Max Payne 1/2 - I end up replaying these every few years. Every time I think I would love a remake of these I realize if the graphics or presentation was changed it would lose its charm. God I love those games.
I wish I liked the Switch more. I don't like playing in portable mode and don't have a lifestyle where I need portable games. Any multiplatform game/port/indie etc.. I play on PC or a different console. So it's a Nintendo game machine for me. And as much as I want to fall in love with BOTW and Odyssey as much others have it hasn't happened. I think they are solid games but they haven't connected with me in ways games of the past have (OoT and Mario 64 for example are still far and away my favorites respectively). Animal Crossing didn't grab me like the original GameCube game. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is objectively the best Mario Kart game but it's not my favorite and maybe kart racers just don't appeal to me anymore in general.
I guess I'm realizing this generation of Nintendo games is not connecting with me and it makes me bummed. I'm older now. I have kids. I'm sure if I was 10, BOTW would have hit me differently like OoT did. But geez I hope this is a fluke and future Nintendo games will hit me differently. Maybe that will happen when my kids are older and able to play. I wanna chase that Nintendo high of my youth but Switch didn't do it for me.
I listened to some of the interviews and I'm optimistic that Blizzard learned from the W3:Reforged debacle. It's the same engine underneath so you can play the entire game and multiplayerwith the old graphics if you want I believe. The game is also playable offline like the original. As somebody who played a ton of Diablo 1 and not much Diablo 2, but had tons of friends pour their lives into that game I'm stoked to play it.
Wow, my mind was just blown with how many games that fall on my tentative "all time favorite" games list that were released in 2001.
Halo: CE - This is a top 5, maybe top 3, all time game for me
Tony Hawk 3 - I can never decide if I like this or THPS2 better, though THPS3 is objectively the better game
SSX Tricky - Still waiting for a reboot of SSX where they get back to being over the top goofy, the last remake was a bummer
Max Payne - I played this game a year ago again and it still holds up. Love this game so much.
A game that probably doesn't make my top 10 but likely a top 20 contender:
Super Smash Bros: Melee - I had fun with this game when I got a gamecube in 2002 but it was many years later in college having tournaments in my dorm that this game became one of my favorites
Those 5 games probably make 2001 the best year of games for me personally. Thinking back - 2001 was a year I was in middle-school, I got an Xbox at launch, had my own gaming PC in my room from hand-me-down parts from my dad, and was still playing Dreamcast games before its demise. Dam, that was a good year all around.
I also love the written content. But I think they've talked about it on the pod before - the time for the payoff/user engagement just isn't there for the writing vs doing videos so it doesn't make as much sense.
I think I'm realizing I actually want more blog-like writing than written reviews. Like I wanna see articles about what old games Jeff is playing and his historical relationship to them, or what Brad and Jeff are doing with the Mister, or what Vinny is collecting, or anything that Alex is thinking, or what books Rorie is reading.... I think I just like the personal stuff. For some reason my mind just went to the old days of Gamespot in the early 2000's when the editors would do a MTV cribs showing their homes or when Alex did his surreal take on the Robocop game. As I write this I'm realizing maybe I want less serious but goofy shit. :)
I always love listening to the GOTY podcasts, but I gotta say, after reading the guest and especially the staff list articles it made me realize how much I miss some of the written content that's been absent on this site. I know it doesn't do the numbers from a business standpoint, but man do I need more writing from Alex, Brad, Jeff etc.. in my life. I really appreciated when the articles covered more personal topics.
Oh boy, I don't use PTO for release days but I definitely use PTO days dedicated to binge playing a game. I'll wait until the game is stable and have it downloaded and ready to go and then do it. I will typically get a ton of junk food, caffeinated beverages, Dominos etc.. and indulge myself for that day. It makes me feel like a kid and I love it and honestly you could consider it a mental health day. It's all about personal context though - I'm in my 30s with a job that gives generous PTO, I have 2 little kids which means I can never play video games for more than an hour at a time even on weekends, I don't travel because my kids are too young to make travel worth it etc. So being able to have a whole day to play a video game is a real treat for me.
I can definitely see people that have lots of time during the evenings and weekends not using PTO to do that...at that point all you're gaining is being able to play during the peak hype cycle release window.
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