. There are many kinds of farming in Minecraft: Mob, Experience, Food, Block, and Item Farming, according to Minecraft Wiki. Books have been written about all of it. Animal husbandry goes to the mob section because you slaughter them the way you would slaughter spiders or zombies. Although, it is entirely possible to not slaughter your animals and instead wait for them to drop wool blocks, pork chops, steaks, eggs, and milk. You will need to grow wheat, carrots, potatoes, pumpkins, and melons to pull this off. You can also farm mushrooms in order to create mushroom stew. Kal planted small sections around some of his houses, but he was more concerned with having a beacon so he could find the house again. He wanted to go to the Nether to fight Zombie Pig Men and Ghasts. Then he was obsessed with getting to The End. All of his play was offline, so watched videos about Hunger Games, but never actually played on other people’s creations. —MV
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MINECRAFT developed and published by Mojang
A survival sandbox game based in rudimentary-looking graphics. Players complete a tutorial in survival mode but then can freeplay in creative mode where there are not as many threats to the character’s health. —MV
STAMPY’S LOVELY WORLD
Kal wanted to be featured in the garden Kal discovers Stampy on the big TV
He always talked about Stampy’s friends We have books and figures for Stampy
The Saddest Day in Kal’s Gaming Career from 2016 DirecTV suddenly stopped streaming YouTube. Every day I would see there was a video with a frowny face icon at the top of the search results, and every day I would ignore it. So the day YouTube videos ceased to exist on DirecTV, we were all needlessly shocked. The thought still brings Kal to tears. Who wants to watch StampyCat on an a tablet when you’ve been watching him in 50” HD? Boom played one of Stampy’s videos this afternoon, and it was kind of creepy to hear his voice again. —MV
Stampy’s voice is burned into my memory
RUEBEN AND THE ENDERMEN
Enderboy and Endergirl
Flat arms and puffy arms signal who is who
For the 100th day of school in 3rd Grade, Kal dressed like it was the year 2109, which he imagined to be a dystopian wasteland that required help from his trusty salvage-hunting pig. Then in 6th grade he sewed a faux leather saddle. Betty has dressed up her Endergirl, but no one is loved like Rueben.
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TURNING 5 In 2014, Kal started Kindergarten—and loved Minecraft The DOE assigned Kal to a school far enough away we decided to buy a car. Then we decided to go visit family in Illinois before school started. I had been hearing about mines for so many hours every day, I decided it was time visit a real mine. Kal was more than happy to get a green helmet and tell the guide everything he knew about mines. Then he watched more Stampy Cat videos on the iPad in the hotel room. His birthday in school and out was all about homemade Minecraft goodies.
Baby stalactites forming in the Ohio caverns.
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The Ender Dragon on the last bit of cake
Posing like Stampy
A Creeper icecream cake
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A Minecraft Unikitty house for Betty’s birthday
TERRARIA developed by Re-Logic, published by Chunsoft
Terraria simply looked like a terrible side scroller version of Minecraft. We went ahead and got a copy for the PS3, and it was completely whack. If you die, they give you gory explanations of how you died. You can build things out of flesh. Giant detached eyeballs are chasing you. Almost ten years after this game was released, my kids are still talking about trying to make more progress. They love the music. Cthulhu is like family. —MV
Kal took a break from Minecraft to play Skylanders. Then he took a break from that to go back to Little Big Planet Karting. This led to more and more Little Big Planet. Today he went to Minecraft, waited for an update, started to scroll down to the Skyrim pack... Minecraft has mashed up with Mass Effect and other video games for new packs. Their newest addition? Little Big Planet. We had just seen the real pod, so it was obvious how well they had recreated LBP even down to the same music. (from 2016)
KAL’S GAME from 2016 Kal has a better idea for Terraria: You build before introducing characters so you’re not weighed down by their lack of ability to reach the places you want to place blocks or walls. Don’t tell him that’s LBP or Infinity Toy Box.
PINTEREST FAIL Between Minecraftthemed birthdays, Kal had a Terraria birthday. We brought pizza to his class and then everyone made their own Terraria blocks at home. Who needs cake when you can have a plate full of candy? I think it about sums up what I see when I look at Terraria on screen.
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EVERYBODY LOVES THE iPAD In 2012 we bought an iPad. I used it to read in the dark. It was Mommy’s iPad. The Brooklyn Public Library has a huge online catalog, and I checked out new books all the time. Infant Boom heard everything from Too Big to Fail and Crime and Punishment to Emily’s Reasons Why Not and The Hunger Games. Then Kal switched from watching train reviews on YouTube on a laptop browser to playing free games on the iPad. I needed him to be quiet so I could put Boom down for a nap more than I needed an e-book. That’s when it became Kal’s iPad. He played Subway Surfers, Angry Birds, Plants vs. Zombies, and pretty much anything else he could convince someone to download for him. Eventually the lime green case fell apart and we replaced it with a gray case. It feels like Boom only recently stopped asking what happened to the green iPad. We have inherited more old iPads since then, but they’re too outdated to use. Betty plays with the 2012 iPad every day. It earned its spot on the 2013 Christmas card.
Boom had to wait for Kal to start school before he could have the iPad to himself.
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OUR 5 FAVORITE APPS ON THE IPAD
OUR 5 FAVORITE PHONE GAMES
A list from 2020
A list from 2020
YouTube
Super Cat Tales 2
Bloxels
2048
SpellTower
Stickman War Legacy
ABC Mouse
Soul Knight
Cooking Mama
Angry Birds Transformers
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ANGRY BIRDS developed and published by Rovio Entertainment
Kal started playing this on a relative’s phone when pizza was taking too long to come to the table and he needed to be entertained in a crowded restaurant. It was free, so it was hard to not download it for him on the iPad. I did not realize that would mean I would have to get good at beating levels for him or that we would have to buy figures for subsequent versions of the game. We even have an offline version where you draw a card and build the structure, but it wasn’t really for small boys. —MV
Push down King Pig, then he zooms away
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Birds need hats
Boom carried Terebacca everywhere, but accidentally dropped him in the pond
Just after dropping Terebacca
Boom loved the Chewbacca version so much, we made a cake for a friend with that theme
PLANTS VS. ZOMBIES developed and published by PopCap Games
Another free download that Madeline didn’t realize she was going to have to get good at quickly. If you were losing, at least it was still funny. And when you play as a muliplayer with small children, it better be funny. —MV
Angry Birds played with everything . It’s hard to believe they never played with PvZ toys
Skylanders come to play with trains and Angry Birds
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BOOM TURNS 3 Video games were the theme— Skylanders decor and Angry Birds on the cupcakes, plus a bunch of Shopkins and Grossery Gang cut outs. Maybe tiny but powerful was the theme.
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The Spider-Man mask was Boom’s other staple besides constantly clutching an Angry Bird
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PS2 games that were so fun we keep them ready to pop into the PS3
With a cheat code, you can beat Obi Wan, then beat the Emperor, and unlock a whole alternate ending where Anakin is in charge without ever becoming Darth Vader
Luis is always quick to say this is a good game. It’s the best Superman game on PS2
Battlefront on the PS2 was good, but Battlefront on the PS4 is a whole other world. The maps and graphics are more accurate
This was a fun
This was the devil, according to Luis. So hard.
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See Page 49
Covered in dursnt 2a0nd ready to tu
A game got stuck, so the door had to go
TIME TO UPGRADE Four hours with homeless people to do it After a little over three years with the PS1, I was eagerly anticipating the release of the PS2. The advance promotion was amazing. R U E signage was prevalent all over Manhattan. I have legitimately never been more excited for the launch of a new system. I went into KayBee at Manhattan Mall because the Toys R Us right next door was no longer taking pre-orders. I excitedly placed my order. The night before the big release, I happened to be at KayBee. (I love toy stores and am always looking for new toys.) When I mentioned to the cashier I was chatting up that I would be back tomorrow to pick up my pre-ordered PS2, the cashier tells me, “Make sure you get here early. We presold too many.” I instantly freaked out. I was like, I’m not gonna be left without a PS2 on launch day. I basically went home, changed, came back, and was the second person in line. If you’re familiar with the 34th Street Herald Square Station, there’s like this little pathway between the PATH and the regular MTA lines, and it’s generally—especially at night—filled with a bunch of homeless people either sleeping or using the bathroom or whatever. You have to remember this was 2000. I want to say it was about 4:30 a.m. The mall wasn’t going to open until 9 a.m. There was only one street entrance into the mall. KayBee was on the bottom level, so you could see where KayBee was right from that little pathway. There were probably another dozen or so people lined up behind us, and I don’t know that every one of them were able to get their playstations. —LV Our PlayStation 2 covered in dust and missing a door. The day Tiny came to replace TV we’d been watching for years. Cats were more than happy to crawl around on Tiny’s shevles full of PS2 games. The first time Tiny’s lamp burnt out.
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EARLY LEANING I wanted to take pictures of the newborn, but Kal needed to play Finding Nemo near his baby brother. Then he needed to introduce Skylanders on the iPad to his newborn sister. Welcome to the family, kids.
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Games we weren’t able or didn’t want to sell to GameStop
Before singing games, Hots Shots were easy to play as a group for fun
LV took Tennis seriously and unlocked all the special characters. Then Meg accidentally saved over his version of the game. Whoops
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See Page 16
Jessica Alba is one of LV’s favorite Jessicas
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SANDBOX GAMES from 2016
Instructional, fan fiction, graphic novels— we have it all on our book shelves.
Minecraft might not force anyone to learn engineering or design—to actually build computers with Redstone—but because there is little to do in creative mode, one must learn to solve the problem of boredom. That might mean fighting pits, that might mean building a hotel. The way we play is offline so we never have to worry about griefers other than Kal. Once he discovered how to spawn creatures, he was happy to spawn too many pigs. The game would warn him that his planet could not sustain them. He began to spawn Zombie Pigmen because that was less likely to cause him to get yelled at than if he spawned and killed cows or chickens. Where else can he learn that no one likes a vengeful and irrational god? When Kal gets bored playing Karting by himself, he can happily sit in the LBP pod and design carts for an hour. Building a world on one of the moons is a bit too intense. He’s given it a try in all three versions of the game. The worst has to be LBP3 because that caused him to not be able to access the pod computer and continue playing the story mode game. The best is probably the first (I think) because it allows users to spawn a world based on one of the levels already played. The tutorials are basically all the same. One just has to actually take the time to do them. Kal has gotten better and had more fun after I forced him to follow a few tutorials in LBP1. It’s odd how at the same time it can be easier to build on the LBP moon than in Minecraft but also so much harder. While the idea that building a cart for an hour isn’t that impressive, it’s an hour he’s trying to be creative. Megan would sit for 20 minutes, applying makeup to her Bratz characters. Sometimes the posters she designed in Bratz needed to be hung around town in a race challenge that followed, but the makeup was mostly the entertainment of painting computer faces. But we’re not supposed to be letting anyone sit in front of a screen for that long, so finding book versions of any of these characters is easier on my conscience—even if it’s just a coloring book version. —MV
BLOXELS manufactured by Mattel in 2018
Anyone can build a video game, creating characters, art, and stories to share with the world. The original kit came with blocks to arrange on a board then photograph with an iPad. Betty has gotten into the animation aspect of character creation. Some of it’s really good, like when one of her Teletubbies heads breaks apart. For a while the boys were happy to play the games other people had created. No one here has really used it to create a game yet. —MV
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From Page 11 You see, I’m an introvert. I’m socially awkward and I have historically had a hard time relating to other people. As such, being able to dive into a world of games where I could completely lose myself worked for me. The Nintendo was amazing. This was in a whole different stratusphere of gaming. Full color games, amazing graphics (for the time), and the one game that would change everything for me... Tecmo Bowl. Being raised in a sports-obsessed household meant we were always talking about or watching sports. We also played lots of strat-o-matic board games. We had giant leagues with my brothers’ friends in the neighborhood for our card-based strategy simulation games. Unfortunately they didn’t stick around when we moved from the board games to the virtual video games. That was a solo endeavor for me. As I explained above, the introvert in me loved the quiet time at home to zone out and play video games. Nothing provided an escape quite like Tecmo Bowl, which perfectly meshed my love of sports and video games. The first Tecmo Bowl was incredibly crude. Twelve teams, four plays for each team. They also did not have the official NFLPA license, so the players are only identified by their last names and the teams are only identified by their cities. While sports games up to this point were very rudimentary, this game felt like something had changed. Gameplay was better, graphics were smoother—this was a huge step up. For me, it was everything. I would lock myself in my room and play full seasons of teams over a weekend. I would keep meticulous stats based on these games (I’ve always been a fan of statistics in sports) and tally up full season winners and losers. Tecmo had a huge hit on their hands. You’d be hardpressed to find a video game fan in his early- to mid-40s who doesn’t rave about Bo Jackson in Tecmo Bowl, still to this day the most dominant running back in any game ever. (Christian Okoye a close dominant second.) The game performed so well that yearly installments started to be released with new playbooks, an NFLPA tie-in (full player and team names), even better graphics, the ability to make substitutions, and all stats were saved in game. (I still kept my own notebook of full season stats.) As I stormed through school and entered the workforce, video games remained a constant. I remember using
one of my early paychecks to excitedly go out and buy the Super Nintendo system. With the dawn of a new system came the debut of the Tecmo Super Bowl for the SNES. Everything that was enhanced in the last installment on the Nintendo was essentially buffed. This game was perfect. It 100% did not disappoint. That same year, another game launched that would start a lifetime of devotion, Bulls Vs. Blazers by EA Sports. There was finally a good console basketball simulation game. I can still remember how dominant Tom Chambers was in this game. He could dunk from the free throw line with regularity. (Who? They had the 16 teams that made the playoffs, and he was on the Suns.) As the years passed, the advancements on Tecmo Bowl started to lessen, while the NBA game became the main focus of my gaming life. This would stay consistent for quite a few years. I would try and play 41-game seasons with as many teams as possible to simulate their upcoming seasons and again keep their stats in my trusty notebook. While still fun, Tecmo Super Bowl (and the subsequent Special Edition, Final Edition, Kickoff and Throwback) definitely took a backseat to the now rebranded NBA simulation game titles NBA Live. EA Sports spared no expense in tremendous graphics and game play. Instead of having only the playoffs team ala Bulls vs. Blazers, NBA Live now had the entire league and would update every fall with the latest rosters and new college players. I would instantly play full seasons with the teams that drafted Duke players. I still have fond memories of playing full seasons with Laettner on the TWolves, Grant Hill on the Pistons, and even Bobby Hurley on the Grizzlies. This game was tremendous. I would be a devoted player of NBA Live for a full decade. But its run as my favorite game would be short lived, because EA Sports was perfecting the best sports simulation game of all-time. With Tecmo no longer having the NFL license, or putting out new games, there was a huge void to fill. I tried them all: Joe Montana football, NFL Gameday, ESPN Football, but that all changed with John Madden Football. Specifically Madden ’95 on the Sega Genesis. My oldest brother (the original owner of the Atari) had recently purchased a Sega Genesis. He lived on the 4th floor of the apartment building
we all lived in. We would spend hours playing Sonic, Streets of Rage 2 but most of all Madden. Madden became the perfect fix for our old school Strat-OMatic league. My brother and I decided we would play every game on the NFL Schedule. We would draft our teams and play. It was here that I developed my love for the mobile quarterback running a Power I formation. (I ran a very boring, very efficient offense. I would run on first down. I would run on second down. Then on third down, I might fake a pass and then run with quarterback anyway. I’m going to waste the entire clock. When you get the ball, you’re going to feel like you need to do something very quickly and probably do something very dumb.) My teams would ultimately meet in the Super Bowl with the mobile Steve Young being an absolute revelation. More importantly. I had a new favorite game. One with tremendous graphics and gameplay and a full playbook with hundreds of plays. It was an NFL simulation dream. I became a full fledged devotee of EA Sports. If they sold a sports title, I purchased it. Besides Madden and NBA Live, I instantly bought Triple Play baseball (and then MVP Baseball), Fight Night, Tiger Woods Golf, and NHL Live (yes, NHL). The EA brand meant an excellence to detail and an accuracy to statistics and simulation. It was the golden age of sports games. As I was getting married (the first time) and getting ready to move away, I remember my sister giving me a monetary gift and specifically telling me the money was for a new gaming system. She suggested I would need it—and she was right. That’s when I finally moved away from Nintendo and Sega and fully invested in the Sony Playstation. There were many nights that my trusty German Shepherd and my PS1 were the only things keeping me sane in the world. The next gen graphics were a huge step up from where the competitive systems were. That plus the ability to play audio cds or dvds was a huge bonus. It was a great system. It also carried all the EA games, so almost from the launch I was able to keep my addiction to EA going. Playstation had a robust roster of titles, so I dabbled in other adventure games such as Tomb Raider, Resident Evil, Dino Crisis, Devil May Cry, etc. My obsession has and always will be sports simulation games.
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Boom leartnetdhe quickly thnad is mic sta g everythin We sing at weddings, Christmas, and just for fun
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SINGING GAMES Competitive singing probably doesn’t sound like a good time, but we battle for the mic stand in Casa Vega. The same way anyone can shake a controller at the right time to get a high score in a dance game, anyone can become a virtual American Idol while not sounding like anything other people want to hear again. We try not to sound bad—and we learned quickly which songs to use for a warm up and which songs don’t earn any points. Kal has tried rapping. We made sure to download “Listen to Your Heart” for Betty. Once upon a time, friends might have come over for Madden, but now, if you come to Casa Vega, be prepared to sing.
GRAPHICS MAKE SENSE
Glee Easier than rewatching a season of the show
High School Musical We knew all the movies so we liked it
Sing It: Pop Hits Imagine Radio Disney as a karaoke game
Disney Sing It Good for wanting to sing Disney songs
American Idol Story mode trips up singing for fun
NARROW SELECTION
WIDE SELECTION
Sing Star Originally, you had to buy more versions to have more variety, but now songs are online
Just Sing Not quite as good as Sing Star The Voice Good before we started to buy more songs for Sing Star Just Dance 2014 You can sing along and score points
GRAPHICS MAKE LITTLE SENSE
American Idol included options for how to dress your player at different stages. This might be Meg at the finale.
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PORTABLE GAMING Play games, download movies, and keep yourself entertained for hours. Sony sold 80 million units of the PlayStation Portable in its 10 years on the market. It no longer connects to the store, though, so we should really bid it farewell.
Luis: I used to love the PSP. I would play the basketball game a lot on long train rides, so it was Madden and 2K were the only games I played. I don’t think they had a baseball game. Madeline: Why did I make a new cover for it? LV: I’m not sure. I think it had a tear in the cover or something. MV: I don’t know if it was foam and it was just flaking apart it... It feels extra squishy, but I wasn’t sure. LV: I loved that PSP. Betty’s excited to turn it around, but I’m like, Dude, the only thing I have for it are sports games. It’s not like I have anything fun. I played that thing so hard that it used to have a pad on the analog stick, and I broke the pad off because I would play it so much. I was legit playing it probably two hours a day when I had a commute. Like if i was coming from Brooklyn into Manhattan, that’s like an hour. If I was going from Queens into Brooklyn which was the case... MV: Come on. That’s the reason you bought it. You went from three steps from the northern end of the N to four steps from the southern end. LV: So I needed an entertainment device, and the PSP became it. But it’s also—it’s like the graphics were far superior to anything the GameBoy had released at that point and I would argue that the graphics probably still hold up right now to this day because I know they released the PS Vita after the PSP, but I don’t know that it was that much of an advancement in terms of the graphics over what the PSP was. I really liked the PSP. MV: And then you stopped using it? LV: Um, we just started living together, I think, at a point, and then I needed my PSP less, so, yeah. MV: Because you had me to talk to on the train, right?
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SCRIBBLENAUTS developed by 5th Cell, published by Warner Bros. Interactive
Players can write anything and solve everything. This game came out in 2009 when Madeline was suffering from pregnancy brain, so she did not enjoy this puzzle game at all. It took her back to computer games that consisted entirely of black screens with glowing type where she and her friends couldn’t figure out what the game wanted them to say. Meg played it mostly by herself except to ask for suggestions. There are Unmasked versions that features 2,000 DC comics characters, but Luis claims he hasn’t thought to get it because he might have been the only person who liked Scribblenauts. —MV
More DS games COOKING MAMA developed by Majesco Entertainment, published by Nintendo
“Prepare foods, combine raw ingredients, cook the meal and present your culinary masterpiece to Mama for your final score.” Martha Stewart promoted it on her show because she said you really do learn to go through the steps of producing 15 recipes before unlocking dozens of more complicated recipes. Madeline was extremely suspect of Martha’s opinion because she actually cooked a lot back then and was unimpressed by the game. Madeline needed to relax. It’s fun for a video game. —MV
WISHLIST ITEMS “She wanted that thing so badly,” according to her dad. He can’t think of a gift she wanted, received, and enjoyed more from him. BRAIN AGE developed and published by Nintendo
Originally purchased to give Meg a more fun way to do math, Madeline became obsessed with its challenges—not only fast math, but also shouting things out and matching. It’s the only DS game she cares about when sorting the collection. —MV
MY FASHION STUDIO developed by Ubisoft, published by Nintendo
Players start as an intern and work their way up to opening their own studio. Challenges include ironing, hemming, and so on. All the controls in these DS games are bascially the same whether you’re washing a dog or ice skating. It’s a chance for make believe. —MV
Megan opens the Nintendo DS, games, and accessories in 2008 and 2009 for her birthday and Christmas.
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THE NEXT TETRIS developed and published by Blue Planet Software
Head to head challenges involve being the first to fill strange gaps in only two rows. Playing against Betty, Madeline’s time was even more limited by Betty’s ability to stack shapes to the top quickly and end the round. What’s new about Next Tetris is that shape break apart or combine based how each piece is colored. They are not all solid colors in Next Tetris. —MV
developed and published by THQ
SUBLIMINAL PLANT
Once we had the code to unlock everything—all the characters, all the skins, all the locations—this game became a lot more fun. Compared to the stunts that would follow in Infinity, this story mode was simple and the racing straight forward. —MV
Ultimate Alliance might be Luis’ favorite PS2 game. We leave this stack where they can see it and maybe decide to play.
DISNEY PIXAR CARS
“Where’s ?t”heir noses
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BRATZ: ROCK ANGELZ developed Blitz Games, published by THQ
In 2005, Luis needed to beat the game as quickly as possible to get the group of friends to London for Megan. “It was very vapid. There was a Simon Cowel sort of guy who judged you.” I thought in both versions we owned The Bratz go on missions that become pages in their fashion magazine. Luis says he liked the one with magazine challenges more. Bratz: Forever Diamondz might have had the better options for makeup and clothing changes. —MV
CRAZY TAXI developed Stephen Frost, published by Sega
It was kind of hard to be good at Crazy Taxi, but it was easy to have fun. You drive up and down hills around San Francisco, try to follow the cues for where your passenger wants to go, and maybe go underground and break all the rules if you’re Kal. —MV
Our lineup of games for a New Year’s Day marathon
THE INCREDIBLES developed Heavy Iron Studios, published by THQ
Maybe the first of several Incredibles video games we have and kind of the least memorable to Madeline because it probably follows the movie plot closely. Lego and Infinity versions are harder because you have no idea what it is the developer wants you to do. Luis says this movie version of Incredibles was a good game. —MV
DISNEY PRINCESS: ENCHANTED JOURNEY developed Papaya Studio, published by Disney Interactive
Long before Sofia The First, Disney released a video game where a new girl befriends the princesses who existed in 2007. Multiple players can go on adventures and explore the princesses worlds. We spent our video game marathon beating this game. —MV
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We have this stack of PS1 games because we still have the PS1. The PS5 won’t be that backward compatible, so...
Luis’ first PlayStation had a chip that allowed him to copy games back when Blockbuster rented games
Madeline played more Sega Genesis games than PS1, so this stack doesn’t really mean much to her. The only PS1 game she even remembers is XGames, which is not here. Luis swears Animaniacs is fun, but that and the Elmo discs never get used
Casa Vega isn’t about Final Fantasy VII Remake. “Midgar” and “SOLDIER” don’t mean anything here...
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Our old laundromat had Pac-Man and a racing game, but the boys never had quarters
Boom was going to make sure he had a view anyway A LIMITED VIDEO GAME GLOSSARY
button masher
co-op
easter eggs
third person
side mission
grind
first person shooter
side scroller
Players who disregard specific combinations and press everything Gameplay view shows all characters from a distance Gameplay is viewed from the character’s point of view so player’s feel more like they are actually in the fight
Multiple players cooperate to complete objectives, working together to win Not your main objective but could lead to experience or bonus material Two dimensional design that moves left to right as the game advances
Undocumented objects or features within a game i.e. secret rooms or objects Performing repetitive simple tasks in order to proceed, gain XP or level up in the game
respawn
Regenerating after being killed in the game
YOU KNOW IT’S OLD I don’t think my kids have ever seen Alex Trebek with a mustache. He shaved it off in 2001. He regrew it in 2014 and then fans voted for him to shave it off again.
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WII SPORTS RESORT developed and published by Nintendo
We played a lot of bowling at other people’s houses, but archery and flying were Kal’s favorites when he picked up a copy from his cousins. It never became as competitive in Casa Vega as singing, though. —MV
Princess Peach as a Hot Wheel
MARIO KART developed and published by Nintendo
Of all the racing games, this was probably the best we owned. It was challenging and cute. The variety of characters and courses was awesome. —MV
REPLAYING OLD VIDEOGAMES
You remember when to jump, but the controller sticks Kal screaming like he’s on a rollercoaster while playing LBP Serpent’s Shrine is a new take Sonic is a tough sell when I’m terrible and they’re impatient
GUITAR HERO developed and published by RedOctane
People claim the game prepared them to play guitar, but we rarely played it at Casa Vega despite having multiple versions. “It was fine,” Luis says. You pushed the button according to the pattern on the screen like Dance Dance Revolution and other games like that. —MV
I just want to show Betty how she can sit there for hours putting makeup on Bratz but you have to unlock stuff first Luis plays Guitar Hero with officemates from Wenner Media at an event in 2008.
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In 2014, you could walk into Toys R Us and play games
DANCE DANCE REVOLUTION: DISNEY CHANNEL EDITION developed by Keen Games, published by Disney Interactive
Back when you needed a mat because there was no sensor to put on the TV and the controllers couldn’t read a player’s motions. Up, up, left, right, switch just wasn’t that fun of a way to dance, so we didn’t really encourage Meg to take the game out too often. —MV
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Fly Your Geek Flag So few shirts in these old pictures even though they own so many... BY MADELINE STRUM PHOTOGRAPHY
As seen on Page 28
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As seen on Page 22
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As seen on Page 30
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Proudly carrying on Handmedowns are great
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FIVE THINGS THAT ARE NOT MY KIDS STARING AT SCREENS
Boom fits inside Castle Quest
TRAINS Kal was so obsessed with Thomas the Tank Engine that he
was excitedly opening Thomas toys at the same time he was unwrapping video game pieces. For a while, I thought we were going to have a blog to spotlight all the tracks I helped him create.
