Replaying Super Mario RPG: Why Am I Not Having Fun?

Wikipedia

I’ve had a lot of time on my hands lately. Being that I’m between jobs and without a car, I have plenty of time to kill when I’m not filling out job applications. While watching a speedrun of Super Mario RPG on YouTube one day, I thought to myself “Why don’t I just play it instead of just watching someone?” Not owning a physical copy anymore (thanks to childhood thievery), I fired up the ol’ emulator and set to work recovering the Seven Stars once again.

My history with Super Mario RPG goes way back to 1996, the year the game was released. I was only 9 years old. I was visiting my mom in California that summer. I read in an issue of Nintendo Power about this new Mario game I had never heard of, Super Mario RPG. I was blown away. I had no idea this game existed and it looked WAY different from any Mario game I was familiar with. I also didn’t know what”RPG” stood for. When my mom asked me what “RPG” was, I responded “I don’t know, but it’s Mario, so it has to be good!”

We went on a veritable tour of Los Angeles while I was there, getting to see the sights and theme parks, and other points of interest. Unbeknownst to me, a trip to Chinatown would introduce me to this wondrous new Mario adventure. Taking in the scenery while in the famed area of town, my mom approaches me holding a bag. “Hope I got the right one!” she says. I open the bag and there it is, Super Mario RPG. The game I only found out about mere days before in my hands. Unfortunately, I had not brought my Super Nintendo to California with me, so it would be nearly 2 weeks before I would set off what would be nearly 18 years of endless replaying and wondering why a proper sequel was never made.

Fast forward to about a week ago. I find myself mindlessly grinding through the game, nary a smile gracing my face. Since I rarely engage in marathon gaming sessions, it takes me a few days to make it to Nimbus Land, home town of one-off sidekick, Mallow. This area is roughly ¾ of the way through the game. This is where I stopped. I couldn’t continue. I wasn’t having fun anymore.

I was initially confused when I came to the realization that I wasn’t having fun. But I thought back to when I first started this current playthrough and realized I wasn’t having fun from the get go. What could possibly be the reasoning behind this? Had I become jaded by the complexities of modern gaming? I don’t think so. I enjoy retro gaming just the same, if not more than modern day gaming. I had thought about this over the past few days as I prepared to write this. I settled on a couple reasons why I was no longer having fun with Super Mario RPG.

Super Mario RPG is no longer challenging for me. This may come with the territory of playing a game on a semi-consistent basis for the better part of 18 years, but I don’t think is the sole reason. I play Super Mario Bros. on the NES way more consistently and have done so for much longer than 18 years. Yet I still feel Super Mario Bros is a much more challenging game, especially if I play through the entire game, not using warps. This is not meant to be a knock on Super Mario RPG. The game was not designed to be a hardcore RPG like Final Fantasy or Chrono Trigger. The game was meant to be a sort of introduction to RPG for players like 9-year-old me who had likely never played, or in my case, heard of an RPG before. I made it to Nimbus Land dying exactly once. I don’t mean entire party. I mean one party member and it was because of an instant KO move I failed to block. I did intentionally game over once, but it was to exploit a known invincibility star trick. This brings me to my next point: I’ve seen all the game has to offer.

Over the course of the years I’ve picked up on many tricks. Whether it was through reading the Official Nintendo Strategy Guide and memorizing enemy weaknesses and total hit points or finding about exploitable tricks like the aforementioned invincibility star trick through the Internet, I have run out of things to explore in this game. I haven’t “100 percented” the game, though. I haven’t collected every single item or found every hidden block on a single playthrough, but it’s not something the game keeps track of anyway, so viewing progress on that would be difficult. It’s also something I don’t have interest in doing. So with that said, there are outside challenges that some may create to add a layer of challenge to the game that aren’t presented in the forefront.

I have absolutely no interest in speedrunning this game. Like I mentioned before, I’m not a marathon gamer. Unless a game truly sucks me in, I usually take a break after an hour or so. The top speedruns on this game clock in at ~3 hours. I really don’t have much of an interest in speedrunning games in general. I enjoy watching them. But outside of seeing how fast I can beat Super Mario Bros., which is only a 10-minutes or less commitment, I don’t like speedrunning games.

There are only so many ways you can play Super Mario RPG. Using a different combination of party members, making different choices when choosing level-up bonuses, and utilizing different equipment, were just some of the ways I tried to jazz up my latest playthrough. But ultimately, it fell short for me. There’s just not a lot of variation you can create when playing through again. Maybe I’m not imaginative enough, I don’t know. I think this may be the biggest problem I have for why I wasn’t having fun. Aside from nostalgia purposes, Super Mario RPG does not have a lot of replay value, for me at least. It hurts me to say that as a gamer that loves the feeling of nostalgia while playing Super Mario Bros. 3 every now and then. Super Mario RPG doesn’t give you a real good reason to jump back into the game for another adventure. There is no New Game+ mode like Chrono Trigger (also developed by Square), and there is nothing that unlocks after beating the game. For the average player, replaying the game entails nothing more than doing it again.

In a weird way I feel kind of guilty for feeling the way I feel now about Super Mario RPG. I don’t think it’s a bad game. In fact, I feel just the opposite. Super Mario RPG is an absolutely fantastic game! I implore anyone that has not played it to give it a look. It’s not as deep in story and features as some other Super Nintendo RPGs, but it’s a unique game and experience in the Super Mario universe, one that hasn’t been replicated by “spiritual successors” like the Mario & Luigi games or the Paper Mario games. For me, the shiny veneer of nostalgia has washed off. It’s not a good feeling. I hope I don’t continue replaying old games only to realize it’s not as good as it once was. I still have very positive memories of Super Mario RPG to hold on to, whether it was through gameplay, or even when I first got the game at 9-years old. In a trip to California that included visits to Disneyland, Universal Studios, a giant water park, and a dip in the Pacific Ocean, I hold receiving Super Mario RPG that day in Chinatown in just as high regard as those other events.

I think it takes a lot for someone to admit when they no longer get the “warm-n-fuzzies” from engaging in a favorite childhood activity. Especially for me when it comes to Mario. This doesn’t mean I like retro gaming any less. I feel that possibly, as I get older and my tastes continue to change, that I’m starting to weed out what I actually still like and what I only think I feel nostalgic about because I continue to look at it through rose-colored glasses. I challenge anyone that reads this: if there is a game you enjoyed in your more youthful days, and you haven’t played it for a while, go ahead and fire it up and see if you still feel the same about it afterwards. This experience has made me realize I can’t be afraid to lose nostalgic feelings about a certain game. The Super Mario franchise is my hands-down #1 favorite, and realizing Super Mario RPG wasn’t fun for me anymore hurt, but I learned a lot about myself through this, and writing this and sharing it with the world is kind of cathartic in a way. Just before I finished typing this up, I redeemed some coins on Club Nintendo for a free download of NES Kirby’s Adventure on the 3DS. I’m going to be very interested to see from here on out if other retro games hold up with the memories I have of them.

(All screenshots used are from GameFAQs.com)

5DG Mobile #5- Disco Zoo

source: touchtapplay.com

OS: Android (also available on iOS)

Price: Free (supported by in-app purchases, unobtrusive ads)

I’ve always loved going to the zoo. The opportunity to see animals other than squirrels or my roommate’s cat has always been one I’ve jumped on. I’ve already been to my local zoo twice this year with several more trips planned. But sadly, these two trips were my first zoo trip of any kind in 3 years and my first trip to this zoo in particular in 8 years. I’m making 2014 the year of the zoo. I have plans not only to visit my local zoo several more times, I also have plans to do a sort of zoo road trip. From Grand Rapids (my hometown) to Louisville, Kentucky (where I have family) and any zoo in between.

I’m sure this zoo is “just for children” in the same way the My Little Pony reboot is “just for children.”
(image source: findthebest.com)

Sadly, Disco Zoo is not a zoo that will be on this road trip. In fact, it’s not a real zoo at all. It’s a game! For your phone! That you probably have!

Pictured: Ubiquity
(image source: blackchilled.com)

In Disco Zoo you are tasked with running your own zoo. Congratulations! You are the proud owner of an empty zoo! So what do you do to fill your zoo with Earth’s finest creatures? You go rescue them yourself! There are 8 different regions/climates/eras to search for animals to fill your zoo: Farm, Outback, Savannah, Northern, Polar, Jungle, Jurassic, and Ice Age. Only the Farm is unlocked from the get-go. The others become available after your zoo meets certain size requirements. The animals at your zoo earn you coins, which are then used to fund your rescue expeditions for more animals. Rescues are performed in what, at first, looks like a cross between a match-3 and memory game. Each animal is represented by a pattern of 3 or 4 squares hidden under tiles on a 5×5 grid. Once you uncover all of that animal’s tiles, that animal is added to your zoo. For instance, the pig’s pattern is a 2×2 square, so once you uncover one pig tile, the other tiles are pretty close. You get 10 tries per rescue attempt to uncover as much as you can. Some tiles may contain coins or Discobux, the in-game virtual currency.

Pictured: More ubiquity.

As you add animals to your zoo, they earn you more and more coins per minute. BUT! There’s a catch. Each group of animals has a sleep timer. They’ll only earn you coins if they’re awake. You’ll have to check in on them every once in a while and wake them up so they can continue entertaining your zoo patrons.

An obvious allegory to the drudges of real life.
(image source: telegraph.co.uk)

What exactly, though, makes this a DISCO Zoo? Why the random disco dance parties of course! For a price starting at one Discobux, you can throw a disco party, which turns your whole zoo into Studio 54 (sans alcohol and hard drugs). During the disco party, a disco ball, flashing lights, and music permeate the area. The benefit to you, the owner, is that your animals will generate twice as many coins per minute. 1 Discobux gets you a 1-minute party, 10 Discobux gets you an hour, whereas 50 Discosmackers gets you 8 hours of dancin’ goodness! Also, starting a Disco Party will automatically wake up all your animals! Convenient!

The TOTALLY REAL AND EXISTING Unicorns are moneymakers during dance time.

This game is a load of fun and recommend it for anyone that… well… likes fun? While the Discobux are purchasable with real world money, the opportunity to earn bux in the game is plentiful. The ads pop up super rarely (I see one ad maybe once every two days) and are generally non-obtrusive. Give this app a look and build your majestic dancey zoo today!

Download on Google Play

Download on iTunes App Store

Thanks for reading!

 

Episode 30- Solar Striker

Source: GameFAQs

System: Game Boy

Release Date: February 1990

Rarity: 21%

Price: $3.99

I’ve passed this game up numerous times when shopping around for games to play. For some reason Solar Striker was never very eye-catching to me. I just imagined it as some cruddy space-shooter game that probably sold for $20 brand new upon release. But I recently discovered that Solar Striker was a 1st-party game developed by Nintendo R&D1. What other classically legendary games was Nintendo R&D1 responsible for? Go ahead and take a look at the Wikipedia page for Nintendo R&D1 and see for yourself. There’s too many to list here.

They also developed and created the Game Boy itself. Whoa. (Image source: giantbomb.com)

Learning that, I had high hopes for this game. This was the only shooter of its kind developed in-house by Nintendo, so I was excited to experience their one-and-only take on a classic genre. I hoped to find out if there was a reason Nintendo never made another game like this. Was it was so great that no follow-up could ever top it? Or was it so bad it was doomed to live in the obscurity that I rescued it from. Well… this is Nintendo we’re talking about here. If it was good, they WOULD have made a sequel to it. My hopes have slightly diminished.

Seeing “Nintendo” next to that copyright date gives me the warm ‘n’ fuzzies.

As soon as the start button is pressed, the game begins. No backstory to learn, no opening cutscene, nothing. This was the (almost) 80’s! That’s what the instruction manuals are for!

30 seconds of reading and some imagination in 1990. 15 minutes of opening cutscenes in 2014. (image source: eBay)

The game plays like your everyday basic vertically-scrolling shooter. Both A and B fire your lasers and the control pad moves your ship up/down/left/right. Nothing complicated here. That said, that’s the only real issue with this game. It’s not very complicated. It’s a very simple game. Scroll up, shoot enemy ships, and rack up points. That’s what games in this era were all about! Forget the backstory! Let me blow stuff up! I’m like a kid playing Grand Theft Auto for the first time! Pew, pew, pew!

Don’t forget getting that double laser. Double lasers rule!

Verdict: HIGH FIVE

It helps that, despite its simplicity, it does what it does well. The controls are great, the framerate and speed are good, and even the music is fun. Just like Mole Mania, this game is an overlooked gem in the 1st party Nintendo library. I think for $3.99, this is the maximum you should pay for this game. It’s relatively common and there’s not a whole lot to it, but it’s amazing nonetheless.

Not all things that are simple are bad. (image source: quickmeme)

Thanks for reading! Twitter and Facebook links on the left side!

Episode 29- Motocross Maniacs

Source: GameFAQs

System: Game Boy

Release Date: January 1990

Rarity: 25%

Price: $0.99

One of my earliest gaming memories involves playing Excitebike on the NES. My friends and I would use the edit mode to create the wackiest tracks we could to see if we could out do each other. It all came to a head when one of us (probably me) made a course of nothing but large hills. They take forever to get up if you don’t have enough speed. Of course as close as these hills were put together, building speed was impossible. This led to a course of nothing but grass patches and the eventual demise of Excitebike in our NES gaming rotation.

It wasn’t exciting anymore.  (Source: Wikipedia)

I bring up Excitebike because it seems quite the inspiration for Motocross Maniacs. This game was published by Ultra Games, a subsidiary of Konami, created to skirt Nintendo’s early limits imposed on 3rd party developers as to how many games they can release per year on Nintendo systems. Those crafty bastards.

Like Excitebike, Motocross Maniacs is a side-scrolling dirt bike racing game in which you race against the clock to finish the course. The controls are similar. A to go, B for a nitro boost, left and right tilts your bike on jumps. There is also a mode that adds in a computer controlled opponent. Unlike Excitebike’s drones, you are actually competing against him instead of dodging what are essentially moving obstacles.  The courses are actually pretty challenging, even early on. Not only do you have jumps and hills to contend with, but also loop-de-loops. This adds a really neat dynamic to the game. Some of these loop-de-loops require skillful timing to get on to. Your nitro boosts are limited (rather than Excitebike’s turbo button) and are often required to hit these loops. In fact, nitros are required to make pretty much any jump.

This jump is impossible to make without nitro.

This issue left me frustrated as hell. The game’s 4th course (as pictured above) is all about jumps requiring nitro boosts. Problem is, if you run out, you get stuck. I often had to restart the game or wait for the timer to run out so I could try again. I was getting frustrated with the game until I realized something. There is a strategy at work here. Some jumps you have to use nitro on to complete… but you don’t have to complete all jumps. There are multiple paths through the course. The trick is finding a path that works best for your nitro conservation strategy. This added another cool layer to the game that I hadn’t noticed right away (courses 1-3 allow for liberal use of nitro boosts). Only problem is, as of writing this, I still haven’t found out that strategy and am stuck on course 4. I haven’t given up hope yet.

Verdict: HIGH FIVE

And it’s because I don’t want to give up that I’m scoring this game as a high-five. I’m actually compelled to try to figure out how to tackle this course. It’s frustrating in a good way. I love when a game can challenge me not because of frustrating level design or poor gameplay, but because I haven’t properly formulated a strategy to beat it.  I feel like I’ve definitely got my dollar’s worth out of this game.

Twitter and Facebook links on the left side!

Thanks for reading!

5DG Plugs Your Stuff #1: Bionic Commando/Game Show Garbage

So… this is something new I decided to do. I put it out on blast on my personal Facebook page that if any of my friends wanted to plug something on my blog, all they had to do was recommend me a game to play! It inspires me to write and they get some free advertisement! Win/win I’d say! These articles will not be a straight review style. The format will be a bit more lax and conversational (i.e. not ripped off from Cracked).

Well. It was win/win, until I actually started playing Bionic Commando. I lost. A lot. Bionic Commando was suggested by Robert Seidelman, who founded Game Show Garbage (link at end of article), showcasing the absolute worst in game show history. It’s a fun read for anyone who likes “worst of…” things and game shows. But back to Bionic Commando. I’ve only played this game briefly in the past, so it’s not one of the NES games I grew up on. I flat out stink at this game. Don’t get it twisted though. It’s a fine game. It’s got that Capcom quality. I’m sure with practice I could get better at it. I found the control scheme while unique, took a lot to get used to. The use of the grappling hook… thing… instead of jumping to reach higher places was my undoing. I can’t tell you how many times I died while dangling helplessly in front of enemy gunfire. I also fell to my doom into a pit of spikes many times because I couldn’t time my hookshots right.

With all that said, my difficulties with the game were no fault of the game itself. It’s not unfair in its difficulty. It’s just a classic NES challenge that takes some time to master. The guy who beat Super Mario Bros. in under 5 minutes didn’t do so his first time playing.

Thanks to Robert Seidelman of Game Show Garbage for recommending this game. Click the banner below to visit the site!

As always, thanks for reading!

Click here to visit my AWESOME Facebook page, yo!

FDG Mobile #4- Doctor Who: Legacy

OS: Android (also available on iOS)

Price: Free (supported by in-app purchases, no ads)

DISREGARD THIS IS THE FIRST ARTICLE IN OVER 4 MONTHS

DISREGARD! DISREGARD!

On January 6th, 2013 I had no idea what Doctor Who was. Two months, the loss of a job, and a Netflix subscription later, I embarked on a journey to watch all of Doctor Who. I marathoned 6 seasons in a week. Nowadays, barring the latest Christmas special, I’m all caught up. So, in my quest to become completely engrossed in the fandom of Doctor Who, I embarked on a mission to find some Doctor Who video game goodness! Surely there was a great Doctor Who game floating around out there!

…

Nothing. That is, until Doctor Who: Legacy was gifted to us from the wonderful people at Tiny Rebel Games and Seed Studio! Doctor Who: Legacy is a match-3 puzzle/RPG game tasking you with building a team of a Doctor of your choosing with up to 6 companions, ranging from the familiar (Amy Pond, River Song) to the… bit more obscure… (the kids Clara babysat).

The literal bottom of the barrel was scrapped early in development.

Each Doctor and character has a color that corresponds to them. Match 3 or more of that color and each character using that color will do damage to your enemies (Daleks, Cybermen, etc). Pink refills health of course. This all plays into the strategy of how you build your team. Do you try to max out one color and do slower, but more damaging, attacks? Or do you vary it up for quicker, but weaker attacks?

On the left: Selecting the team to be sent to their doom.
On the right: The Doctor pulling victory out of his ass again.

In typical RPG fashion, you gain XP to level up your characters, which of course makes them stronger. The cool thing is you can go back and play older episode to level up newer companions you unlock. This is useful if you don’t want to be stuck with the starting set the whole time (which I currently am… because I’m too lazy to go back to level up newer characters… shut up).

The starting set, in mid-attack. They’re all-powerful gods in my game right now.

Bottom line, this isn’t your typical match-3 game. The strategy it takes to succeed here is something you can’t get from Bejeweled or Candy Crush. Phooey on them! If you’re a Doctor Who fan with a smartphone, this is a no-brainer

Google Play

iTunes

Facebook

Twitter

Thanks for reading!

 

 

 

Atomic Punk (formerly Episode #29)

System: Game Boy

Release Date: May 5th, 1991

Rarity: 57%

Price: $0.80

If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter, you may have seen where I decided not to review Atomic Punk for Episode 29. That’s because, after playing it, there’s not much I could say about it. It’s another Bomberman game. Please don’t take this to mean it’s a bad game! I really like Bomberman games, it’s just this one is not all that different from other Bomberman games. The upgrade store seems to be the big difference. Check it out if you’re jonesing for a Bomberman experience on the Game Boy (assuming you’ve already played Wario Blast, my preferred Bomberman Game Boy game).

FDG Mobile #3- What’s the Phrase?!

 

OS: Android (also available on iOS)

Price: Free (supported by in-app purchases, somewhat intrusive ads)

Wheel of Fortune is such a simple game. Spin the wheel, say a letter, get paid. It’s a great concept and so easy, a grade-schooler can grasp the finer points of it!

And they did sometimes!

This is why it was such a no-brainer for Zynga, purveyors of simple, no-brainer games to create their own take on Wheel of Fortune called What’s the Phrase?! (or WTP for short). WTP lets you connect with other random users and compete to be the first to solve a word puzzle. The person with the highest point total after 3 rounds is declared the winner! The puzzles are based in several categories. But these aren’t Pat Sajak’s categories! Some categories have a modern day take on them, like First World Problems, Video Games, and Things That Suck.

Do you think “Internet Memes” is itself a puzzle under “Things That Suck?”

Some categories, like the aforementioned Video Games, are unlockable, using coins. Coins can be earned slowly via gameplay, or being that this is a free-to-play game, purchased straight-up with cold hard cash.

First World Problem puzzle: Wa_ted Re_l Money On _tupid Virtu_l _urren_y.

Of course, if you don’t want to play against the faceless masses of the internet, you can link your Facebook profile, and get embarrassed by that girl you had a crush on in college you haven’t talked to in years because you didn’t know the proper spelling of “The Berenstain Bears” when attempting to solve the puzzle.

 

“How could you not know that ‘S____ _____ ___s’ was ‘Super Mario Bros?’ I am SO glad I didn’t date your dumb ass!”

I do have some complaints about this game, that don’t really have anything to do with the gameplay itself. Namely, the ads. The first two articles I wrote for FDG Mobile featured no ads and very little ads, respectively. This one has ads that not only pop up between rounds and games, but on occasion, will cause the game to lock up (luckily not causing the phone to lock up). I’m not certain if this also happens with the iOS version but some other Android users, according to reviews in the Play Store, seem to be experiencing the same issues.

If you’re willing to take the chance with these ad bugs, then take What’s the Phrase for a spin for your free Wheel of Fortune fix!

G__gle Pla_ St__e 

iT_nes

Fa_eb__k

T_itte_

Tha_k_ f_r Rea_i_g!

Episode 28- Razor Freestyle Scooter

System: Playstation (also available on Game Boy Color/Advance, Nintendo 64, Sega Dreamcast)

Release Date: December 11th, 2000

Rarity: 46%

Price/Location: $0.99/Gaming Warehouse

If you went to middle school in the late 90’s-early 2000’s, you either had or wanted a Razor scooter. It was a genius invention! A scooter with roller blade wheels! Just be the top-selling student during your schools’ magazine subscription or candy bar sales contest and one could be yours!

“Alright, Ladies Home Journal, you’re my key to sweet, scooty goodness!”

So naturally, as with any wildly popular intellectual property, a Razor Scooter video game was commissioned! Yeah! Can’t get a Razor Scooter of your own? Then live vicariously through this game for only one-third of the price (not including price of Playstation system… which combined would have made it way more than an actual Razor, but I digress)!

Our title screen, complete with totally hip and funky abstract art.

Very quickly I realize that this game is nothing more than Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater on a scooter. Choose a level, get your list of objectives, complete as many as you can in 2 minutes, bake at 425 degreees, rinse, repeat, let cool for 5 minutes before serving.

More like Tony Hawk’s Pro SCOOTER?! Amirite? Ugh. Sorry.

But surprisingly, the game isn’t completely terrible. I was very surprised how well the controls function and how smooth it feels… kind of like THPS. The graphics are forgivable because pretty much everything looked like ass in this genre and x-treme sports games aren’t notable for their gorgeous graphics anyway.The soundtrack is… okay. The music seemed slightly hard for a game with such a young intended audience, but the lyrics are clean. The characters are pretty hilarious, because they’re all obviously kids, but they sound like adults, especially when you guide one of them off a building and they yell as they fall to their doom. This happens a lot on one level as the play area is spread over several skyscrapers.

Would not be surprised if she had a smoker’s cough.

Verdict: BARGAIN BIN

Yes, I did say the game was surprisingly un-terrible, but it is still a nearly carbon copy of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater. Maybe if it did something unique to separate itself from the popular franchise, then I would reconsider. But as it is, for the same price, you could just pick up one of the first two Tony Hawk games and have a similar experience. There’s not much else I can say about it really. For now, Razor Freestyle Scooter will have to remain 2nd prize in the school sales contest.

Facebook

Twitter

Thanks for reading!

One Year Anniversary! And Other Stuff!

Completely escaping my mind until logging in just now and seeing the notification, as of May 29th, FiveDollarGamer has been open for blogness for 1 year!

Say whaaaaaaaaaat?!

I may not have posted as much as I wanted to, but I have 54 posts I’m (mostly-ish) proud of. I’ve had some pretty tumultuous times over the past 6-7 months or so that has affected the amount I write. As much as I love writing about my hobby, somethings like a break-up, starting a new relationship, moving (twice), and losing and starting new jobs (I’ve lost count) take precedent over this. Hopefully with things starting to settle down, I can get back into a groove of regular posts… even though I’ve said that several times in the past.

I did want to talk about some of the things going on personally with me over the past 6 months (aka, around the time the post frequency slowed down). I lost a job in February and have been working on and off after that. Seems like my current job will be more stable than the last ones, so hopefully it all plays out. I celebrated my 26th birthday on May 27th. On the same day I turned 26, my dad hit the big 5-0. When I mentioned I was already over halfway to 50, he joked I was catching up to him. Smartass. I met the love of my life a mere week after my last break up in November. She has been an inspiration for me to keep going in life. Along with her and some friends, we started a retro gaming night every Saturday night (also occasionally Friday AND Saturday nights). What was supposed to be a one-off has spawned into a regular occurrence and in the future we hope to start live streaming some of our shenanigans. We have an episode of a podcast recorded, but the ETA on that getting online is unknown at this point.

Stay tuned to fivedollargamer.com and my Facebook and Twitter pages for more articles and hopefully an announcement on when we hope to start streaming!

Here’s to another year! Thanks for all your support!