Category: Real Gameplay

Serious info, seriously

How To Beat The “Impossible CPU” In Renegade Every Time

I recently finished mastering all the games in Clubhouse Games 51 Worldwide Classics for the Nintendo Switch. I’d almost done it a few months ago when I first got the game. I had been working my way through the various games usually bouncing around five of them until I mastered them and then dove into some others. However, it was near the end when I had eight or so games left to master that I started playing Renegade aka Reversi aka Othello in this package. It seemed like a simple game but I soon discovered it had more strategy to it than I had thought and soon the game seemed to be more complicated than Chess, Shogi or Riichi Mahjong due to the amount of times I’ve had to replay it.

It probably didn’t help that this was my first time ever playing the game of Renegade. With no idea of what kind of moves to make or what to look for on the board for the next best move, I was thwarted at just the Amazing CPU for some time. I felt I was improving over time and figuring out the strategy of the game and finally did beat that level of difficulty. Then I played the Impossible CPU and it was like I had learned nothing.

Nintendo showing how Renegade should really be played on the cover: CPU free.
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Animal Crossing Cool Beats: New Horizons, Classic Tunes

Those industry fat cats want to charge big bucks for their tunes, but I think music should be free man. I’ve been making a few tunes to see what works in this thing, and thought I’d share. For ease of use I’ve put a separate sound clip, followed by an image of the notes you can input yourself. Enjoy the freedom. No likes, favs, subscribes or divides here man. This is all about sharing the vibe.

Keep in mind there are limitations of the Town Composer, it doesn’t have sharp notes so some things have gotta be in different keys. Still, a bit of compromise can get most songs in a recognisable state. You just gotta take what life throws at you man. How do you get these? There’s no password or online sharing unfortunately, but it’s very easy to just copy the notes yourself. Talk to Isabelle in the Town Hall and just move the notes up and down until you get what you want. If you don’t have the Town Hall yet then keep playing and come back to this later! Music always waits for you, so you can wait for it.

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Staying Fresh in Quarantine!

When you’re stuck inside there’s always a risk of getting bored or falling into bad habits. Right now we’re lucky to have a brand new Animal Crossing game to keep us busy, but there are certain things your body and mind need to stay happy while you are isolated. Your body needs to move around, your brain needs stimulation, and you need to feel connected. I’m going to give suggestions on how to keep things fresh and stay off the hook. This is purely from a gaming perspective. Of course you can exercise and read books as well, but if you’re here then there’s a good chance that gaming is a rewarding part of your life. Instead of getting burnt out, this could be a great time to get even more joy out of it.

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Pokemon HOME – Making the Journey from 3DS to Switch

What year is it? 2020? Good. Don’t mind me, I’m just a little bit dizzy from traveling through time and space. That means I’ve just gone through the process of transferring my Pokemon from my old 3DS games to Pokemon Shield. A few things surprised me so I thought it was worth doing a writeup to clear things up and explain the process. The most important thing to say first is that this requires the Premium Plan of Pokemon HOME. That means, unfortunately, you have to pay for this transfer. The Basic version you get for free on Switch is very barebones. You can only store 30 Pokemon, and Let’s Go and Pokemon Sword & Shield are the only compatible games. All you can really do with that is get a free Pikachu, some starters, and Mewtwo.

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The golden rule for First/Third Person Shooters on Switch: make Gyro-aiming an option

When Doom 2016 made it’s way to Nintendo Switch curtiosy of the amazing folks at Panic Button, many took notice of it’s quality work. However, there was one major function mission from the base game: no gyro aiming. Gyro-scopic aiming slowly got a base in thanks to the 3DS and WiiU GamePad, and when Nintendo revealed the Switch proper in January 2017 and said, specifically, it contains DNA from all of Nintendo’s past consoles and handhelds, they weren’t kidding. Both left and right Joy-Con, and the Pro Control, have gyro sensors inside them. Continue reading “The golden rule for First/Third Person Shooters on Switch: make Gyro-aiming an option” →

Life with the Splat Brella

The sky above is clear but there are clouds in the distance. You can tell it’s about to rain. Luckily, you are a Splat Brella main. Lift it up and catch the wind. If it flies back in your face then a storm is coming. You must charge up your own rain to counter it by inking everything around you. Throw that sprinkler down. Launch that canopy across the bridge. Jump around and shoot ink all around the camp yelling Booyah! People will give you weird looks but to use a Brella effectively you must be prepared to take in your surroundings.

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Forza Community Spotlight

Forza started with a bang on the original Xbox, but by the time Forza 5 rolled around it was gaining a lot of negative press based on the way they were exploiting consumers. I even wrote an article about it here back then and subsequently avoided the Xbox brand for 5 years. Times have indeed changed as I’ve found myself absolutely blown away by the latest Forza games and the state of the series. Not only has Forza Horizon created one of the most fun experiences in gaming with a new open structure, the core Forza sim series has righted all its wrongs and now exists as a wholesome, playable and welcoming game.

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Driving Simulator 101 – Challenging Yourself

G’day fellow racer, I’ll be your instructor today. My name’s Grubdog but you can call me Grub. I’m not a racing god by any means but I’ve had my fair share of struggles and success to share some words and hopefully help someone out. There are many different ways to enjoy driving simulators and many people will choose the passive approach with all assists on and easy AI, just to enjoy the sights and sounds of the racetrack. Mmmmm, nothing like the smell of sweet asphalt and burning rubber on a Sunday afternoon. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that approach and it can be a very chill way to spend your gaming time. There’s no right or wrong way to play a game that has this many options.

For people who DO want to challenge themselves as much as possible, there is a whole new world waiting for you. Whether it’s Forza, Gran Turismo, Assetto Corsa, Project CARS or F1 you have a lot of difficulty options at your disposal that can change the game significantly. With every assist you turn off, your car will get faster as you unlock more potential from it. It will also get more difficult to control. Playing these games without assists can be daunting at first, but it’s very satisfying if you find your groove. A big strength of these games is mastering all different sorts of cars and tracks, kinda like using different weapons in a shooter, or different movesets in a fighting game. Instead of going in-depth about driving technique, this article is going to be more about the mindset of change, and approach. For advanced driving there’s far more qualified people and articles out there. I’m going to keep it simple and throw up my biggest personal tips for a console gamer without much driving experience.

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Splatfest – Heroes and Villains

I just wanted to feel something. The Heroes vs. Villains Splatfest seemed like a no-brainer to me at first. I try to be a good person and Nintendo’s Smash heroes are some of the best role models a person can have. What does it mean for us though, to be “good” in a videogame that is about winning and splatting people? You’re always going to be a villain to somebody. Even the person of purest intentions is going to do something wrong or be misunderstood at some point, so I decided to cut my losses and pick the Villain side from the get-go.

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Catching Up – Xbox One in 2018

We’re approaching the end of 2018 and I’ve just got myself a brand new Xbox One S, five years into the lifespan of Xbox One. It’s a new world for me as I’ve been playing nothing but Nintendo stuff for the last few years, having a great time it must be said. I never had a PS4 either so this is my first time dipping into the 2013 “next-gen” console family, which is now this-gen, or half-gen to the Pro and X which will be last-gen again next year. Phew. Whatever you want to call it, I have a lot of gaming to catch up on and I thought this was a unique perspective worth a little writeup. I was lucky enough to get my XB1S bundled with Red Dead Redemption 2 and Forza Horizon 4, two very expensive new release games. The whole bundle was $100-200 AU cheaper than a Switch or PS4 by themselves, which is ridiculous. Xbox is priced very well and has huge support in Australia, and I was in a good spot to take advantage of it. It just felt like the right time with Nintendo’s Switch holiday lineup mainly focused on two games I’m not that interested in. I got home with my new Xbox and it felt like Christmas again. The old, fun, child-like Christmas, not the new HD remake “Adult Christmas” which is full of disappointing social engagements. This was going to be fun on my own terms.

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Dragon Quest VIII: EXPOSED – The Grinding Method They Don’t Want You To Know About

Sick of grinding for hours just to grow one single level? Worried about not being able to afford all the hottest gear? Tired of being under-prepared in fights and losing out to bad luck? Feel like you’ve hit a wall?

dq8gettingnowhere

We’ve all been there. Confused, lost, helpless, like a child drowning in a river. It seems like progress is impossible in a world of dead-ends and closed doors. Trapped in the daily grind forever.

dq8dragondead

If this is you, then I’m about to change your life.

*SPOILERS AHEAD* This trick is ONLY for those privy to Dragon Quest VIII late-game information. Open the door at your own risk! *SPOILERS AHEAD*

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Star Fox Zero – Flying Through The Bullshit

I played about 5 hours of Star Fox Zero today and I’m just so excited that I have to write out these impressions and clear up some things about this game immediately. There’s a lot of confusion going around about the controls and quite frankly, it’s all fucking bullshit. Game journalists spinning this propaganda are a bunch of IDIOTS who can not be trusted to form an opinion, let alone provide one to the masses. Kotaku, IGN, Polygon, the usual clusterfucks that everybody should know to avoid by now have all given this game bad reviews because it threatens their 2 dimensional way of thinking. It’s the same fucking bullshit ZombiU and The Wonderful 101 endured, they see this game as a threat because it’s another heavy hitter on the Wii U that threatens to take their normal games away. I want to throw that mindset in the bin and fucking burn it. There is room for every game to be beautiful. The controls in Star Fox Zero are outstanding, and this game is absolute quality.

starfoxflies

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Super Metroid – Sub-Hour Speedrun

I’ve been getting into Super Metroid more after the 3DS release and set myself a personal goal of beating the game in under an hour. I’ve already done this with Metroid: Zero Mission and had a great time finding the fastest route. With Super Metroid I had done what “felt” like a speedrun, but it’s a different kind of speedrun to Zero Mission. A lot of tricks and skips in this game are very difficult and non-traditional. This is due to Samus’s movement being more complex, and a lot of open environments that don’t stop you from doing crazy things. My current best time was 1 hour 19 minutes, and on 3DS I managed to get 1 hour 27 minutes on a refresher course through the game. My main motivation came when I realised there was still a lot about the game I didn’t know. How do you shortcharge? What other items can I skip? Are there better ways to fight the bosses? Can I do the Zebetite Skip?

zebetitestruggle

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Speedrunning: An Amateur Perspective

Awesome Games Done Quick 2014 was my first exposure to the speedrunning community. I saw the hashtag trending on Twitter and wondered what all the fuss was about. Twitch? Streaming? Glitches? Kill The Animals? It was all a bit disturbing and alien. One night I decided to blindly tune in to the livestream, I can’t remember why but a game I was familiar with must have been trending. It’s quite a plunge sometimes to look into something you don’t understand, but I opened the stream and almost instantly I got it. A group of gamers in a room together doing what they do best, playing! I could hear that warm love for gaming in the commentary, I could see it in the intense gameplay, and I could feel it as the room got hyped for a good run. These are people who are only there because they play so much, and truly respect videogames to the point of dedicating their lives to them.

sunshinespeedfun

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