Remembering Legacy of Heroes

My brain works in weird ways. I woke up this morning remembering this gem:

It's a free to play game released by 5th planet games, and I played it on Kongregate way back in the day. 5PG shut down the servers back in 2012 or 2013, and I remember feeling...cold...when it happened. I think that's the right word to describe it.

The game was all about super heroes. You'd create your own hero, build a deck of allies to help you and super powers to use in game, and...that was the schtick for this game. It was a simple idea, and they drew from years of comic book history to shape the design of the game. What impressed me the most about LoH was the original universe that 5PG created. It felt familiar, like you had grown up reading the comics.

The story mode was broken up into chapters, which were depicted as issues of the Legacy of Heroes comic book. And the story shared was fun! You're a student at a school for super heroes, a school very similar to a certain Marvel school for gifted children. The lead instructor is Professor Helios, a fire manipulator who strikes me as eerily similar to Dumbledore the more I think about him. While I don't remember much about the actual story, I remember the school coming under attack by a bunch of Villains, Helios getting stomped (and maybe dying? I can't remember), and facing off against a league of villains along the way. With the rise of Boku no Hero Academia, I'm a trifle surprised we haven't seen a resurgence of this game. There's a whole lot of parallels!

The game featured the standard fare microtransactions of the time. You could refill your stamina, buy card packs, cosmetics, you know the drill. I don't remember it being excessively aggressive in its monetization, but I definitely couldn't afford a lot of what the game had to offer. The grind wasn't that bad, and you could get some decent cards just by playing the game.

The raids were pretty famous on this game. You'd get a handful of people together, and take on a supervillain together. one of the most famous (and more memorable) raids was against Dimetrodon. I looked online today, wondering what happened to this game, and stumbled upon a forum thread of other people asking if they remember LoH. The first response? A line from the Dimetrodon raid: "DIMETRODON FIGHT!!!" If that's not an indicator of how memorable the raids were, I don't know what is! The raids gave you equipment, special cards, and I thought one of the higher level raids gave currency for a special shop. They were a nice buff to your decks, especially when you needed that little boost to get to the next chapter.

For as detailed the game was, It was a real shame that the game shut down. I remember logging in for my daily login bonus, and seeing that I got a bunch of premium currency. And a large amount! And then the chat showed up on the side. The chat was already mourning a game that was set to shut down in a month. It sucked, but there we were. Legacy of Heroes had entered its death knell, shut down by the developers. I guess they weren't making money on it, so they couldn't afford the servers. And I...I couldn't stick around. That was the end of the game for me. Every now and again, my ADHD addled brain remembers Legacy of Heroes. It remembers the artwork, the design aesthetic, and the DIMETRODON FIGHT!!! Unfortunately, that's all it's gonna be now. Memories of a time lost to the aether.

This post was also shared on my Steem profile.  You can check it out here.

Review: Retro-Bit Genesis Controller

Last year, Retro-Bit announced a partnership with Sega to produce officially licensed Genesis (Megadrive), Saturn, and Dreamcast peripherals.  It took a while, but the local game store I frequent finally ordered some of the Genesis controllers.  If you're in the Minneapolis area, go check out Gamerheadz in the Southdale Mall.  Great shop!

Lootboxes Getting the Shaft!

This came across my news feed yesterday, but I didn't get the chance to really have a listen until now.



We all remember the lootbox debacle of 2017, specifically with EA's Star Wars Battlefront II. These same Laymen Gaming guys found that more than half of EA's profits come from lootbox microtransactions, and they went out of their way to include it in everything they could. If you're like me, you see just how much of a problem this can be. Especially when there are games that have wide appeal to parents, like FIFA, Madden, or Need for Speed.

There were some discussions back in 2017 about regulating lootboxes in gaming, with Hawaii state senator Chris Lee introduced a bill in the State Legislature that ultimately died in committee, but it sowed the seeds of growth for the idea. Now we're finally hearing that Missouri senator Josh Hawley is introducing a bill that would specifically and explicitly prohibit lootboxes in games that are sold to minors.

Logistics and implementation aside, I support this action. I personally believe that this is a perfect point in time for government intervention in the face of predatory business practices. I personally believe that government should not intervene in social and economic issues, unless absolutely necessary to protect its citizens. This whole issue is a prime example of when government should intervene to protect its own.

What do you think? Will this pass the legislature? Will it become law? Is Senator Hawley on the right track here?

**Author's note:  This post was also featured on the Steem blockchain.  You can view that post here.**

Talking Level Design with Samuel Dassler

I happened to bump into Samuel Dassler on Imgur, where he posted this thread about his time at DigiPen. He imparted a few tidbits of wisdom in the post, and I thought he'd be an interesting person to talk to.  He recently worked on a game called Mekazoo, which you can find on Steam, Xbox Live, and Playstation Network.

Review: Titanfall 2

Developer/Publisher: Respawn/Electronic Arts

Platform: Xbox One, Playstation 4, PC

Rating: Mature (Blood and Gore, Language, Violence)

Reviewed on: Xbox One

When the Xbox One launched in 2014, Respawn Entertainment was tapped to create a launch title for the new system.  It was a decent game, not without its flaws, but I enjoyed what it offered.   With the arrival of Titanfall 2, I knew I needed to pick it up and review it.  How did it turn out?  Pretty good, actually!

Chicks Dig Giant Robots: Anime Detour 2016

Netrunner on Friday Night

So I was sitting here this past Monday, completely mute again.  You'd think I'd learn from prior years to take care of my voice, but no...

Anime Detour 2016 was a ton of fun this year.  A whopping total of 5,500 people crammed into the Doubletree in Bloomington, MN, for another year of cosplay,  antics, games, and awesome.  And hoo boy, do I have stories!

Gamer's Guide to Tokyo: Trains

Last may, I took a trip to Tokyo, Japan.  It was awesome, I had tons of fun, and I realized that there's not a whole lot of information for gamers on what to do and see in Tokyo.  Thus begins this series of posts.  I'm going to point out the important things to see and check out in Tokyo, in as many districts as I can.  In addition, I'll point out as much cultural information as I can, so you don't stick out like a stupid tourist.

Review: The Division

Platforms: PC, PS4, Xbox One

Price: $59.99 USD (Standard), $99.99 USD (Gold)

Release: March 8, 2016

Rating: M for Mature (Full ESRB Synopsis)

Platform Reviewed: PC

Ubisoft's newest series inspired by Tom Clancy launched last week.  Ubisoft's Tom Clancy games have been rather hit or miss, but they seem to sell well for the company.  How did this one fare?  Find out more after the jump!

Gamer's guide to Tokyo: Odaiba

Last may, I took a trip to Tokyo, Japan.  It was awesome, I had tons of fun, and I realized that there's not a whole lot of information for gamers on what to do and see in Tokyo.  Thus begins this series of posts.  I'm going to point out the important things to see and check out in Tokyo, in as many districts as I can.  In addition, I'll point out as much cultural information as I can, so you don't stick out like a stupid tourist.

The Gamer's Guide to Tokyo: Imports

Last may, I took a trip to Tokyo, Japan.  It was awesome, I had tons of fun, and I realized that there's not a whole lot of information for gamers on what to do and see in Tokyo.  Thus begins this series of posts.  This one covers the shopping side of things, what games are easiest to use when you get home, which ones aren't.

The Gamer's Guide to Tokyo: Akihabara

Last may, I took a trip to Tokyo, Japan.  It was awesome, I had tons of fun, and I realized that there's not a whole lot of information for gamers on what to do and see in Tokyo.  Thus begins this series of posts.  I'm going to point out the important things to see and check out in Tokyo, in as many districts as I can.  In addition, I'll point out as much cultural information as I can, so you don't stick out like a stupid tourist.

Character Development and writing: A Conversation with Ashton Raze

Ashton Raze

Not too long ago, I talked with Ashton Raze about character design, writing, applications in Game Development, and other highly unrelated topics. She was willing to answer some questions I had for her, and I thoroughly enjoyed talking to her.  It's amazing what random conversations on Twitter can turn into! Our conversation started on Twitter before moving to a more formal interview.  Those 140 character limits tend to really cramp what one can say.  Our initial conversation was how easy it is to add a token character to the plot for little reason than to check off a box on the diversity checklist.  I got to thinking about solutions to this problem when I started talking to Raze.

Admittedly, I had a bit of an agenda to push when I first reached out to Raze.  I set out to rant about game characters and how developers don't spend enough time fleshing the character beyond a few simple traits/tropes. While talking with Raze, the conversation quickly changed and went an entirely different direction.  The conversation changed to writing and character development, and as such, I've had to rethink how I would write this article.

On the topic of #GamerGate: My Promise to you

Ugh, I really didn't want to have to write this article, but it seems like it's pretty much compulsory at this point.

5 Indicators You’ve Been Misinformed About #GamerGate

[Editor's Note: This article was originally posted here, and was written by the excellent Jamie Butterworth. It has been reposted here with permission. I'll have my own article up in the next couple days.]

The GamerGate debate has raged on for over 5 weeks at this point, and that’s like, 15 internet years. Entire kingdoms have risen and been decimated since the hashtag came into existence. People have gone to war with one another, hurling endless piles of feces among the neverending stream of bullets. I held a dear friends in my arm as he lay dying. “Jamie...” he whispered to me with his dying breath. “Don’t...don’t let them sully our beloved hobby...” As the light left his eyes, I swore to him that I would fight to the end in his honor. Or that might have happened when we were playing Call of Duty together. I can’t remember since politicians and media critics tell me I’m unable to differentiate between reality and videogames.

Xbox One: The good, the bad, and the ugly

When the Xbox One was announced in June of 2013,
I was skeptical.  To me, there was too much emphasis on TV, movies, and sports, and not enough on games.  Since then, against my better judgment, I bought an Xbox One in June of this year.  Having played around with it, and seen what it's capable of, here's my breakdown of what the console does right, and what it needs to improve.

Miracle Gears: The Aftermath

Wow, what a weekend.  From the beginning, we set out to basically do the impossible.  But you know what? We did it!

It's the Final Countdown! Miracle Gears is coming!

It's the calm before the storm, here at my house.  I'm getting as much cleaning done as I can, getting ready for the big setup tomorrow night.  Thus far, Miracle Gears has raised $270 as of the time of the writing.  That's awesome!  I can only hope that this is a sign of things to come.

Now, only one person has written in as to what we're going to do at the start of the drive.  We may get the decision based on one vote alone...

If you're going to donate before the drive starts, know that you can determine our fate when we begin on Friday.  Put "do the tutorial" or "don't do the tutorial" in the comment field of your donation.  The one that earns the most money decides our fate.  The clock is ticking...

And with that, I'm off.  I'll see you soon!

The prep work begins...

Firday looms on the horizon, but I wanted to pop in and give an update.

Coming Soon...

I've got something big coming up in July!

...In with the New!

Last week, I looked at the successes and failures of the Wii.  It's time to take off the rose tinted glasses, and look at what Nintendo learn from the Wii to improve the Wii U.  Here's what Nintendo can do to improve their market share and get the Wii U to be a big player in the console arena.