No Blog Posts, No Tweets, No Random Sonic the Hedgehog Doodles… I bet you’re all wondering what’s going on over here at Hundstrasse.com?? 

Well, the good news is that I’m writing this now so there’s no need to keep fiddling with the rabbit ears on top of your set; not that analogue TV has been a ‘thing’ for years now, nor do I have a TV show. The reason things have been so quiet on here is that my wife and I have recently welcomed player 3 to the game! Yes, that’s right, I’ve entered the world of ‘being a dad’ full of fun packed activities such as deciphering the foreign language that is baby products, ensuring that my offspring survives, and sitting awake at 4 am wondering what exactly could be so terrible that it necessitates such unrelenting screaming. Of course we’re absolutely delighted, but it transpires that those first few weeks after having a baby are pretty non-stop without much shape or structure or time for really anything else. There’s also the additional problem that even the Nintendo Switch mini-controllers are still a bit too big for the critter’s tiny hands … oh, and they can only focus 20 – 40 cm away from their face at the moment which has scuppered plans for immediate parent/child gaming time!

The upshot for you all is that my blogging schedule is likely to be even more erratic than it has been over the past few months with the plan being to essentially fit it in whenever I have a moment. The upshot for me is that I’m in the process of modifying how & what I play. Obviously fill-tilt-headphones-on PC gaming sessions aren’t really on the cards at the moment (not least of which because it looks like our lounge is scattergunned with an array of baby products and I can barely make it to the PC) as nap-time can end rather suddenly and often takes place with a parent pinned in place barely daring to move. the upside is that I’m getting much more use of of the Nintendo Switch than I had been in recent months. The ability to pick it up either on the big screen or in handheld form and quickly pop it back to sleep at a moment’s notice makes it almost ideally suited to new parents grabbing a quick game. I’m currently finally getting around to playing ‘Golf Story’ that 16-bit styled half golf simulation, half RPG is an ideal pick up and play option full of short challenges and longer rounds suitable for all occasions…. and I have to admit having had a bit of a sort spot for golf games since I first played Greg Norman’s Ultimate Golf (“SHARK ATTACK”) on Atari ST many many years ago.

We’ve also managed to resurrect the PS3 (yeah, I bet you didn’t even know that I had a PS3… not that it was every used for much more than Little Big Planet) so that my wife can finally get around to playing Last of Us and maybe… just maybe I’ll finally play MGS4… possibly…

In short we’ve defaulted to couch gaming.

Of course this also fits in nicely with my ongoing Resident Evil 2 challenge, especially as I’ve already managed to push through the more time-critical unlocks so I’ll hopefully be able to continue with that a bit more once we start to find a rhythm to the days.

August Wrap Up

Despite all the excitement, I did manage to write a few articles during August. The first of which relates to a decidedly queasy visit to the world of Quake in VR. Dashing around those murky dungeons at 90’s FPS speed turned out to be something of a motion-sickness inducing winning combo for the ol’ VR headset and despite wanting to soak up more of it I had to shelve it after only a small handful of levels and lengthy periods of lying down afterwards.

Next up I gave my impressions of the intriguing Bendy and the Ink Machine; a stylish survival horror game of sorts that I sampled on the Switch. Sadly, even having let simmer in my mind for a few weeks, the controls marred the whole experience somewhat…

Looking Ahead to September

As I’ve already said, September is likely to be pretty patchy, but I am hoping to be able to jot down my Golf Story thoughts and maybe even make it through the odd RE2 scenario depending on how parenting goes…

I’m also open to recommendations for good baby compatible games if anyone has any particular experience in that field??  HAPPY SEPTEMBER ALL!!