PixlBit

So yeah, 1998 was a big year because of Zelda: Orcarina of Time.  But it was also a turning point for me at The Dallas Morning News.  At E3 1998, Nintendo was showing off a new game and the catch slogan for it was "Catch 'em if you can!" but it later got changed to "Gotta Catch 'Em All!"  Yup, Pokemon was released in the US that year.  At E3 I saw how they were going to market it in the US and I knew it would be big.  So when I got home I told my editor I wanted to cover everything Pokemon when it came out.  He was like, "Yeah sure, whatever."  But he kept his word and for a couple of years after that, I was writng all sorts of Pokemon articles and game reviews when it first got super popular.  I like to say that Pokemon helped pay my way through college!  I was certainly writing a whole lot more articles for the newspaper after that.

I remember seeing this game in every arcade I went to for a while, so it must've been pretty popular.  I wasn't into Donkey Kong style games as much so I never really got into this one.  There was just another game with mazes, ghosts, and dots that held my attention more.

The games I remember playing on my friend's C64 were Ghostbusters, Ikari Warriors, Marble Madness, and Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders.

You know what's funny is that I remember playing Ghostbusters at a friend's house on his C64, too!

Did you know that the Ghostbusters game you're referring to was made by David Crane, the same guy who made Pitfall and A Boy and His Blob?  I've met David Crane in person twice!  Once at E3 and once at the National Videogame Museum.  Unfortunately, Ghostbusters isn't one of David Crane's better games.

Oh wow, I got pretty behind in the Ratchet and Clank games!  I played all the ones on PS2 except Deadlocked, but I didn't play much of the PS3 ones.  I just didn't play the PS3 as much.  Did you ever see the Ratchet and Clank movie?

Well you're not wrong.  Kirby final bosses can get pretty dark.  That's why I didn't put Klonoa on my list of feel good games for you, because while the game looks colorful and cutesy, it has one of the SADDEST endings I've ever see in a video game!

Yeah isn't that crazy?  If you want to read more about the Mr. Driller/Dig Dug connection, be sure to read my new blog I'll be posting tomorrow morning.

Galaga '88 is a heck of a lot of fun.  Did you not see it in arcades back then?  I saw it a lot.

My brother Jeff loves Ace Combat games.  I bought him Ace Combat 7 when it was on sale for 30 bucks a while back.  A lot of the pilot call signs in the games make reference to classic Namco titles.  And one of the characters in one of the Ace Combat games is the Ridge Racer lady's sister.  And depending on who you ask, Ace Combat takes place on the same timeline as Galaga, Dig Dug, and Mr. Driller!  Look up Namco USGF timeline and see what you can find!  It's crazy!

I got the Crash Team Racing remake for Christmas.  The graphics are amazing.  It's crazy how far we've come.

I think pretty much any game I play is a good mood happy game.  So just think about what I would play.  But some examples I can think of are Animal Crossing, classic arcade games, Katamari Damacy, Mr. Driller, Kirby, Loco Roco, and so on.

Yeah for simple games, I don't remember playing for very long as a kid.  We'd play for a little while and then do something else.