As usual, I probably should have done more posts this month but I've been relaxing more or less and playing games. I should have a new toy video up this weekend though I haven't recorded it yet or even started the blog post so I could fail to get it done. Maybe I should be doing that instead of writing this but the month ends in two days and I need to get the monthly update done! The video will be about a few Tomy art kits from the late '70s/early '80s as it sort of relates to Halloween. I also chose them now because I recently received a comment on a previous Tomy video that indicated the person's interest in seeing more Tomy products.
Today I tried the Hot Wheels Unleashed game that released at the end of September. It has a fair amount of content, lots of cars and tracks to unlock, and there is a track editor. There aren't a lot of locations for the tracks, just a variety in each spot like maybe eight or more set at a basement, garage, college campus, skatepark, and skyscraper. You're basically driving the toy cars through full-scale environments. Not sure if I'll do a "Let's Play" video or not but I have posted gameplay footage on the Game Boys & Girls YouTube channel I run.
There was some interesting G.I. Joe video game news since my last update. Hasbro's Wizards of the Coast division has opened a game studio and its first project will use the G.I. Joe brand. That's about all the information there is on that so I'm sure it is years away as they are just getting started. The holiday shopping season appears to be starting next week based on the ads I've seen. Also, news reports indicate some toys could be hard to find due to all the shipping issues so you may want to get started soon. Since I have to mail my gifts to Arizona and I've also got to cover birthdays in November, December, and January, I have already begun putting together gifts.
This month I watched a new documentary called Playing With Power: The Nintendo Story. It's from the same people that made Video Games: The Movie in 2014, and while I've not seen that one, it got a lot of negative reviews. However, I'd say Playing With Power is worth checking out, especially if you're a child of the '80s that had a NES. It's broken into five parts and about five hours long overall, and the first part is definitely my favorite as it details the early history of the company, shows a variety of Nintendo toys, and had a few tidbits here and there I didn't know. Most everything else is about the NES all the way up to the Switch and will likely be familiar to most knowledgeable gamers.
The biggest disappointment is that there are no interviews with Nintendo of Japan employees, only those that helped build up Nintendo of America. Plus there are other people from the industry (Nolan Bushnell, Trip Hawkins, Phil Spencer, etc.) featured throughout, as well as Wil Wheaton and some people I'm not familiar with. A lot of the non-industry folks are there to recount their childhood memories about playing Donkey Kong, Mario Bros., and The Legend of Zelda for the first time. Of course, I couldn't relate to those stories as I had Sega and other platforms rather than a NES, SNES, or N64, but I still found it fun to watch. There are two hours of extras that don't add much as they are primarily about making the video and a few things are repeated.
I've posted a McDonald's image a few times in the October updates and here it is again!
Happy Halloween!
-Jonathan
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