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The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Review

“The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom” was released in the US in May 2023. It was developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch as a sequel to the critically acclaimed “The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild” (BOTW) from 2017. This action-adventure game retains and expands upon the open-world exploration of BOTW’s Hyrule, introducing new dimensions of gameplay.

Players once again control Link in his quest to save Princess Zelda and thwart Ganon’s destructive plans. The game stands out for its expanded vertical exploration, allowing players to traverse both the skies above Hyrule and a vast underground realm known as the Depths. “Tears of the Kingdom” was initially conceived as additional content for “Breath of the Wild” but grew into a full-fledged sequel due to the abundance of new ideas. The game has sold over 19.5 million as of September 2023 and is one of the best-selling games on the Nintendo Switch.

I bought Tears of the Kingdom on release day, May 12, 2023, and I’ve put in more than 245 hours of gameplay. After really digesting everything I played, I want to share my experience.

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NES: 8 Eyes Retro Gameplay

I used to update this website multiple, sometimes dozens of times per day. I covered every bit of game news I could. And I loved it. But then I got a job that made it nearly impossible to continue without complete burnout. Eventually, it helped me land a side gig of doing game reviews for a well-known tech reviewer. So that’s where I spent any of my extra game journalism time. That lasted for maybe a year, and I could have kept going if I wanted, but I needed to focus on my career.

Fast forward to 12 years later and I want to come back. But I don’t want to publish news anymore. I just want to have fun.

So with all of that said, this is the first of what I hope will be more gameplay videos on this site. I realize that this first video isn’t up to par with the quality of most gameplay vids these days but it’ll get better. So I hope you stick around!

Continue reading “NES: 8 Eyes Retro Gameplay”

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DIY Super Mario Bros. Cat Tower

mario-bro-cat-climber-1

I don’t have a cat, but if I did I would totally make a Super Mario Bros. cat tower. I almost want to get a cat just so that I can build one of these!

Redditor “collinferal” built his own cat climber and posted a picture (seen above) of his final creation on Reddit. Check out that thread for more tips on building it.

The cost for this project ran about $140 in materials.

  • 6 hinges (each box has an opening door)
  • 3 magnetic clasps
  • 2 50-foot rolls of sisal rope
  • Wood
  • Paint
  • 2 buckets
  • 2 bags of 50 glue sticks
  • 1 can of polyurethane

He even took some video of the cat using it.

This project was based on the Etsy item “Super Mario cat complex,” which you can see below. Also freakin’ awesome!

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The original costs $200, plus $45 S&H, so you can save $100 by building your own, maybe even more with some modifications or if you already have some parts laying around.

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Why You Should Play Games With Your Kids Even If Society Thinks It’s a Waste of Time

Kid plays Donkey Kong

My wife is 22 weeks pregnant right now with our little baby girl. I mentioned to my wife when we first found out she was pregnant that I can’t wait for our daughter to get old enough for me to play video games with her. My wife said that she doesn’t want our kid to play video games because games are bad for kids and a waste of time.

What!!??

Ok, now I get why people think this. I’ve heard this my whole life. But being an avid gamer since I was just a little kid, I know differently. I feel like games have benefited me greatly. I’ve always believed that my eye-hand coordination and reading skills have been enhanced by playing games. Games are also a great way for me to wind down, relax and recharge.

People can make all the assumptions they want, but recent studies are showing that games are great for both kids and adults in many ways.

In older adults, scientists at the University of California have found that playing video games can increase cognitive function and can treat neurological disorders. The researchers even believe that video games might be on par with prescription medications.

Just 15 minutes ago, my local news station aired a short story about Dr. George Sachs treating young kids with ADHD with video games. They used strategy-based games in the study and found that the volunteers showed better speed and accuracy on cognitive tests. That’s big news.

I don’t know how beneficial all games are for kids, but you’re probably safe giving your kids educational games or games that promote critical thinking. My favorite games as a kid were RPG’s which is what I think helped my reading skills develop so strongly. These are the kinds of games I plan to play with my daughter and I’m glad to know that gaming can be so beneficial in cognitive development.

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Upgrading Your Playstation 3 Hard Drive

PS3 Hard Drive

I currently own a 60GB Playstation 3 and I’ve realized that it’s pretty easy to fill up the hard drive and have to start deleting things, so I can imagine how often I would have to do some clean-up with a 20GB or 40GB hard drive.

If you are having the same problem, you may want to consider upgrading your hard drive to something a little more hefty. Sony actually posted a link to CNET on their Playstation Blog about how to upgrade your PS3 hard drive. I’m actually kind of surprised that they posted something about this, because I thought it would have some kind of effect on your warranty.

One really cool thing you could do instead of opening up your PS3 is getting an external hard drive. I’d actually like to have a 250GB but then I might end up storing too much stuff and have a real big mess later down the road that I really wouldn’t want to clean up.