Posts from June 1st, 2018

Video Game/Toy of the Month:

Nintendo Labo
The intricacy and artistry of these cardboard creations is astonishing, but it really probably shouldn’t be. These are A-level Nintendo products, after all. They were made with the same care and attention to detail that produced The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey. I have a special joy with Nintendo Labo, though, in that I have a four-year-old daughter and we have been constructing and playing with these machines together. It at times seems like this is specifically what Labo was intended to do; get parents and their kids playing together:

Full disclosure: we’ve only built the bug/car, fishing rod, and piano so far. Maybe the house and the motorcycle completely suck donkey poop? But somehow I doubt it.

I’m also excited to dive into the visual programming language that’s hidden inside to see what can be done with it. You know, in all of my spare time…

Videos of the Month:

The Video Game Reviews of Tim Rogers
Tim Rogers is one of the many contributors to Kotaku.com, a video game news/reviews websieyte. He seems pretty innocuous at first, until you start to watch his videos. He has some of the most fascinatingly idiosyncratic and hilarious video game reviews I’ve ever watched. You can watch a whole playlist of his videos rightchea:

I just love the way he titles his reviews, too. Here are some gems:

• “Turok: Dinosaur Hunter Is Goofier Than A Cotton Candy Sandwich”
• “Dissidia Final Fantasy NT Is Like Doing Your Taxes On The Moon”
• “Golf Story Is Almost The Seinfeld Of Video Games”
• “Nine Terrible Reasons To Hate Super Mario Odyssey, If You’re A Monster”

So to recap: if you’d like to drink a lake of cackling freak blood, look no further than Tim Rogers. He was born stupid, but he will not die hungry.

Card Game of the Month:

RobotLab
A deceptively simple card game: You start with a solid-color robot body, and you try to play five extremities (two legs, to arms, and one head) of the same color onto it to complete it. But the other players can play differently-colored extremities on your robot body (and you the same to theirs), and you can’t win if your robot isn’t all the same color! You can play cards that remove extremities, but oftentimes other players will be able to remove extremities at the same time, so you have to be careful you’re not opening up too many opportunities for your opponents at the same time. Do you build your robot or block another player? Do you remove a green arm from your red robot, knowing that the yellow robot can remove a blue leg at the same time? It’s still a nicely-paced game; even with the strategy, it never feels bogged down.