September 30, 2017 WayneGio

I Heart Jack

It wasn’t until the mid-to-late ’90s that I had semi-regular access to a PC. It was a rather big thing. Sure, I had used them at school and at friends’ places but this was a computer I could access more often. It was my grandparent’s computer, and frankly, I don’t really know why they bought it.

I remember my grandma (a.k.a. Nanna) telling us that she got it by calling a number on the back of a magazine advertising them for sale. When she called the SUPER AWESOME PERSONAL COMPUTER HOTLINE the salesman asked

March 6, 2016June 27, 2016 WayneGio

WarioWare: DIY – The dirty Dozen

I remember being impressed with WarioWare, inc.: Mega MicroGame$! the first time I saw it. It was in the means of a flash game advertisement and/or competition. It’s hard to remember exactly what it was but it made me want the game.

I enjoy all the WarioWare games but the one I played the least is the one I feel I should have played more than any other, WarioWare D.I.Y.

When Super Mario Make was just a pipe dream in every Nintendo fanboy’s eye, D.I.Y. gave us the tools to make our own microgames. See what I did there? Mario Maker… Pipe Dream… *cough*.

Sure it was a little flawed and missing some key functions and mechanics, but it still made it possible for the creativity to flow. And here I am now to showcase the twelve, count ’em, twelve microgames I actually finished making.

Before we get started I’d like to let you know how I came across my copy of the game. In April of 2010 Kotaku Australia ran a competition for Splinter Cell: Conviction. I don’t recall the prize, I assume it was a copy of the game. A quick google search just now and I discovered the prize was actually A Splinter Cell: Conviction Xbox 360 console bundle. To enter you had to have a real world photo with the stylised Conviction writing on walls, along with the Kotaku logo. This was my entry:

June 28, 2015June 27, 2016 WayneGio

Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga. The longest saga.

I wanted to begin this by saying “It was December 23rd 2003” but after thinking it over and saying it in my head a few times, it just sounded cliched and overused. You know, kinda like an episode of one of those sitcoms where someone is reminiscing back about a time in their life when an important event or something memorable happened.

But I’m better than that. I’ve decided to go in a different direction. Instead, I’m gonna go with this pointless and in no way related to this actual blog entry introduction.

February 25, 2015June 27, 2016 WayneGio

Happy birthday Phatty!

There’s nothing quite like the anniversary of the release of a machine that you vividly remember buying, to remind you of your own futile mortality and constant visions and nagging in your head that you have accomplished nothing and really should have done more with your life.

This is the Nintendo DS at ten.

February 15, 2015June 27, 2016 WayneGio

You’ve met with a terrible overwhelming feeling of doom haven’t you?

Let me make myself perfectly clear.

I have never completed The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask. I have played it before but never beaten it.

I’ve tried to commit myself to seeing it through many times. First on the Nintendo 64, after my brother and I purchased it from a pawnbroker near where we lived.

October 4, 2014 WayneGio

The time I wanted to play Super Smash Bros. on N64

Seeming that today marks the release of Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS I thought I’d share the story of the first time I played Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 64.

The following is an excerpt from The Adventure is Over: How Working in a Video Game Store Ended It – Part 1

July 20, 2014July 7, 2015 WayneGio

Why do I keep buying GTA?

Grand Theft Auto is a video game series I am destined to keep on buying. I don’t mean that when a new one comes out I buy it. I mean I buy several copies of the same game. It’s like I have a problem or something.

July 17, 2014July 7, 2015 WayneGio

Three down, eleven to go

I completed The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for the first time ever last night. Near on 100% too. I didn’t catch the Hylian Loach and I couldn’t get the Deku Nut upgrade because of a glitch in the 3DS version. Still, that doesn’t matter.

I finally finished Ocarina of Time. To put this in perspective for you, right now I am twenty-eight years old. The first time I ever played OoT, I was just starting high school. That was sixteen years ago. It took me sixteen years to actually get around to sitting down and playing through the game in full.

January 11, 2014January 11, 2014 WayneGio

The Adventure is Over: How Working in a Video Game Store Ended It – Part 1

Video games are something I enjoy greatly. Especially when there is an amazing narrative involved. Gameplay is king and nice graphics help too. Being able to immerse one’s self into a world of escapism for an unmetered amount of hours is an amazing thing. But for me, that’s not all there is to video games.

The lead up to getting a game used to be an adventure. The event of getting a game used to be an adventure. From reading about upcoming releases in magazines to booting the game in the console and all the events in-between is what used to make the adventure for me.

But… Working in a video game store took that away.

January 11, 2014June 28, 2016 WayneGio

The Adventure is Over: How Working in a Video Game Store Ended It – Part 2

The new era of adventures kicked in, but I can’t remember what came first, Game Boy Advance or Gamecube. I got My Gamecube at launch but not the GBA. I would check the receipt for the date that I purchased it, but it’s in the GBA box in the roof right now. I’ll lead with GBA though, as it was a split second decision to buy it, yet a mini adventure of it’s own.

It was 2001, I was 16 and I had a job at the local pizza place, so I had a bit of coin. We were in the city for some reason, and were in Toys R Us. They had a huge display of GBAs