Strategy Guide Reviews

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The Corner of Randomness: From Software

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If you don’t know who From Software are, I’ll fill ya in. They make beautiful games such as Bloodborne, the Dark Souls trilogy, and Demon’s Souls. Ever since AGDQ, I’ve been watching some new streamers speedrunning some of these titles. It is both amazing to see them destroy the game day after day as well as maddening, because I know I’ll never have the skills they possess.

It is no secret that From Software is working on another game. They have stated that it will not be another Dark Souls game. Speculation is that there might be a Bloodborne II on the horizon. Some also theorize that the next game from them will be a completely new IP. The hype for a new game is real, but nobody outside of a select few streamers, of whom have signed an NDA, really know what this next game will be.

For me, I am really hoping we see From Software venture into some new territory. A Wild West themed game would be pretty sweet. I also think they would make a great sci-fi style game. I mean, the worlds they have already crafted prove that they could easily make for some great space monster battles. I also think they would do well with some sort of samurai style game. Nioh was decent, but I think From Software could take that genre to a new level.

Yet here we sit. Patiently waiting to see what this new game will be. I’m excited as I believe From Software will do a great job with whatever this new game ends up being. Though, I am also really hoping we get a Bloodborne II, cuz the first one was one of the best games they have made. Maybe at E3 we could even get a teaser. Anything? PLEASE!

The Corner of Randomness: Strategy Guide Nostalgia

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I’ve been slowly packing up my house this week and part of that task included pulling my strategy guides off the bookshelf and filing them away into moving boxes. As I did this, I took some time and flipped through some of my favorite guides. I also enjoyed some of the added bonuses such as art books, maps, and even the feel of some of the covers.

This process got me feeling all nostalgic. When Keri first brought me onto SGR, it seemed like we were getting guides every month. Time passes, things happen, and slowly we saw less and less guides heading our way. Part of the reason is due to shake ups in the industry. Another part is that strategy guides aren’t nearly as necessary as they once were.

I used to work at Electronics Boutique, otherwise known as the GameStop of the 90s. Back then, we had two items we needed to try to push to customers. One was the SkipDr, which was a terrible device that sanded your CDs/DVDs to help reduce skipping. The second item was strategy guides. In fact, we offered a discount if you bought a strategy guide with the game the guide was for. Having all those guides on the store walls made for some great reading during lunch breaks.

Now I know things change. We now have Twitch.TV, YouTube, GameFAQs, and countless websites to offer up knowledge to players. I get that. Still, as I boxed up my collection of guides, I got a bit of a tear as I remembered back to the days of having to figure out if the official strategy guide was better or worse than the unofficial strategy guide. Heck, even just having a strategy guide to lend to a friend is something I miss. Passing around a web link just doesn’t have that same feeling as telling your friend that if they bend a page in your precious guide, you will murder them. Ah, the good old days!

The Corner of Randomness: EVO Japan

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EVO Japan kicked off last night. It was interesting to see this new event on its very first day. For those who may not know, at EVO 2017 they announced a second event that would be held in Japan. I believe they are testing this out because not everyone can come to the United States to participate in EVO. Based on what I saw on the streams last night, this is most likely to be an event that we see in future years as well.

There are plenty of attendees at EVO Japan. Heck, Street Fight V has over 2,000 registered players. This doesn’t include all the other games being hosted, nor does it include some of the mini tournaments that lead up to the weekend. While there are plenty of big names there, they are dwarfed by so many lesser known players. It wouldn’t surprise me to see some player many have never heard of making it into the top eight of various games.

While I’d love to sit and watch this event all weekend, it’s simply not possible. I’m fairly busy this weekend. The streams, due to time zones, happen late at night. I just can’t stay up all night and then tackle things during the day. I am saddened by this, but hopefully the VODs will be there for me next week. If you can manage it, I highly recommend checking out a stream or two of EVO Japan. Many commentators have been sharing their experiences of being in Japan, the fighting game community there, and how different the scene is there. It’s pretty cool!

The Corner of Randomness: AGDQ 2018 Update

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I had no idea what to write about today, but then it hit me that I always seem to do AGDQ/SGDQ event updates. Thus I’ll stick with tradition and give an AGDQ 2018 update. I mean, I’d hate to break from tradition!

Last week I didn’t think I’d have a lot of time to watch AGDQ 2018 due to working on the house. Well, while visiting Wisconsin I acquired a lovely cold that was going around. It pretty much put me down and out for the week. Thankfully, it happened this week so I could actually enjoy way more of AGDQ 2018 than I had originally planned.

I started by watching the Pre-Show. I did this while in Wisconsin. My wife even sat next to me while I streamed it on my iPad. I was really hoping we’d hear why Super Metroid wasn’t being run, but there was absolutely no mention of it. The Pre-Show was all I watched on Sunday due to other obligations.

I got home on Monday and was able to catch most of the Sonic block, all of the Mega Man block, and most of the Metal Gear block. The rest of the week has been pretty sporadic. I catch a bit of the event over morning coffee, some at lunch, and I try to catch a lot at night. Yet medicine and sleep have kept me from seeing some of the runs I really wanted to see, such as the Resident Evil 7 Biohazard run. Thank goodness for VODs!

Looking back so far, the more memorable runs I got to watch have been Superman 64 (donation incentive), Enviro-Bear 2000 (EAT THE FISH!), Athena (oh such a bad game), Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition (what a crazy good race), and Hyper Light Drifter (PET THE DOG!). There are still two days of watching games getting broken to go. I’m so ready to see this Mega Man 1-3 Relay Race later today, and also the Link to the Past Randomizer run on Saturday.

As of the time I started this, $820,010 has been raised. I’m hopeful that the million dollar mark will be hit today, I do question if they can break the two million mark like they did last year. I know Saturday will be a crazy day of big donations coming in, so maybe there is hope to get hyped. For now, I’m going back to watch this Super Mario Galaxy run!

The Corner of Randomness: Hello AGDQ 2018

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Just a quick bit of babbling about AGDQ 2018 today as I am about to head to Wisconsin.again. It’s almost like I should just move there. Seriously, this back and forth stuff is really getting old.

Anyway, AGDQ 2018 starts on Sunday (01/07/2018) and I am both excited and sad. I’m excited as this is always a great week of streaming. There are plenty of staples for the event, a few new games, and even a Link to the Past randomizer run. While I will be busy working on my house, this will be nice to just stream for background noise, and the occasional break from reality.

I am sad, however, for two reasons. First, I won’t be able to just be glued to my screen watching games getting destroyed. Sure, I can catch some VODs and I do plan to stream most of it for background noise. Yet, drills and saws make noise. So I am sure I’ll be missing something here and there. Also this is the first time I can’t just sit and watch and chat with Keri all at the same time. Maybe SGDQ will allow me that opportunity once again!

The second reason for sadness is that it appears the traditional Super Metroid run/race isn’t happening this year. I’ve looked over the schedule and it’s just not there. In fact, the only Metroid games being run are Metroid Prime 3: Corruption and the original Metroid. So no save/kill animals incentive, which seems really odd as that was a huge money maker for the event. I’ve read that some think it’s because the same game type has been run three years in a row. I’ve also read that the less than thrilling race from AGDQ 2016 is the reason why it’s not happening this year. Still, why not throw a randomizer race in to freshen things up? Hopefully they have some sort of incentive to help draw donations, but it just won’t be the same without the constant battle for animal lives.

Well, that’s it for me. Time to load up the vehicle and hit the road. Weee.

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