We're a little Inactive

So as you might have noticed with the lack of updates lately. Sorry. I am hoping to get a couple more retro reviews out before year's end. Hopefully I can also get the podcast restarted as well.  Things have just been a little bonkers for me personally these past few weeks.  Hopefully things will turn away for the better soon.

GVN Opinion: Mega Man 4 - Best of the classic blue bomber series.

Minor Spoiler Warning. Some story elements are revealed.

The Mega Man franchise has pretty much hit a brick wall after the release of the Mega Man 10.  Capcom has pretty much regulated Mega Man as a guest characters for other games and saw fit to cancel a sequel to Legends series.  Keiji Inafune, Mega Man's creator, has left Capcom and is set to release his new Mega Man-esque game, Mighty No. 9.  These are dark times for the blue bomber whom Capcom has pretty much shelved at this point.  Mega Man has become nothing more than a nostalgia piece that gets pulled out once in awhile to make the fans happy.

Sony Playstation 20th Anniversary top 20 games - Part 4

Here we are. The home stretch. The final 5 games of my top 20 favorite Playstation games.  I hope you enjoyed reading this list and maybe got you interested in a couple of games you never heard of.  The Playstation was a wonderful little machine that managed to outlast the Sega Saturn and Nintendo 64 and eventually blow them away.  Sony had the drive and the right people in place to make the system successful and defeat their opponents handily.  It was also the first console to sell over 100 million units which is an incredibly feat for its time.  Happy 20th Anniversary to the Sony Playstation.  Now let's finish this countdown.

Click here for part 3, Games 10 - 6

Sony Playstation 20th Anniversary top 20 games - Part 3

Still going strong. We're up to part 3 and we have finally cracked into the top 10. See any games that bring back memories?  Has it given you the urge to dig them out of your closet and play them? I definitely think I'm going to play a few of these gems.

Click here for part 2, Games 15 - 11

Games 10 - 6

Sony Playstation 20th Anniversary top 20 games - Part 2

My list has started off strong. Let's keep going and maybe you'll see something that will surprise you.  I actually don't own a ton of PSX games, but I own enough and have played more via renting or borrowing, allowing me to pick out my favorites.  Trust me when I say it was hard for me to pick certain titles over one another.

Click here for part 1, Games 20 - 16

Part 2 - Games 15 - 11

Sony Playstation 20th Anniversary top 20 games - Part 1

Low and behold at the system that turned a would be contender into a juggernaut of the video gaming world.  Once originally supposed to be an CD add-on for the Super Nintendo, that quickly changed as Nintendo dropped Sony for a separate system from Philips. An insulted and hurt Sony quickly turned things around and beat Nintendo and pretty much everyone else for the next 20 years for Console dominance.

As I had posted years ago for the 10th Anniversary, I never owned a Playstation growing up during its run. But that hasn't stopped me from buying some of the great games that came out for it and playing them.  Over the next four days I will be presenting my top 20 favorite Sony Playstation games.

GVN Editorial: Overrated Games - ChronoTrigger

WARNING - This article will contain spoilers about plot elements in Chronotrigger. Read at your own discretion.

Game Rant: Magic in Games

Lately, I've developed a habit of judging games by how they handle their magic system. Being a mage by preference, I can quickly determine when I will not enjoy magic in a game. Surprisingly, quite a few games manage to get it wrong, at least in my opinion.

Protector's Top 10 Games!

I know it is only August and you are probably wondering why I am doing a Top 10 list in the middle of the year.  I have had many conversations with new gamers and veteran gamers about games we just love.  It doesn't matter if you have played the game a million times or one time.  There is something about it that just stays with you forever and you will never forget it.  That is why I came up with this list of 10 games and some honorable mentions that are my favorite games of all time.  These games of imprinted a memory in me that will never go away.  I hope that those reading this will give these games a chance especially if you have never played them.  Now, in the voice of Mario, "Here We Go!"

Protector's Top 10 Games of all Time!

GVN Review: Brave Battle Saga: Legend of the Magic Warrior (Sega Genesis)

Brave Battle Saga: Legend of the Magic Warrior
Sega Genesis
Developed by Chuanpu
1996

Brave Battle Saga, or "Barver" Battle Saga if you prefer, is a turn based RPG from a company you never heard, nor did it receive any official release outside of Taiwan, China and other various parts of southeast Asia.  It received a fan translation once it began circulating as a rom in the mid 2000's.  Eventually like tons of other Genesis games that never got an official Stateside release, it found itself a physical release as a reproduction cart.

GVN Quick Review - Echo Of Souls(PC)

Echo Of Soul

PC

Publisher: Aeria Games

Developer: Nvius

Echo of Soul is the latest Korean Free-to-Play MMO to be brought stateside by Aeria Games.  Most people tend to avoid anything published by Aeria Games but would be a huge mistake.  Echo of Soul is probably one of the better Free-to-play games that will probably get swept under the rug.  There's actually quite a bit going for it that outweigh its shortcomings.

GVN Review: Batman Arkham Knight

Batman: Arkham Knight
XboxOne, PS4, and PC
Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
Developer: Rocksteady Studios
Release Date: June 23, 2015

Update on TheProtector!

Hello everybody,

It has been a while since I have posted anything on the site and I just wanted to give an update on why and what I have plans for in the future for my GVN posts.  First off the main reason I haven't been posting much is because I am back in school finishing up my bachelors degree.  A lot of my focus has been on school and completing my classwork.  I have been able to finally find a balance between work and play so I have finally had time to play some video games.

GVN Preview: Echo of Soul (PC)

Echo of Soul
Preview
Publisher: Aeria Games
Developers: Nvius
Genre: MMORPG

Echo of Soul is the latest Korean MMORPG to be published by Aeria Games. I was fortunately enough to get into the closed beta to check the game out.  I found a few very interesting things tha I want to dive into right away.

What I have in the works this month.

I know it has been awhile since the last post but I have a few things in the works. First will be a review of the recently released Neverwinter for the Xbox One. I will be following that up with a preview of the upcoming MMO Echo of Soul from Aeria Games. The last thing is hopefully another preview, this time of Smite for the Xbox One, assuming that there is no NDA in place.  So stick around and get ready for some hot stuff happening soon here at GVN.

Amiga CD32 Month issues.

So needless to say that my dedication to the Amiga CD32 has been a bust.  I was only able to get out 2 videos.  I will attempt to have a part 2 for the games released before the end of the month but it's been hard for me to find time to play any game for a long period of time and record that footage.  However I will find a way to continue coverage of this great system by posting some snippets here and there about select games that I've acquired so far.

Amiga CD32 Month - The Games of the CD32 Part 1

GVN's AmigaCD32 - System Info

April is Amiga CD32 Month!

Many of you are probably wondering what is the Amiga CD32 and what kind of games came out for it.  Well I will happily answer all those questions as I will take a retrospective look at the swan song of the infamous tech company Commodore.  Starting April 2nd, I will talk about the system itself and I will follow that up retrospects of the games that graced the system.

Star Trek Month - Star Trek 25th Anniversary (NES)

Star Trek 25th Anniversary - NES

"Of my friend, I can only say this: of all the souls I have encountered in my travels, his was the most... human." - Admiral James T. Kirk, Star Trek 2: Wrath of Khan

GVN Review: Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate (3DS)

Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate
Nintendo 3DS
Publisher: Capcom
Developer: Capcom
Release Date: February 13, 2015

GVN Radio Episode 48

This is a rather short episode as Hubbs, Andrew and Anthony discussed what they've played, the Gamergate episode of Law and Order SVU and talked about what dead genre's they would like to see make a comeback.

Download Episode 48

Star Trek Month - Star Trek: The Next Generation (Sega Genesis)

Star Trek: The Next Generation (Sega Genesis)

If there ever was a game that truly captured the essence of The Next Generation, it was the game that was made for the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo.  Titled "Echoes from the Past," the plot of the game could easily span a two part episode that the series did at least once each season.  The synopsis goes like this, an ancient relic is found and the Enterprise and her crew go to meet the Archaeologists that discovered it.  In the mean time the Romulans get involved and now you have to save the archaeologists.  After that you intercept a dormant unidentified alien ship and after waking the crew now set off on a journey to take their place in what can only be considered a race to acquire a powerful artifact.

Star Trek Month - Star Fleet Academy: Starship Bridge Simulator(32X)

Star Trek Starfleet Academy: Starship Bridge Simulator

We continue Star Trek talking about one of the few obscure titles in the franchise.  It isn't so much a game in the sense of the other titles that came out at the time, but it was more like.... well a simulator. Starfleet Academy actually takes place during the Original Series and you can tell because you never see a Efrosian in The Next Generation and beyond.

Star Trek Month - Star Trek 25th Anniversary (PC)

For all intense and purposes, Star Trek is an essential part of the make up of sci-fi fans all over the world.  Created by the legendary Gene Roddenberry and airing in the late 1960's, Star Trek became a phenomenon as it captivated tv audiences and introduce William Shatner, Leonard Nemoy and DeForest Kelly to the masses as the immortal Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock and Bones McCoy.  The years to follow had Star Trek become one of the biggest franchises in the world.  After four movies following the first shows cancellation, a revival came with the herald Star Trek: The Next Generation which caught on better than the original series. Next Generation lasted seven seasons as opposed to the three of the original series, proving to be the more popular of the iterations.

GVN Radio Episode 47

Hubbs and Andrew are joined by the famous JamesMK.  They discuss the bold moves of Microsoft with the HoloLens and Windows 10, Andrew talks about eh huge game changing update for Dark Souls 2, and we get to know JamesMK on a personal level.

Download Episode 47

The votes are in. Star Trek Month begins next week.

After a good vote during the last GVN Soul Saturday stream plus combined votes from Facebook, here are the top 4 voted games.

Star Trek - NES
Star Fleet Academy
Star Trek Armada*
Star Trek 25th Anniversary

* Edit * Because of graphical issues, I had to swap out Armada with another game. I can't properly review a 10+ year old game if it's barely playable on modern PCs.

The review and stream schedule will go as follows:

Star Trek 25th Anniversary (PC) - Review Feb 4th / Live Stream Feb 5th

Star Fleet Academy (32X) - Review Feb 11th / Live Stream Feb 12th

Star Trek TNG (Sega Genesis) - Review Feb 18th / Live Stream Feb 19th

Star Trek (NES) - Review Feb 25th / Live Stream Feb 26th

Thank you for the votes and I can't wait to relive these wonderful games.

February is Star Trek Month!!!

I declare February to be Star Trek Gaming month. As a poll, I will list a bunch of star trek games I own or played and the top 4 voted games I will cover(1 per week). I'll also live stream some star trek games on thursday nights. Here are the list of games.

Star Trek - NES

Star Trek 25th Anniversary - PC

Star Trek TNG - Genesis 

Star Trek DS9 - Genesis

Star Trek Star Fleet Academy - 32X

Star Trek TNG Final Unity - PC

Star Trek Armada - PC

Star Trek Online - PC

Preview: Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate

The release date for Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate has been announced.  February 13th, 2015 will be here before we know it but how do you know if you will like the newest addition in the Monster Hunter franchise.  Well I have a preview that may help make a decision on trying out this new Monster Hunter game.  As of yesterday Jan. 15th, Nintendo has been sending out demo codes for the newest game in the Monster Hunter series.  The game is Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate and after playing the demo the game is pretty amazing.

Happy New Year and a new episode of GVN Radio!!!

GVN Radio kicks off the new year with a brand new episode.  Hear what Hubbs, Mark, Andrew and Anthony have to say about 2014 and what they expect in 2015.

Download Episode 46