PixlBit

You may need a master's degree in literature before you play this one.

Have you ever finished a book or a movie and been left trying to puzzle out the meaning of what you just experienced? Likely it was a frustrating feeling, as if you were on the cusp of understanding what the creator of the work was trying to tell you, but you were unable to make the connection in your head. Such was my experience with a little game called Virginia, which left me feeling mentally lacking at the best of times, and needlessly aggravated at the worst of times.

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Revenge never tasted so bland

Hideo Kojima’s Metal Gear series enjoys the distinction of being an icon that still resonates with the majority of the gaming community. Even if you've never played any of them, chances are you've at least heard of it by now. With all of the positive attention that the relatively recent Metal Gear Solid 5 has received, it’s easy to forget about the game that that could have potentially killed the series. And no-- it’s not MGS 2 (although I’ll never forgive it for those protracted conversations between Raiden and his nagging girlfriend). Nope, I'm referring to something much, much worse-- Snake's Revenge.

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We had so much to talk about that we needed a bonus episode!

Welcome to a surprise edition of Nerds Without Pants! After our nearly three-hour kickoff for our new Stage Select feature, we decided to get together for a good old fashioned “all Consumption Junction” episode. Strap in for a couple hours of media consumption!

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Patrick's playing Pokemon Go, and NWP is DOOMed.

Welcome to another exciting episode of Nerds Without Pants! This week, Angelo and Julian kick things off with some photography talk and wax nostalgic about dark rooms. Then it’s straight into Consumption Junction before Patrick joins us and we wrap up with Chrono Crossing. Do join us!

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Feel the need for Silpheed.

When Game Arts released Silpheed on the Sega CD in 1993, the game was frequently compared to Star Fox; the latter usually winning over critics more than the former. Being released within 6 months of Star Fox and featuring a similar visual theme of polygon graphics, Silpheed was sometimes written off as a mere knock-off of Nintendo’s successful three-dimensional shooter. A somewhat misguided conclusion considering that Silpheed was originally released on the PC platform in 1986, pre-dating Star Fox by seven years.  It was also criticized for being too simplistic with its 2D shooter mechanics against the pseudo 3D background. But a deeper look into the gameplay of Silpheed (and some honest hindsight) reveals a game that stands on its own and delivers a fairly unique experience rarely had in home console gaming at that time.

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