PixlBit

I tried my N64 on my newer TV over at Mark's place, and it wouldn't come up. The TV couldn't connect to it for some strange reason. I've connected my PS2 and Gamecube with the same type of RGB plug, and they worked. I don't get it. But my N64 does work on my older flat screen TV at home. That makes no sense. Well, what can I do but play on my other systems while I think of a solution. 

I had some trouble with my N64 at the beginning of the day, but I just fixed the problem this evening, so I'll be starting Monday with that. The AV cable wasn't transmitting a signal it seems. I swapped out the cable and it worked. Thankfully it wasn't something internal. This is the N64 I had way back in the 90s. It's still working fine. 

I took the day off work today (Saturday) in order to be at my mom's birthday dinner, so I spent the afternoon with a few games. First was Microsoft Pinball Arcade for Game Boy Color, played on my Gamecube Game Boy Player, and then Destiny on Xbox 360. 

The National Video Game Museum in Frisco, Texas just opened, and Cary here at Pixbit did two articles on it with pictures galore of all the interactive exhibits, celebrities, and cosplayers. Check it out on Gamerdad.com here (http://www.gamerdad.com/blog/2016/04/07/the-national-videogame-museum-opens-in-frisco-tx-part-1/ ). There are two parts so click the link there for that as well. You'll be glad you did. The museum has an arcade, great murals and displays, and video game memoribilia of every type. I don't know how they got all that stuff in there. The place must be huge! Also, if you go, Cary might be working there.

I had a little adventure today. I went to my local retro VG shop, Jay Street Video Games, to get a Gamecube memory card. I traded in the backlog games I played over the last few weeks and got just enough to cover the new and overpriced $14 card. Then, as I was going home, I was reminded by a Wii icon on the back of the package just where I put my old memory card. I had used my Wii as a Gamecube recently and stowed the memory card with it. I checked to be sure first, and then went back to Jay Street, returned the new one, and got Persona 4 Golden for Vita instead. Picture of that and more below:

I started today with a backlog game, Super Mario Land for Game Boy played on my TV via the Gamecube's Game Boy Player. Handheld games sure look nice on the big screen. Well, I'm not much of a platformer fan. My favorite was Donkey Kong Country and maybe Klonoa and that's about it for platformers I've played for more than an hour at a time. I played some of Super Mario Land and it occured to me this is like the best game for a kid. Remember being on the playground and trying to see if you could climb to the top of the jungle gym? Kids are always trying to test what they can do in the world. Super Mario Land is just that. You run, you jump and you see what you can do. So, I admire the game but I dislike repeating the same levels over and over. I did notice that I seem to have lost my memory card for my Gamecube. I wonder where that went, but I'll have to get another one pronto. 

Pulled another backlog game out today, this time for PS2, Castle Shikigami 2. This is a vertically scrolling bullet-hell shooter with anime characters and story. It consists of pretty short levels ending with a boss. I found the controls to be adequate, but I'd love a joystick for this. I just don't feel in control on a thumb stick or d-pad with this kind of game. It looked nice though and the dialog was pretty funny. Here's some gameplay footage:

I picked up this Skylander, Fling Kong, after ordering it to a Gamestop near me. I have only four core Skylanders left. I'm in no rush though. Here's a pic:

Played through this PS1 collection of Namco games. Here's the list:

Broke out my PS2 today and played a little All Star Slammin' D-Ball. This is a PS1 game. It's like volleyball but with no net. Two teams wing a ball at each other until one side eliminates all the players on the other side. There's four players a side in the in-bounds area and then three more players just out of bounds. That's a little more interesting than the way I played it at summer camp one year where the two sides just stood in a line across from one another and threw the ball at each other way too hard. Here's some gameplay footage: