What am I playing?

Of course I keep gaming. I've been gaming as long as I can remember and God willing I'll never stop.

What's really great is that my son Ephraim has the same itch as his dad. This year he finally has his own TV and Xbox is his room and he gets to play on weekends. We actually had a weekly Twitch steam for a little while, but my computer sucks and it ended up being a real pain. Maybe I'll go back to it once I can afford to buy a new computer.

So yeah, I'm Xbox all the way these days. If I could afford a PS4 I'd buy one too, I'm not one of these herb fan boys who's "Team Xbox" or whatever. These kids don't know that these corporations don't give a fuck about them but their cash. I like the Wii U although it's pretty much dead. Splatoon, Mario Kart and Smash are awesome. I definitely want that Switch!

I have an Xbox One cause I love the exclusive games, and that extra TV functionality and Kinect was cool when it worked.

I'm so pissed about my Kinect not working. I actually really like the voice commands. It's too bad Microsoft doesn't support it. Mine only stays on for like thirty seconds maybe. It blows. It's a 60 dollar paperweight right now. The TV integration is really cool too, but I've recently had problems with that as well. Stuttering mostly. Plus your picture quality dips a little when using it so combined with the aforementioned paperweight, what's the point? Those things are bonuses for me anyway, it's always been about the exclusive games. Halo, Gears and Forza are dope franchises are console sellers for me.

So what am I playing? First and foremost I played the crap outta OVERWATCH this summer. I still would be if all these other incredible game didn't just come out. OW is the perfect combination of fighting game and FPS strategy. It's an unbelievably polished and fun game. Problem is that it needs MORE at this point. More modes, maps and characters. That stuff is on the way, but not fast enough. I really thought Blizzard would drop the hammer on the industry with a big content drop leading into fall but sadly they didn't. They currently have a Halloween event going on right now and of course we know Sombra will finally be out at some point. Cool but not enough to pry me away from these other great new releases. But I'll be back, it's that good.

I love FORZA HORIZON 3. I feel Horizon 2 was the best racing game since Grand Turismo 2, and this new one just takes it to a whole new level. It's exhilarating and relaxing when you want it to be. The social aspects are super easy to use, and I LOVE how you can download other people's car tunes and paint jobs. Just brilliant.

Of course, I'm rocking GEARS OF WAR 4. Let me tell you something, it might be the best one in the franchise. The graphics are unparalleled on a console. Gears to me has always been the "Mortal Kombat" of shooters with its fucking amazing gore factor. No shooter is more satisfying then Gears when blow someone in half with a Gnasher. Halo is my favorite but it can't top that. It's 3rd person system takes a different kind of skill to be successful, and high level play is amazing to me. I'm not high level lol. If I'm middle of the road most games I'm on a roll but It's the shit. The campaign is simply the best action experience you can have this year, movies and TV included. It's that much fun.

I just recently received Titanfall 2 for my birthday. I loved the first, so I was looking forward to getting my hands on this one. First of all, it's a well executed game. I'm happy there's a campaign this time and I'm looking forward to rocking that out. I played some rounds of multiplayer last night and it's pretty fun. Not as mind blowing as the first one was though. Maybe it's because every COD since has copied the best parts of TF (minus the mechs) and it's kind of stale. Maybe I'm just kind of sick of FPS games right now, especially with FORZA and GEARS still fresh. It's definitely dope, and it's cool to play with some old friends who wouldn't normally. I'm reserving final judgement until I rock it out a bit more. I can't judge a game based on other games in my library you know what I'm saying?

So there it is. I really want the NES CLASSIC, SKYRIM SPECIAL EDITION, FINAL FANTASY 15, TEKKEN 7 ETC ETC ETC LOL. I gotta pay bills though! Let's see what I can hustle up.

Hey if you want to connect with me, it's @floworcrash on Twitter & IG. My XBL gamertag is xDon Snowx . See you out there!

A Dad RISES

Man, sure is dusty in here. What is that, Pizza? Jesus it was Pizza, now it's trying to grow into a new life form.

It's been a long time. Too long. Life is one long Roller coaster boy. Sometimes up, sometimes down, sometimes really down (is this thing broken). But just like the legendary Ric Flair said, "When you're a champion, you're never down you just STAY UP."

Staying up for me is writing. Creatively expressing myself. I've made too many excuses but I gotta get back at it man! Let's dust this place up and let's go!

I wrestled with the idea of changing the name of this blog, because the format is going to be different. If anyone remembers the old look, you'll notice it's different. Cleaner. I'm also using my real name.

My name is Richard Donohue, nice to meet you.

I'm still a Dad who games, and that will always be a big topic, but I want to expand this blog to encompass my other interests as well. Sports, Movies, Books...nothing is off the table. If I want to rant about current events, I'm going to.

Stream of conscience is the name of the game folks.

I decided to keep the blog name the same cause its a metaphor for life. I hope that you'll want to come on this journey with me, so that it can be a metaphor for you as well.

Those that know the "30 Man Code" or Konami code are of a certain age. I know now it's more mainstream pop culture knowledge, but if you needed to look in Nintendo Power, or watched in Gradius as your ship blew up if you tried it, you know what I'm about. 

Plus, in essence, what did the Konami code do for you? It gave you extra lives. Enough to make a very difficult game much easier. That's what life is: A very difficult game. This blog will help me get through it, just like the ol' Up, Up, down, down did for me all those years ago.

Thanks and I hope you stick around!