I was going to do a title like "TRPGs for Video Gamers", except that title is confusing and redundant, as I'm not defining what TRPGs are, and the term "gamer" was coined when RPGs and hobby board games started expanding the group of people that would be defined as "people who play games as a hobby" out of realm of miniatures wargames into a boatload of other stuff.

Anyway, I've been putting a lot of thought into what tabletop RPGs I'd recommend to people who don't already play them, but do enjoy playing video games - and not just computer & console RPGs either. So, I've put together a list of about 6 games and concepts that I'd recommend to people who play particular video games. This is not the only 6 I'd recommend - I figure I'd keep it simple for now, and I could do another list later if I get more discussion. Oh, and I did the list as a video, in the hopes of making it slightly more interesting.

However, after I made the video, I discovered there are a few things I forgot to bring up in the video that I'd like to bring up here.

On Game Journalism and Tabletop RPGs

In retrospect I'm a little harsh on video games journalists for being ignorant on Tabletop RPGs in my video. By all accounts, with the schedule that this line of work requires, it's likely on nigh-impossible to find the time to play tabletop RPGs, assuming that sitting down around a table to play a tabletop RPG is someone's cup of tea in the first place. The Bomb Crew in particular does an excellent job in everything that they do here on the site and far be it from me to tell them how to do their job. If it came across like that I was saying that, I apologize. That was not my intent.

On Runequest & The Elder Scrolls

One of the things I forgot to mention in the video is in Mongoose's Runequest 1 (or MRQ1 for the sake of brevity), one of the game mechanics in the game is that in one of the styles of magic you power your spells by finding magical runes and attuning your character to them. If you've played Skyrim, that should sound familiar. This mechanic was only used in MRQ1, so if you pick up a more recent version of the game, it won't be there. I'd recommend probably keeping that in mind if you want to play a tabletop game set in the world of The Elder Scrolls, and want to replicate Dragon Shouts in game.

On Deus Ex/Syndicate & R. Talsorian Games' Cyberpunk

I forgot to mention that R. Talsorian Games is working on a new edition of Cyberpunk which is slated to come out around the same time as the new video game. I also found out that Cyberpunk 2.0.2.0, the second edition of the game (which doesn't have the Doll "art") and which was my first choice to recommend actually is available as a PDF on DriveThruRPG. Consequently, I've added that game to the Big Link List Of Doom which I am putting at the bottom of the post with links to all the games I discussed in the video (as it would be rude of me to recommend a game and not tell you where to find it).

Also, if you have your own recommendations for tabletop games related to what video games people like, I'd love to hear those - or just in general, tabletop RPGs you'd like to recommend - I'm always interested in trying something new.

The big list of doom can be found behind the spoiler block.

• Tactics Ogre Let's Play - Biggy's Let's Plays

• Skyrim Gameplay - VintageBeef

• Guilty Gear Gameplay - Brad Ry

• Amnesia Gameplay - JohnnyKnodoff

EDIT: Also, putting the list behind spoiler tags didn't work nearly as well as I intended. Bummer.

Rather then just daily flooding my blog with posts about my Let's Play, I'm posting an embed of the YouTube Playlist I'm putting the videos on. Any comments on the videos can be done here.

Future installments will be on this playlist at about one per day. Please let me know what you think of the Let's Play, and anything that you think I can do to improve!

Note: Currently I've uploaded through episode 10, though episodes 7 through 10 aren't unlocked yet. Episode 7 will unlock at 5:30 today (6/5/2013), and each episode will unlock at the same time on following days.

I've decided to try my hand at doing a Let's Play again, with a Let's Play of Halo 4. Parts 1 & 2 went up earlier this week.

Part 1:

and Part 2:

There will be an audio difference between Parts 1 & 2, as I was, well, using my webcam mike for Part 1 instead of my condenser mike. Also, there will be a little detachment from the audio and the gameplay as I'm recording my audio on a different device than my PVR.

Any feedback you can offer on how I can improve, voice-over wise, would be appreciated. I'm also going in cold, so please avoid spoilers if possible. Thanks!

This week we come to the conclusion of the Best of the Rest for 1988-1989, with the last 10 titles on the list.

Opening Music: 'Super Buck II' by Estradasphere - http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR00577/

Closing Music: 'Of Whips and Strings' by Super Guitar Bros. - http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR02480/

Notes: Yeah, I kind of messed up with my spreadsheet, causing me to put a game on the list twice, leading to only 10 games this episode, instead of 11. I'm planning on converting all my data on the Nintendo Power Top 30 over to a database, so I can avoid similar screw-ups in the future.

In this episode of the Nintendo Power Retrospectives, we continue our way through the Best of the Rest, with two movie licensed games, two puzzle platformers, and two shoot-em-ups.

Opening Music: 'Super Buck II' by Estradasphere

Closing Music: 'Mounted-Machine Gun Funk' by Beatdrop

This week I'm finally getting back to reviewing a more current video game - Vanquish, a joint by Shinji Mikami and developed by Platinum Games. That's a good pedigree for Gameplay, but how is it for story?

Excerpt from the William Tell Overture

Performed by Kevin MacCloud

http://www.incompitech.com

Released under Creative Commons license.

Notes: I'd originally intended to attach this video to the game as a review, but unfortunately, with the new site, that isn't an option. If this was done as a review, I'd give the game 3 stars.

This week in the Nintendo Power Retrospectives, I start with the "Best of the Rest" of Nintendo Power's first year, reviewing the first 11 titles (out of 33) that made the Top 30 but weren't featured in Nintendo Power proper.

There will be 2 more parts after this one.

Titles reviewed this Episode:

• Ring King
• Section Z
• Mario Bros.
• Side Pocket
• Ghosts & Goblins
• Spy Hunter
• Rush 'n Attack
• Pinball
• Zanac
• Kung Fu
• Baseball

This week I've come to the end of Nintendo Power's first year, and boy is this issue weak on games to review, with only four titles. On the bright side, one of those is a classic from Capcom. We also have the results of the first annual Nintendo Power Awards.

Opening Music: 'Jazz Plumber Trio' - Remixed by DJPretzel - http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR00055/

Closing Remix: 'Air Shooter' - Remixed by Joshua Morse - http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR02208/

The plan for the next 3 episodes will be to take 11 games at a time, starting from the lowest point totaled title on the list, and moving up. The third of these bonus episodes will also give a run-down of the top 10 titles of Nintendo Power's first year. The plan is to do something similar at the end of each "magazine year", with a rundown of any titles which hit the top 30 but weren't recapped in the magazine, a rundown of the top 10 titles on the top 30 as of that year, and the top 10 titles overall. Obviously, as this is the first year of Nintendo Power, the overall and year-end lists will be the same.

This week we come to the second to last issue of Nintendo Power's first year, featuring another classic title in Ninja Gaiden, and two classicly bad titles in The Adventures of Bayou Billy and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, along with an underrated gem.

Opening Music: 'Jazz Plumber Trio' - Remixed by DJPretzel

Closing Music: 'Eyes Behind The Mask' - Performed by VikingGuitar.

Spoony's Review of The Adventures Of Bayou Billy.

AVGN's Review of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

GameCenter CX - Ninja Gaiden.

GameCenter CX - Hudson's Adventure Island.

Additional notes: Seriously, I'd love to see your picks for the winners in the first Nintendo Power awards in the comments.

This week I continue with the Nintendo Power Retrospectives with part 10, covering issue #4 of Nintendo Power - including looks at Zelda II: the Adventure of Link, and a while bunch of NES Football games. Oh, and Metal Gear?!

Links Referenced

The Angry Video Game Nerd's review of Friday the 13th.

The Angry Video Game Nerd's review of Doctor Jekyll & Mister Hyde.

Opening Music: 'Jazz Plumber Trio' - Remixed by DJPretzel.

Closing Music: 'Snake Infiltrates' - Remixed by Beckett007.

Other Notes

In Skate or Die, there really isn't a reason to change the controls from the downhill race to the ones used in the downhill jam nearly as much as they did. All they really needed to get rid of was the "attack the other racer" command and use those inputs for something else. If that game hadn't had that little bit of control confusion, it probably would have been my multiplayer pick.