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New Backporch Beer

We’re moving! The new home is still in need of some revovation, but as part of a New Year’s Resolution to post/write more — spreading my opinion like a retro-virus — I am reinvigorating Backporch Beer with a new blogtool (Wordpress) and hopefully a facelift and easier comment system. In a few days I will change this site to point to the new stuff, and until then you can check it out while I’m knocking down a few walls and putting on a fresh coat of paint.

http://www.rollerfeet.com/bpb2/

Casual Gaming Gains On Console

Let’s face facts. I am getting old and cranky — even when it comes to video games. I don’t have the time/energy these days to learn your fancy intricate control systems or memorize your belabored backstory. I want to start the game (without a drawn-out installation or configuration) and immediately enjoy it, then quit when I get distracted a few minutes later.

JayIsGames.com is a regular in my RSS feed so I can keep up with new casual games. I was a devoted fan of room escape games until the redundancy wore me out. I have three accounts on different Travian servers (although a workplace firewall ban may reduce my dedication.) I played tower defense games and even was active with The Casual Collective (until they started using ports that were blocked by my workplace).

Now, casual gaming has hit the consoles with original content. I played LocoRoco Cocoreccho! and flOw (based on the flash/web game) and even wasted some holiday time with the appropriately titled Pain — where you launch your avatar from a large slingshot into an urban landscape earning points for injuries and damage. I hadn’t even thought about how much I love the tower defense genre until I saw a video at IGN for PixelJunk Monsters and it makes me confident I’ll be using my PS3 a lot more…it may even be the app that kills my thirst for stars.

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