Hemrawc - Gamster81 Interview at ATC Expo 2023

 

The following is an interview of John Lester, better known as Gamester81, on January 21st, 2023 at ATG Expo in Waco, TX.  The prompts and questions as well as responses have been modified for brevity and clarity. https://collectorvision.com

Green Phoenix - Next Article Planned Release on February 10th

 Greetings everyone,

As many of you are perhaps aware if you follow me on Twitter @TheBronyCritic, I plan to attend HarmonyCon in Dallas, Texas from February 17th - 19th. Because of this, I found it necessary to take this week and next to not only prepare and rest up, but also build up a stockpile of articles to make the convention season easier.

The next article, which is set to be my newest countdown article is taking more time than expected but is planned for February 10th, the week before the convention. To provide you all with articles during what should be the middle of my work month (before my mandatory health week), I feel that taking two weeks to recuperate and write will be just what I need to maintain the level of productivity that you all have come to expect from me.

If any of you have any questions or even suggestions for articles, be sure to post them down below.

-The Brony Critic (Green Phoenix)

Cameron Hons Releases New Album, "You Can't Get Arrested", Celebrates 20th Anniversary Of Original Music

 

Overthinking Music - Gives You Hell (All American Rejects)

 Here is an experimental new simple article idea, explaining what a song means to me and overthinking it. Lately, this 2008 single has been on my mind a lot because it reflects my own mindset. Click "read more" for my take.

Tiger Claw Radio #438 - Trouble at 343 or Whatever Who Cares

Green Phoenix - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone Review

With the new year now well underway and my plans for new content reviews needing to wait until the shows and series are either finished or progressed enough to truly gather a sense of their quality, I feel it more prudent than ever to come up with more classic or nostalgic film reviews. And of all the series' that have a massive impact upon my childhood and teenage years, the Harry Potter franchise arguably more than any other franchise helped to define it.

These days the reputation of the Harry Potter franchise has, in some ways, been colored by the unfortunate behavior of its creator in recent years. This has left many fans wary of the franchises' new releases (particularly things under the now generalized Wizarding World brand) and discussions of the work removed the author are often difficult among online circles.

Despite this, I still recall the sheer thrill of waiting in line for the new book releases (something I have never done for any book release before or since) and the costume contests at new movie releases (I would win quite a few times as Harry Potter as I look a lot like the character in the book). It is with this in mind that I came to the realization as to what I would focus my aims on in 2023 in terms of associated franchises.

Just as my early articles had the James Bond series every few weeks (even if we didn't get all the way through them at the time), throughout this year, I will be doing a review of each of the Harry Potter films. Of course, doing this requires that I start at the very beginning, with the black sheep of the Harry Potter series (at least in my opinion).

From 2001, Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone (because I grew up in the United States and this is what the film is called for us. It's what I grew up with and I will be referring to it as such throughout the review below). So let's get into it.

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Top 5 Horrible Bullies in Cartoons

 

Here is a random topic that has been on my mind for awhile, bullies in cartoons. There are so many different examples of bully characters and stories/reasons for there existence. So, to keep things simple, I have based my picks on the bullies cruelty, motivations, and how much karma gets them back.

Tiger Claw Radio #437 - Suikoden Coming to Steam

Cheap Cheevos #10: All About Thomas.

Issue number ten! It only took a bloody year to get it. It has been a rough year for me. Fell very ill, got diagnosed with colitis, had a camera up my arse, nearly died from taking colitis medicine, had a hole drilled into me, nearly got into a fist fight with my doctor, and I put an Egyptian voodoo curse on one of my co-workers (not telling you which one). You don't care about that though. What you want to read about is how to complete more easy achievement sets. This is good. I hate talking about what I went through, and I have a lot of fun writing about video games. Although, some of these games are not fun to go through.  

Anyway, seeing as this is the tenth issue, I've got something special lined up for you. I'm covering six games instead of the normal five. All of these games are all from one franchise, Thomas the Tank Engine. Yes, hard to believe that this series has at least six games with achievement sets. Hell, it's hard to believe that this series has at least six games. Anyway, Thomas the Tank Engine has some very easy achievement sets and it'll make you think that the Fat Controller thinks that you're a very useful engine. (Click on "Read More" to read the full article).

Powerman 5000 - Live in Sydney, Australia 13/01/23 Concert Review - Better Late than Never!

 

Green Phoenix - Reader Rabbit: 1st Grade Retrospective

 

The last few computer/video game retrospectives that I have written have all been working around the ClueFinders educational series. These games were designed to entertain and educate students between 3rd Grade and 6th Grade, acting as both late elementary school and middle school prep games. But before I ever played the ClueFinders series, my sister and I were introduced to an entirely different educational video game series. One focused far more on an even younger demographic, kindergartners and first graders. I am, of course, discussing the Reader Rabbit series.

In fact, it was through the Reader Rabbit franchise that my generation can lay claim to first true "educational video game" generation. We were the first to have video games and digital media form a core and essential part of our educational experience and preparatory work (as our school sold Reader Rabbit and ClueFinders games at the end of every year for students to play over the summer and prepare themselves for the next grades content ahead of time). Focusing on a variety of simple grammar and mathematics work, Reader Rabbit worked to provide a fun and simple way to slowly introduce children to concepts that they would further explore during school, a setup that was widely successful and led to The Learning Company (the production company) to become the name in educational gaming.

And while my personal emotional connection is tied far more to Reader Rabbit 2nd Grade (due to my memories of its more heartwarming story), I feel it is a tremendous disservice to the legacy of this franchise to not start with the first major computer game that my sister and I ever played together. A game which, while simple, did fantastic work in setting up kids for the world of Reader Rabbit, even if my sister and I only ever played two games in the series before we were transitioned into the ClueFinders.

Released in 1998 by The Learning Company, let's look back at Reader Rabbit: 1st Grade.

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Do "Choices" Hurt Storytelling in Video Games?

 

Recently I have been re-playing Fallout 4 a lot and watching several guides on choices that have to be made. A common conclusion I hear in these videos is something along the lines of "it depends on what you are role playing as". That's the thing though, I don't really do strict role play, I am a completionist and try to do as much as possible in a game. This makes me think back to a lot of games that forced me to make choices I did not really want to make and wonder if they truly benefit from having them. Click "read more" for my thoughts.

Tiger Claw Radio #436 - Buyers Remorse

Stop Asking For A Switch Pro or Switch 2

 

Green Phoenix - 2022 in Review

HAPPY NEW YEARS!

2022 has been a year of massive transformative changes for me, primarily in my personal life. At the beginning of the year, I had officially moved out of my parents house and begun fully living on my own, which has been a fantastic adventure and a great challenge for my daily life and commitments to writing and video work. But I like to think that this year has been one where I have risen to meet that challenge.

Writing for Emerald Rangers has been a wonderful exercise in maintaining my analytical mind and improving my literary credentials. While I might not always be happy with every article I release (in fact, my perfectionist mind is rarely happy with anything I release or make) I do believe that everything I release is a genuinely good reflection of my own state of mind and how the films, shows, books and games discussed reflect on the world and myself at that moment. The art of criticism is often a deeply personal and self-reflective quest and it has been a genuine pleasure in continuing that adventure over the past year, despite some of my more domestic challenges.

Below is a list of the statistics and personal indication as to how my articles are performing and what changes, in any, may be needed as we move into 2023. This article, which I always release at the first of the year, is a chance for me to see the status of my contribution to the website and plot a trajectory for the coming year.

***

Emerald Rangers - Top 5 Most Viewed Posts of 2022

 Happy New Year everyone! Maintaining this website has not been an easy task, but one I am glad I stuck to. The biggest factor that kept me going is the simple goal of creating a brand that all my friends and I can post under together and the memories that have come from it. So, just to send off the last year and to reflect, I will be counting down the top 5 most viewed posts in 2022 based on Bloggers Stats page. Please note, this is not a list of the most viewed of all time, only within the last 12 months.

HCG: Everyone is an ***hole! (Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Courses)

via IFTTT

Tiger Claw Radio #435 - Duke Nukem and his place in the world now