I am astounded by how productive I was in October.

This Blog:

OK, so this is a bad example to start with. But in my defense, I have four posts in draft right now, and I swear I worked on at least two of them.

- Retrospective: September 2015

GameCola:

GREAT GOOGLY MOOGLY! So here's where all my blogging time went.

Columns:
-Featured Game Soundtrack: Scurge: Hive
-The Lost Art of Good Game Design: Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings
-Q&AmeCola: Games Ruined by a Game Mechanic

Podcats:
-Hacks’n'Slash #9: The END DAY: A Tale of Love
-GC Podcast #89: When Jeddy’s Away the Cats Will Play

Videos:
-GC Podcasts #24-26 on YouTube: Mike Ridgaway Gives 2010 Pink Cowboys a Brain Aneurysm
-GC Podcasts #27-29 on YouTube: Jeddy’s First Slumber Party Among Men
- GC Podcasts #30-31 on YouTube: Don’t Age, Metroid

YouTube:

I don't think I've ever had this many videos to share in such a short span of time. Livestreaming on Twitch has proven to be a great morale boost, an opportunity to get my social fix, and a source of near-effortless new video content. Getting to watch my fellow GameCola staff members continue to try out my Super Mario World ROM hack is a hoot, and I'm nearly caught up on old podcasts being ported to YouTube—and am finally getting to some of the new ones! And, HOOORAAAAY, my Mega Man 7 recording project is officially done after, like, a billion years! Well, I technically have one bonus video left to produce, but that one's a bit of a secret, and should be much easier than any of the others...

Flashman85LIVE:
- Deponia (Live Blind Playthrough) - Part 1: Fly Me to the Buffoon
- Deponia (Live Blind Playthrough) - Part 2: Divining for the Fjords
- Deponia (Live Blind Playthrough) - Part 3: The Settings Menu! And Maybe Also Some Gameplay.
- Mega Man Fangame Sampler #3 - Part 1: Super Fighting Robot, Origins
- Mega Man Fangame Sampler #3 - Part 2: SuperDanny Powered Up
- Mega Man Fangame Sampler #4: Eternal, Revenge of the Fallen

GeminiLaser:
- Mega Man 7 - Bloopers, Glitches, Tricks, and Version Differences

GCDotNet:
- Hacks’n'Slash #9: The END DAY: A Tale of Love
- Off-Topic Podcast #2: Giant Squid Scenes
- Super Impossible Mario World - Part 2: We've Got a Sassy Moral Compass

The Backloggery:

I even made great progress through my video game backlog. My wife picked up GameCola Editor-in-Chief Emeritus Paul Franzen's new FMV visual novel, so I couldn't resist taking that for a spin; it's nice to be able to add a new game to the list and finish it in the same evening. Livestreaming Deponia on a regular basis is keeping me from pulling another Longest Journey, though I'm glad I chose to finish up Mega Man: Rock Force on my own time rather than on stream; that last level took way too long to beat. I also tackled two games that have been in my collection awhile, gaining a newfound appreciation for GoldenEye by comparison with TWINE, and wrapping up the Leisure Suit Larry series—at least, as far as I am likely to play, given that Magna Cum Laude and Box Office Bust really don't count, and that I've already got three other iterations of the story Reloaded tells. Lastly, I did some housekeeping, removing things I may never muster the ability or interest to finish (and the LEGO game is open-ended to the point where it probably shouldn't have been on the list in the first place).

New:
- A Stranger Comes Calling  (PC)
 
Started:
- A Stranger Comes Calling  (PC)
- Deponia  (PC)
- LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4  (Wii)
- Leisure Suit Larry: Love for Sail!  (PC)
 
Beat:
- 007: The World Is Not Enough  (N64)
- A Stranger Comes Calling  (PC)
- Leisure Suit Larry: Love for Sail!  (PC)
- Mega Man: Rock Force  (PC)
 
Completed:
- A Stranger Comes Calling  (PC)
- Leisure Suit Larry: Love for Sail!  (PC)
 
Mastered:
- A Stranger Comes Calling  (PC)
 
Removed:
- Conquest of the New World  (PC)
- LEGO Creator  (PC)
- Maniac Mansion  (PC)

Whoo! Great month.

Even I need a break from my own rambling preambles every now and again, so I'll cut to the chase: Here's what I was up to 'round yon Internet in September:

This Blog:

Hey, I wrote something aside from the monthly Retrospective. I count that as a victory.

- Retrospective: August 2015
- Making a Collection Worthy of the Legacy

GameCola:

My goodness. I'm a real staff writer again.

Columns:
- Featured Game Soundtrack: Solstice: The Quest for the Staff of Demnos
-Q&AmeCola: Making A Non-Mainstream Game Mainstream
-The Lost Art of Good Game Design: Mega Man Legacy Collection

Comics:
-Sprite Flicker: Dumber Munchers

Podcasts:
-GC Podcast #88: When this Podcast Hits 88 Miles Per Hour

Videos:
- [NSFW] GC Podcasts #21-23 on YouTube: Zach’s Lost YouTube Grab Bag

YouTube:

Oh boy, was I prolific. Amazing what a little livestreaming and archive diving will do. And let's not overlook my perpetually in-progress Super Mario World ROM hack that went public for the first time in the form of a blind playthrough. For one thing, you get to see me put my money where my mouth is when I critique game design. For another thing, it's a great opportunity to watch how quickly I can get people to say they hate me.

Flashman85LIVE:
- Backloggery Choice #1: Kirby's Adventure, VVVVVV, Space Quest: Vohaul Strikes Back
- Mega Man Fangame Sampler #1: Day in the Limelight 1, Rock Force
- Mega Man Fangame Sampler #2: 2.5D (Beta), Rocks!, Day in the Limelight 2
- Mega Man Legacy Collection Blooper: Wood Man's Revenge

GCDotNet:
- Super Impossible Mario World - Part 1: You're Doing It...Right?
- The GameCola Podcast #36: Boring Gaz Problems
- The GameCola Podcast #37: This Thing Came Apart
- The GameCola Podcast #38: Too Many Podcasters

The Backloggery:

At the end of September, I sat down to play Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings. Expect an upcoming "Lost Art of Good Game Design" column to explain how that went. Although I gave up on the game, I was looking forward to the satisfaction of removing it from my Backloggery with extreme prejudice. Turns out I never put it on there in the first place. Turns out I'm really bad about ensuring my Wii games make it to my Backloggery; following the example of Donkey Kong Country Returns earlier this year, I discovered yet another game I somehow failed to list.

Expanding my collection further was a generous gift from one of my YouTube fans, and one of the fangames I tried out on a livestream was enjoyable enough for me to add it to my list—a rare honor for a fangame, and a welcome surprise for me. I also finished up the Challenge mode of the Mega Man Legacy Collection (continuing to poke at a few of the challenges I knew I could do faster), and I finally freed up the adventure game slot in the rotation of games I'm currently playing. They weren't kidding when they called it The Longest Journey; most adventure games take me a couple days, not a couple months.

New:
- Angry Video Game Nerd Adventures  (Steam)
- LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars  (Wii)
- Mega Man: Rock Force  (PC)
 
Started:
- 007: The World Is Not Enough  (N64)
- Mega Man: Rock Force  (PC)
 
Beat:
- Katamari Damacy  (PS2)
- Mega Man Legacy Collection  (Steam)
- The Longest Journey  (PC)

If only every month could be this busy, I'd be a happy bee! And a busy bee. "Happy bee" sounds silly.

August was exhausting. Exhaugusting, you might even say. The last week in particular was nonstop, characterized by long hours at the office, a household emergency at 4 AM, my first foray into solo video game livecasting, and a busy weekend of traveling that involved more walking and less air conditioning than I've experienced in months. I started a number of writing projects that will take longer than I'd like to finish, and there's a lot of Big Life Stuff up in the air...it's only been a few weeks since I got back from vacation, but I already need another one.

This Blog:

I'm trying to get back into blogging more regularly. This is what that looks like:

- Retrospective: July 2015
- Let's Be Sophisticated

GameCola:

As I continue to spend most of my GameCola time on porting old podcasts to YouTube, my contributions continue to be fluffy.

Columns:
- Q&AmeCola: Favorite Character Customization System

Videos:
- GC Podcasts #7-9 on YouTube: It’s the R-Rated Birthday, GameCola!
- GC Podcasts #10-12 on YouTube: Cap’n Paul’s Big Beard Preview

YouTube:

Fans of my videos know that I'm very, very slow when it comes to producing new video content. Hopefully, that's about to change. Now that I've got a computer setup that works for livestreaming gameplay, I'm trying my hand at a "Let's Play" format that guarantees I won't spend months perfecting my technique and finessing every bit of commentary. My long-dormant Twitch channel is finally becoming active, and I'm uploading my livecasts to a new YouTube channel exclusively for live events.

Flashman85 LIVE:
- Preserved for Posterity: My First Solo Livecast Test
- Mega Man Legacy Collection: Let's See If It's Worth $14.99!

GCDotNet:
- Podcast #31: Metroid; or, Don’t Go Camping with Nathaniel
- Podcast #33: 3D Games
- Podcast #35: It’s Pronounced “Episodic”

The Backloggery:

With my wrist healed to the point where I can play video games again without making funnier faces than usual, I'm back to playing games as my primary mode of relaxation. Or self-frustration, as the case tends to be whenever I play anything for the exposure more than for the fun. I officially dislike the mechanics of TwinBee, and I think I'm too old to appreciate collectathons like Banjo-Kazooie the way I used to, but I still recognize why the game is so well loved. Mega Man 5 was an evening of "comfort gaming" and a way of compensating for spending most of the month crossing one big game off my backlog; it's the Wii Virtual Console release, so it totally counts as a game I haven't played before.

Of course, the latest addition to my collection was what prompted me to get into livestreaming (again); a lot of people were on the fence about the Mega Man Legacy Collection, and though I bought it mostly to encourage Capcom to make more Mega Man, I figured it'd be a good public service (and good publicity!) to give my viewers a tour of the collection. Recognizing that I can only mark Mega Man 5 as Completed so many times on my Backloggery, and because the Achievements and bonus content make the collection so much more than just the six NES games, I decided not to break up the individual gameplay components for my backlog.

New:
- Mega Man Legacy Collection  (Steam)

Started:
- 3D Classics: TwinBee  (VCH)
- Banjo-Kazooie  (N64)
- Mega Man 5  (VC)
- Mega Man Legacy Collection  (Steam)

Beat:
- 3D Classics: TwinBee  (VCH)
- Banjo-Kazooie  (N64)
- Mega Man 5  (VC)

Completed:
- 3D Classics: TwinBee  (VCH)
- Banjo-Kazooie  (N64)
- Mega Man 5  (VC)

I feel almost productive, looking back on all this.

Not a big month for me here on the blogospheretubeternet. Still recovering from a strained wrist (not a sprained wrist, as I'd heard from the first doctor) left me spending more time watching Netflix and less time doing anything whatsoever that requires hands. You wouldn't believe how hard it is to cook dinner with just your eyes. Fortunately, I have laser eyes.

...We should probably get on with the recap. July!

This Blog:

Surprise! The one thing I always manage to write.

- Retrospective: June 2015

GameCola:

When I started my "Lost Art of Good Game Design" column, I intended it to be a quick way to fire off opinions about the ill-constructed games to which I inadvertently keep subjecting myself. July's installment was a doozy—I think my unpopular opinions get stronger when I'm the only one who seems to have them, and I'm verbose enough as it is without any extra encouragement. Not much I can say about my other contributions that hasn't already been said in previous months, which I realize seems to contradict that last statement about my verbosity.

Columns:
- The Lost Art of Good Game Design: Grim Fandango Remastered
- [NSFW] Q&AmeCola: Games That Don’t Deserve to Be as Fun as They Are

Videos:
- [NSFW] GC Podcasts #4-6 on YouTube: Lizo, Can You Feel the Wind?

YouTube:

It usually doesn't take all that long to transfer one of our old GameCola podcasts to YouTube, as I've been doing for the last few months, but this is one of many sections of the archive where I don't appear too often. Fortunately, this is probably one of the best podcasts I've been a part of, so the quality makes up for the lack of quantity. At the very end of the month, the first bonus video for Mega Man 7 started coming together (finally), so expect some brand-new content next time.

GCDotNet:
- Podcast #25: When Cowboys Wore Pink

The Backloggery:

Video gaming is a liability when you're trying to let your wrist heal, so aside from a bit of left-handed adventure gaming and a very short stint with Dragon Age: Origins, I settled for one game where my right hand need only hold down a button the whole time. Also, I was gifted with a game that's been on my "should probably play this because other people talk about it" list for some time, which means I'm not going to like it but will force myself through it anyhow for the cultural value.

New:
- Kingdom Hearts  (PS2)

Started:
- Detana!! TwinBee  (VC)

Beat:
- Detana!! TwinBee  (VC)

Pew! Pew! Laser eyes! Okay, I'm done now.

I'm recovering from a bad wrist sprain that's had me minimizing my computer use (as well as anything else requiring wrists, such as: everything), so I've mostly been watching Iron Chef America and trying to levitate objects with my mind for the last couple weeks. That's why this Retrospective is so late in the month, and why I'll keep it brief. Looking back at June:

This Blog:

Proof that I can write concisely and happily about something. Shocker, I know.

- Retrospective: May 2015
- Worlds Apart

GameCola:

A nice little sampler platter here.

Columns:
- The Lost Art of Good Game Design: Ys Book I & II

Podcasts:
- GC Podcast #85: THE The GameCola Podcast – Part 1
- GC Podcast #85: THE The GameCola Podcast – Part 2

Reviews:
- The Silent Age (PC)

Videos:
- [NSFW] GC Podcasts #1-3 on YouTube: With Apologies to the Mid-February Janish

YouTube:

Still getting caught up on transferring old GameCola podcasts to YouTube, plus a newer one that gets more ridiculous as it goes. I play Nancy Drew.

GCDotNet:
- Podcast #17: Casting Our Own Pods
- Podcast #20: Something New
- Podcast #21: The YouTube Podcast
- Podcast #25: When Cowboys Wore Pink
- Process of Elimination RPGCast – Part 1: Panda-monium
- Process of Elimination RPGCast – Part 2: Save the World With Money

The Backloggery:

Some bad luck with games this month; a number of duds and an unexpected loss of savegame data some 10 hours into the one RPG on the list. The good games made up for it all, though.

New:
-  Neko Land  (Steam)
-  NekoChan Hero - Ninja World 1  (Steam)
-  NekoChan Hero - Ninja World 2  (Steam)
-  Rockman 7  (SNES)

Started:
-  Final Fantasy IX  (PS)
-  Love  (Steam)
-  Radar Mission  (VCH)
-  Rockman 7  (SNES)
-  The Longest Journey  (PC)

Beat:
-  Grim Fandango Remastered  (PC)
-  Love  (Steam)
-  Radar Mission  (VCH)
-  Rockman 7  (SNES)

Completed:
-  Broken Age  (Steam)
-  Grim Fandango Remastered  (PC)
-  Radar Mission  (VCH)
-  Rockman 7  (SNES)

Removed:
-  Neko Land  (Steam)
-  NekoChan Hero - Ninja World 1  (Steam)
-  NekoChan Hero - Ninja World 2  (Steam)

Fingers crossed (on the had that still kinda works) that I'll be back to at least partial verbosity by next time.

I'm still here, I swear! Let me prove it to you. Here's what I was visibly up to online in May:

This Blog:

I seem to have fallen away from blogging. Part of it's that my lunch breaks, which are normally prime writing time, have grown shorter and fewer due to the demands of the new job I've been working for the last couple months. It's also gotten more challenging to use the Weebly post editor in the last year or so; I'm a big fan of em dashes, but the keyboard shortcut to produce one inexplicably kicks me out of the post and loses all my progress since the last autosave. Remembering to copy/paste one of my favorite punctuation marks is a small but obnoxious way to throw off my writing groove, and my e-mail subscriptions are still showing up with the same light text color used on the website and not the dark color I've specified that would make the text legible. I love writing, but conditions are not ideal right now.

- Retrospective: April 2015

GameCola:

...That being said, I still do a fair amount of writing. I'm trying to keep my GameCola participation to transferring old podcasts to YouTube, editing the occasional article (mostly from the archives), and writing short articles that can be hammered out in a day and polished up in less than a week. Participating in podcasts and video commentary, as always, only requires as much effort as it takes to show up. So I've got a lot to show for myself.

Columns:
- The Lost Art of Good Game Design: Lufia: The Legend Returns
- Q&AmeCola: Classic Games Remade for Virtual Reality
- Q&AmeCola: Your Personal Theme Song

Podcasts:
- Process of Elimination RPGCast – Part 2: Save the World with Money

Videos:
- GC Family Game Night Returns!
- [NSFW] Zero Escape: Virtue’s Last Reward Playthrough – Part 3: Everyone Dies, Including the Commentators

YouTube:

Nothing new to report, but some old to report. As previously mentioned, I've been dusting off some ancient GameCola podcasts, and I happened to appear in a couple of them this time around. These are from the days when the podcast format was still in flux, and before I started to hit my stride (which happens in the 20s, so we're close). I'm almost to the point where I'm ready to pick back up with Mega Man 7 bonus video recording; the break has been refreshing, but I'm starting to feel that pull again...

GCDotNet:
- Podcast #12: Cap’n Eric
- Podcast #13: The Unlucky Podcast

Comcastro:

A newcomer to this lineup, Comcastro is a fairly new website with, among other things, podcasts about business, politics, the entertainment industry, and geek stuff. I was invited to participate in an interview about my YouTube work and Mega Man in general, which of course digresses into deceptively erudite absurdity.

- Podcast 38: Gemini Laser – In Depth Retro Nostalgia, Is Mega-Man Allegory for the Russian Revolution?

The Backloggery:

My online gaming backlog has become a hub of social activity, so I've been keeping chatty with my fellow Backlogger...ers. I've also been busy curating my collection. Lots of new additions: My wife gifted me with some games she thought I'd enjoy from a bundle she picked up; I continued my mission to collect any Mega Man games I don't yet own (which I didn't realize was a mission until reviewing my purchases over the last two months); I snagged a review copy of something from GameCola; and I had a bunch of Club Nintendo points burning a virtual hole in my virtual pocket. You might notice a new abbreviation on the list, "VCH"; I think that's short for "Virtual Console Handheld", now available to me on my New 3DS, courtesy of my company's generous employee rewards system. I am officially as modern a gamer as I've ever been.

New:
- 3D Classics: TwinBee  (VCH)
- About Love, Hate and the other ones  (Steam)
- Dustforce  (Steam)
- Hogan's Alley  (SNES)
- Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga  (WiiUVC)
- Mega Man Star Force 2: Zerker × Ninja  (NDS)
- Mega Man Star Force 3: Red Joker  (NDS)
- Mushroom Men: Truffle Trouble  (Steam)
- Radar Mission  (VCH)
- Rise of the Robots  (SNES)
- The Last Tinker: City of Colors  (Steam)
- The Silent Age  (Steam)

Started:
- Grim Fandango Remastered  (PC)
- The Silent Age  (Steam)

Beat:
- N+  (NDS)
- The Silent Age  (Steam)
- Ys Book I & II  (VC)

Completed:
- Mega Man Powered Up  (PSP)
- Mega Man X8  (PS2)
- N+  (NDS)
- The Silent Age  (Steam)
- Ys Book I & II  (VC)

Mastered:
- The Silent Age  (Steam)

This space for rent.

When writing this post, I saved the introduction for last, in the hopes that I'd find inspiration for something worth saying. If anybody finds my inspiration, please let me know.

This Blog:

Last August, I started an initiative to write about each one of the category tags in use on my blog (so, Anime, Politics, Sci-Fi, etc.) in sequence until I had gone through the whole list. By removing the pressure to come up with a topic, I reasoned, I'd be encouraged to write more often. More than half a year later, I'm only up to Movies. I think this will be the last month where I limit myself like that. Fortunately, my lone post this time around (Retrospective notwithstanding, as always) is one I've been meaning to write for some time, getting my positive creativity going again.

- Retrospective: March 2015
- Four Movies I Hope Have Been

GameCola:

I'm on a roll! With the completion of the review below, I've officially stepped away from long-format articles (for the foreseeable future, anyhow), focusing now on video posts and a new column that can be hammered out in a day or two. I agonize too much over word choice and screenshot composition for big articles to be an efficient contribution to the site. I'm still participating in all-staff endeavors, such as the podcasts, which get a maximal impact from a minimal time commitment.

Columns:
- Flash Flood: Games In Which You Have to Burn the Rope
- Q&AmeCola: Outrageous Achievements
- The Lost Art of Good Game Design: Dragon Age: Origins

Podcasts:
- Process of Elimination RPGCast – Part 1: Panda-monium

Reviews:
- Space Quest: Incinerations (PC)

GameFAQs:

GameFAQs is where I got started writing about video games on the Internet, so I like to toss contributions their way whenever I've got something that isn't better suited to GameCola or this blog. I'd already taken screenshots for my GameCola review; why not share them with others?

Screenshots:
- Space Quest: Incinerations (PC)

The Backloggery:

Some people buy ice cream or alcohol to celebrate submitting their tax return. I buy Mega Man games that I've had my eye on for ages. Most of my gaming time at home was spent playing Mega Man X8, and most of my gaming time on the go was spent playing N+; amazingly, I'm not sick of wall-jumping yet, but I might do well to switch to a point-and-click adventure game or something. Provided it's not Lure of the Temptress, which I should have removed from my list after the first time I played it. My wife still likes to satirically reenact the horrendous pathfinding AI by repeatedly bumping into me and everything around me in an effort to get into a designated location where she can talk to me.

New:
- Mega Man Maverick Hunter X  (PSP)
- The Misadventures of Tron Bonne  (PS)

Started:
- Mega Man X8  (PS2)
- N+  (NDS)
- The Misadventures of Tron Bonne  (PS)

Beat:
- Mega Man X8  (PS2)

Removed:
- Lure of the Temptress  (PC)

I'm not anticipating that May will be a big month for things that are covered in these Retrospectives, but it's a comfort to look back and see that things are going steadily.

After a challenging February, where I spent an unusual amount of time watching mindless television to recharge, March was a month where I gradually got back on track with being as productive as I prefer to be.

This Blog:

Not much to show for myself, but not for lack of trying. If you can believe it, I started writing two other posts in March; despite my growing frustration with Weebly over a handful of technical issues that never used to be a problem, I am getting back into the swing of writing here on a semi-regular basis. This whole "write each new post about the next alphabetical item on your category/keyword/tag list" plan is proving to be more of a hindrance than an encouragement to my writing, but I'm stubborn enough to see it through to the end. I'm also clever enough to start writing posts in advance when I feel compelled to blather about something that isn't what's next on the list. Took me long enough to figure that out!

- Retrospective: February 2015
- Speaking Off the Record

GameCola:

I was somehow prolific! Aside from what you see below, I participated in multiple recording projects that are expected to appear in April or May, did my requisite amount of behind-the-scenes work, and cranked out a steady stream of old podcast videos (which aren't listed here because I only assembled the background images for them, but I'm very pleased with how those all turned out).

Columns:
- Q&AmeCola: Favorite Mount or Vehicle

Podcasts:
- Pringles Special Edition AdventureCast – Part 1: An Adventure of Our Own
- Pringles Special Edition AdventureCast – Part 2: Did We Blow It?

Videos:
- GC Podcasts #54-56 on YouTube: The Long One Actually About Gaming Outside the Mainstream
- The A Cappella Stylings of Smooth McGroove

The Backloggery:

A number of gifts and irresistibly cheap purchases expanded my video game library/backlog, and I wasted no time jumping in. In an effort to play through games faster than I get them, I've abandoned going for 100% completion unless I'm not yet ready to put the game down. In the time it would take me to get good enough at Donkey Kong Country Returns to clear both Time Attack and Mirror Mode—replaying stages I've already spent hours scouring for secrets—I could easily play through another game, if not two or three other games, and be rewarded with all new content and far less frustration.

This may not seem like a big deal, as I've been squandering unworthy games' replay value for several years now, but I passed up a perfectly good bonus dungeon in Lufia that I never would have skipped before. The dungeon's difficulty was reasonable, and I was curious to see what lied at the bottom...but the uncreatively randomized dungeons were wearing on me, and I was eager to fight the final boss. After the credits rolled, I was content with the sense of completion I had for simply finishing the game; I didn't go back to tie up that one obvious, dangling thread to earn that Completed badge on my Backloggery. For me, that is a big deal, at least as far as gaming goes.

New:
- Detana!! TwinBee  (VC)
- Final Fantasy IX  (PS)
- Micro Machines  (NES)
- N+  (NDS)
- R-Type  (VC)
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Lightsaber Duels  (Wii)
- Super Scribblenauts  (NDS)
- Ys Book I & II  (VC)

Started:
- Dragon Age: Origins  (Origin)
- Micro Machines  (NES)
- Ys Book I & II  (VC)

Beat:
- Donkey Kong Country Returns  (Wii)
- Lufia: The Legend Returns  (GBC)

Of course, that's to say nothing of marathoning the first season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. with my wife, receiving some neat stuff in the mail (which will surely be the topic of an eventual post), and partying with high school and college friends (which, bear in mind, is "partying" in the "let's assemble Magic decks and carpool to dinner" sense).

Hang on; at what point did it become so not February that I'm looking at it retrospectively? Oh, well. Not a big month in terms of updates—a promotion at work (!) and lots of personal stuff kept me otherwise occupied.

This Blog:

I swear I did start to write a post other than a Retrospective, but I didn't finish in time, so this is all you get.

- Retrospective: January 2015

GameCola:

I swear I did contribute more than a couple paragraphs to somebody else's article, but my article wasn't posted in time, so this is all you get.

- Q&AmeCola: Worst/Most Disappointing Endings

YouTube:

I swear I did spend a good part of the month recording commentary for the long-awaited conclusion to my Mega Man 7 playthrough, but...oh, I finished it. YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY this is still all you get.

GeminiLaser:
- Mega Man 7 - Part 9: Pie, Robot

The Backloggery:

Hey, some progress! The first item isn't actually new, but rather one I somehow overlooked adding to my list of games to play...which accounts for why it's taken me so long to bust it out. I also made a conscious decision to try one of my mystery PC games that I'd never heard of and couldn't remember where it came from, though I have yet to really get into it. Having played and greatly enjoyed Muramasa: The Demon Blade, I was so disappointed in its spiritual predecessor that I removed it from my backlog altogether and gifted it to a friend—as I learned last month, control is absolutely critical, and I couldn't deal with a fast-paced action game starring a hero who hopes to someday be as nimble as Simon Belmont in the original Castlevania. That's on top of the issues I had with pacing, challenge progression, level design, basic game mechanics...not worth it. I was still recovering from sluggish controls and frustrating design after finishing Kirby Super Star, and I'm having a much more enjoyable time with Donkey Kong Country Returns.

New:
Donkey Kong Country Returns  (Wii)

Started:
- Donkey Kong Country Returns  (Wii)
- Galactic Civilizations II: Dread Lords  (PC)
- Odin Sphere  (PS2)

Completed:
- Kirby Super Star  (Wii)

Removed:
- Odin Sphere  (PS2)

Oh, and I added a Twitter widget to the sidebar of this blog, so it looks like there's more activity here than there really is. I might also add that no hats have been eaten since last month.

It's only been a month, but it feels like a very, very long time since I've updated this blog. I've been active in other areas of my online life, and I made the most of having a month at home—my first month without a cross-state road trip in years.

This Blog:

In keeping with the tradition of the last several months, I wanted to continue going down my alphabetical list of post topics when writing each new post. Unfortunately, the next one in line is "Mega Man", and my intention was to write a reflection on the long process of recording my Mega Man 7 videos for YouTube once the last one was done and dusted...except I didn't end up finishing the video in January as anticipated, despite putting in a lot of good recording time. So, the obligatory monthly Retrospective is all I have to show for myself here.

- Retrospective: December 2014

GameCola:

On the other hand, January was a busy month for GameCola contributions, including all the behind-the-scenes editing I do that doesn't get covered here. My one review (which just barely missed the cutoff date for publication in December) was intended to be the last substantial post for a while, allowing me to focus on finishing other projects instead of starting new ones. Then, as you'll see below, I started playing Space Quest: Incinerations, which I feel requires my journalistic attention. One more big review, then it'll be nothing but collaborative column participation and short video posts.

Columns:
- Q&AmeCola: The Future of Videogames
- The 2014 GameCola Videogame Awards (Part 2)

Reviews:
- King’s Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow (PC)

Videos:
- The Second Annual GameCola HoHoHoliday LIVEcast Extravaganza on YouTube

GameFAQs:

Here's something I haven't done in ages! GameFAQs got me into writing about video games, but my contributions tapered off after joining GameCola. Nowadays, I'll submit any screenshots used in my GameCola reviews if GameFAQs isn't already flooded with them, but anything requiring dedicated effort is typically a project for when I'm on vacation and not working on anything else. With no documentation whatsoever on GameFAQs about Space Quest: Incinerations, I took it upon myself to write a walkthrough that covers how to score every point and unlock every trophy in the game. Now, that information is available in a few separate places on the game's official website, but I basically wrote the guide for myself so that I'd have everything together in one place, and figured others would benefit from it. Hooray for selfish charity!

- Pizzarian screenshots
- Space Quest: Incinerations Point/Trophy Guide

The Backloggery:

I set aside a little bit of mad money to pick up a few adventure games I've been meaning to try (thanks again to Good Old Games for stretching the value of a dollar as far as it does, and then putting everything on sale), and I discovered that professional developers still make original games that are free for download. I also discovered that control is the single most important factor in my enjoyment of a game (which I should have figured out sooner, being the control freak I am): The controls of the Kirby, Mario, and Sonic games on the list are so clunky, sluggish, and uncooperative that anything redeeming about the rest of the gameplay tended to get lost in the frustration. Sonic was the worst offender, but that's probably a story worth spending a whole post to tell. Any game with the rare and dubious distinction of getting kicked off my Backloggery altogether always has a story to go with it.

You'll hopefully read about Space Quest next month on GameCola. I've been toying with the idea of recording a playthrough of Gravity Bone for the GC YouTube channel, but I think part of the joy of it is discovering it for yourself. For me, it brings back fond memories of No One Lives Forever and pleasantly subverted expectations, playing out more like an experimental short story than a game. Great stuff. Lastly, I finally finished the Castlevania game I've been trying to beat since trying it out at one friend's house, then picking it up later at his house, then picking it up again as someone else's house...up until the outrageously unforgiving difficulty spike in the last couple levels, it's a fun romp, but the music is by far the best part.

New:
- Grim Fandango Remastered  (PC)
- Gravity Bone  (PC)
- Leisure Suit Larry: Love for Sail!  (PC)
- Return to Zork  (PC)
- The Longest Journey  (PC)

Started:
- Kirby Super Star  (Wii)
- Sonic and the Secret Rings  (Wii)
- Space Quest: Incinerations  (PC)

Beat:
- Gravity Bone  (PC)
- Kirby Super Star  (Wii)
- Space Quest: Incinerations  (PC)
- Super Castlevania IV  (SNES)
- Super Mario Galaxy  (Wii)

Completed:
- Gravity Bone  (PC)
- Space Quest: Incinerations  (PC)

Mastered:
- Space Quest: Incinerations  (PC)

Removed:
- Sonic and the Secret Rings  (Wii)

So help me, if there's not a new Mega Man 7 video on the list when it's time to look back at February, I am finding someone's hat and eating it.