January 2017 Community Game-Along: Dating Sim Games

1 / 3 / 17

Happy New Year! I’m planning on doing a Chic Pixel-style year in review post in the next week or so highlighting some of my favorite media from 2016, but since this is my first official post of 2017, I just want to say thank you to everyone who has read, commented on, and/or shared my posts over the past year! Your support means the world to me!

If you follow me on Twitter, you’ll know that the Community Game-Along is back for another year full of themed gaming months, starting with the return of #DatingSiMonth for the month of January. Since I’ve done the dating sim Community Game-Along twice now, I’ll refer you to my previous posts for ideas on what titles to play. But if this is your first time participating in a Game-Along event, read on for details on how to join in the fun!

December 2016 Community Game-Along: Hudson

11 / 30 / 16

We’ve finally reached the last Community Game-Along theme of 2016! This time of year, I like to choose a theme that is completely different from the AAA blockbusters that are coming out in spades for the holiday season. What better way to differentiate the monthly theme than focusing on a developer that for all intents and purposes no longer exists?

Hudson Soft, best known simply as Hudson, was a Japanese company famous for titles such as Bomberman, Adventure Island, and Bonk. Sadly, it shut down in 2012 and was merged with Konami Digital Entertainment. Today, many older Hudson titles are difficult to obtain for modern consoles or remain unreleased outside Japan. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t a lot of interesting games that can be played this month! Just pick a title released by Hudson and play it during December to participate in the Game-Along. Be sure to share your experiences using #HudsonMonth to spread the love for this classic developer!

Hudson is a company I’m woefully uninformed about, so I asked folks on Twitter what games they’d recommend to play this month. Here are some of their suggestions!

Pokémon Trading Card Game (Game Boy Color, 3DS Virtual Console) – I was extremely surprised to find Hudson developed Pokémon Trading Card Game for the Game Boy Color, and with Pokémon fever at a high right now, I just had to include it on this list! You can even boot it right up on the 3DS Virtual Console for easy access when you’re sick of getting zubats from the Pokémon Sun and Moon Wonder Trade.

Kororinpa (Wii) – Kororinpa is an adorably-titled early Wii game that has players tilting the Wiimote to navigate a sphere through a variety of mazes. Sweets maze? Sign me up! That, and the fact that Kororinpa and its sequel, Marble Saga: Kororinpa, can be found pretty cheaply these days, make this a great quick pickup if you’re looking for some lighthearted fun.

Bomberman ’94 (PC Engine, Genesis, Wii Virtual Console, PSN) – Bomberman is very likely Hudson’s biggest claim to fame, so it wouldn’t be Hudson Month without at least one Bomberman game suggestion! But since I have no idea which Bomberman game to suggest, I’m going to go with @Link6616’s recommendation of Bomberman ’94, which can be purchased on the Wii Virtual Console or digitally on PSN for the PS3 or PSP (I believe the PSP version should be compatible with Vitas, as well!). If you’re looking for some multiplayer bombing fun, this would be it!

Star Parodier (PC Engine, Wii Virtual Console) – Star Parodier is, as the title suggests, a fun parody of Hudson’s more serious scifi vertical shooter series Star Soldier. One of the playable ships is a giant flying Bomberman! Interestingly, the original Star Parodier was not released outside Japan, but you can now purchase it in Europe and North America on the Wii Virtual Console.

Since I’m really not an expert on Hudson games, I would love to hear more about your favorite Hudson titles or game recommendations for December! Be sure to share what you’ll be playing this month, too!

November 2016 Community Game-Along: Erotic Games

10 / 31 / 16

When I started running monthly community gaming events nearly 3 years ago, I wanted to make sure to choose themes that highlighted neglected or overlooked game developers or genres. Well, this month marks my first potentially controversial theme: erotic games! To be more specific, this November you’re encouraged to play games with sexual or otherwise adult content. Sorry kids, but you’ll have to sit this one out! (The contents of this post, however, are safe for work)

October 2016 Community Game-Along: Horror Games

9 / 30 / 16

Who’s ready for some spooks?! I know I am! After I tried something a little different for last year’s October Community Game-Along theme, I knew we had to return to horror this year. After all, what’s the lead up to Halloween without some scary games? This year, we’re even getting a new Japanese horror game, Yomawari (pictured in the header image) in English just before the end of the month, too!

Since I’ve been flat out this month with thesis work, I hope you forgive me for taking a break from the usual game recommendation list. Basically, if it’s spooky, it counts! You can also check out my recommendations from the 2014 horror Game-Along if you’re stumped for ideas.

The official tag of the month is #HorrorGameOct, so be sure to share all your scares on your social media platform of choice. Remember, even if you don’t have time to play a game, you can still participate by posting whatever horror game goodness you want the world to see using the hashtag (I really love it when people share photos of their collections!). For those of you who do plan on participating, let us know what you’ll be playing to get in the Halloween spirit in the comments!

Announcing SRPG September!

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Salutations, September! Now that August and the PlatinumGames Game-Along have come and gone, it’s time to switch gears, grab a pumpkin spice latte, and play some strategy RPGs!

The Ultimate JRPG July 2016 Roundup

8 / 2 / 16

We’ve reached the end of the most successful JRPG July to date! It was wonderful to see everyone’s contributions, so even though I ultimately didn’t have time to do weekly roundups as originally intended, I wanted to make sure to take the time to highlight as many as possible to thank those who participated this year. If you haven’t caught up on week one yet, be sure to check that out before reading on. But for now, I’m going to get right to it, because there’s a lot to cover in this post!

JRPG July 2016: Week One Roundup

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I can’t believe how many participants there’ve been in JRPG July so far this year! As such, I thought it would be the perfect time to bring back my weekly roundup posts to highlight some of the games people have been playing, as well as the various podcast/let’s play/blog post contributions we’ve had. It’s still early in the month, so if you’d still like to join in the fun, head over to my original announcement post to get all the details!