Here Comes The (Virtual) Boy Again

So because i’m a major league doofus, i actually preorder not the 20 bucks cardboard VR thingie to play the Virtual Boy on Switch/Switch 2, but the entire fuckin replica that costed me 80 bucks, because ultimately i’m a kindred soul to the protagonist of Shangri-La Frontier, we go hunting high and low for the kusoge, for the odd, for the grime undesired depths of the videogame scene.

Of course i’ve heard of the Virtual Boy, i’ve seen the AVGN episode, i’ve seen Nintendo itself take potshots at its failure too eventually in stuff like Tomodachi Life, but i was still curious, and there were some games i wanted to play on it proper, especially since this oddity never came out in Europe, so

I’ve played modern VR games occasionally at some arcades, so i was super curious to see for myself how the Virtual Boy measured up today via a big ass replica of the console itself, even if can’t load any games by itself and it’s an accessory needed to play via Switch or Switch 2, but sure as hell that beats me bothering to collect the original console and its library, i have to draw the line somewhere.

Gotta say, i was kinda impressed.

Kinda.

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Giant Monster March is a-ready to go-go once more

FIY i also had a hands on ramble about the Virtual Boy accessory for Switch 1 and 2 that i planned to release earlier, but didn’t due to having to tie some uni knots, that article will still come out, for now we’re once again about to begin the now staple rubric of the blog, Giant Monster March, which will have some “obvious” picks alongside some a lot more obscure pulls this year.

I really wanted to make it extra this year but couldn’t due to the aforementioned universitary education business taking a lot of my time, but after all, the new Monsterverse Godzilla film is scheduled for 2027, so..

One Piece Pirate Warriors 4: DLC Pack 8: Special Selection PS4 [REVIEW]

Gotta admit, i kinda expected this one to release in early February, but nope, that “Early 2026” turned out to be indeed very early, as in, this DLC Pack just released January 22th, as in, 3 days ago.

I guess why not since it was also the pack that revealed earlier who was gonna be in it, after all, people were eager to see who alongside Enel (which was indeed as obvious a prediction as it could have been) made the cut from the OP character popolarity survey polls’ results, with DLC Pack 8 being the “Legends” one, so to speak, more than the previous Egghead Pack.

(probably is also due to TK demands since the Dynasty Warriors Origins extensive DLC/expansion Visions Of Four Heroes came out the same day, and alongside the Switch 2 release)

I’m not even gonna try and say once again that this might be the last DLC pack for Pirate Warriors 4 as a whole, only to have to rectify that months later, especially now, as i will explain.

As most of you already know, this specific DLC character pack is a fan favourite heavy selection, and while Enel and King were the easily predictable guesses everyone thought, i was pleasantly surprised to see Zephyr/Z from One Piece Film Z made the cut, as i said before, very happy about that, can’t deny i’m a big fan of him and that film as a whole.

No Kaku playable, but i’ll take “Mr Z.” gladly, guess japanese fans do love him more than most expected, and how these polls are often made to be skewed towards the new popular characters seen in the anime.

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The Day The Anthem Died

So, as of today, Anthem’ official servers are being pulled, so the game – unless some fans do resurrect it via fan hosted servers, which some are working on – is officially dead know.

Hence now it’s the perfect time to plug back my review for the thing, as it’s indeed a “funeral-dirge” piece, why not, it’s also a very slow week and i won’t be having much if any EXPRESSO reviews (maybe i’ll do one tomorrow) out due to some unfavourable schedule issues (let’s put it that way) and most relevant films coming out on the 15th.

Don’t expect much of an eulogy about Anthem itself from me, since i never touched it again after the review, and what i played of it… hasn’t me weeping over it, to put it nicely.

The Befana Break

As announced , i will be taking a week long break from full lenght reviews after wrapping the latest 12 Years Of Dino Dicember.

We’ll be back on the 15th, just in time for some horror film releases to debut in cinemas here, like the 28 Years Later prequel, a new Silent Hill movie (yes, a sequel to Silent Hill: Revelation), among others like a new Sam Raimi film, but honestly i’m a bit more curious about that Anaconda reboot that won’t reach theathers here until early February.

Happy New Year? Not off to a good start, really, but the sentiment remains.

Platformation Time Again: The “WAH” Heard All Around The World & Ubisoft Oldies

the Nintendo back catalogue offerings have been very little and mostly minor, so i was surprised to see all of sudden some old Ubisoft titles surface as part of the N64 Classics app, Rayman 2 not so much, but i did not expect at all to see a rerelease of Tonic Trouble, a mostly forgotten Ubisoft platformer-puzzler of that era that can be seen as a sister game to Rayman 2, which in return has been re-released to hell and back, and one whose N64 version isn’t exactly the most praised or definitive, but it’s good to have that too, since the two games kinda go together, in a way, and will be available on the service (which does require having the Expansion Pak tier of NSO subscription) on Dicember 17th, so very soon indeed.

Also, this happening a mere month after i bought an used copy of Tonic Trouble on the N64 is definitely a timing of all time, but what can you do?

I could take this as a sign of sorts, but the full lenght review for that on the rubric will have to wait at least until May.

Even more surprising, is the Gamecube Classics for Switch 2 adding off Wario World, the only 3D platformer outing for the “evil Mario” himself still, one i had mixed feelings about but personally felt it needed a follow up of sorts, a second chance since it’s not exactly a great game, even when it came out the Gamecube had way better platformers to offer, but i do have a fondness for it.

I did actually review that at detail before, but i’m gonna play it from scratch on the Switch 2 Gamecube app to see if i changed my mind about it or not, so expect that kinda extended rewrite somewhere early 2026.

the Midtober Post Of Pokemon, Halloween Movies releases and Stuff

So yeah, let’s do a “checkpoint” post.

Movies wise, most of the big or relevant releases here have been pushed for a Halloween or Halloween adjacent release, meaning it will all be crammed in 2 weeks and so far it has mostly been drought (aside from Ari Aster’s Eddington and the new Guadagnino film, After The Hunt), so it’s gonna be a mess to play catch up.

At least the Chainsaw Man film comes out a week before Halloween, where not only they decided to release the Toxic Avenger reboot (guess i’m gonna watch this one, after all), but the very same days also premiere here the new Luc Besson Dracula film (a weird proposal i must say), Guillermo Del Toro’s Frankenstein and the new Lanthimos sci-fi comedy Bugonia.

Also, i have to get around to see Alice In Borderland Season 3, i meant to but still haven’t at the time of writing.

in terms of Switch 2 releases, i will be doing EXPRESSO reviews of Pokemon Legends ZA (which i got today because Nintendo itself broke D1) and later Hyrule Warriors: Age Of Imprisonment, at my own pace but since the full reviews will be late (especially late in the case of the new Hyrule Warriors game), these will come out as soon as possible.

Maybe i’ll whip up a hands on of that Bubsy 4D, since they released a sizeable demo on Steam and apparently it’s good, actually good, not just comparatively better than shit.

Dismember November: More Uni Woes N Shit

I really don’t like having to write posts like this.

No matter if i can stick in a Hololive meme for confusion’s sake, because i have yet again (feeling very Bernie Sanders-y) to cut down on posting, had to think about it but i need to focus on thesis stuff, i really need to.

So that means that while October schedule (already in place months ago) will go on as planned, i will have to basically halve the full lenght reviews for November, and i will be taking a break the first week of Dicember, to ensure good ol’ 12 Days Of Dino Dicember will happen as always, that one won’t be affected.

The January winter hiatus will happen as usual, meaning from January 7 to January 14 the blog will go on a break/pause, resuming on the 15th.

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Platformation Time Again: Fall Pac

So i was gonna review Pandemonium (the first one) this coming september, but schedule woes and the kinda surprising announcement of the Pac Man World 2 remastered (as Pac Man World 2 Re-Pac) of last week had me opting for the almost complete review i already had in the bag for the remaster of the first Pac Man World game.

Even though i would have liked to feature a 2D platformer before getting back to the 3D ones, and then review the originale release of Yooka Laylee when we would have gotten a date for its remaster-remake, i have a lot to say about that… but guess there’s no rush, in a way.

And yes, i didn’t quite expect it since while PCW Re Pac did sold decently, i’d figured Namco wasn’t gonna bother remastering the other 2 Pac Man World titles… but guess we’re getting the whole trilogy.

And that weird Pac Man metroidvania thingie, Shadow Labyrinth.

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