Caleb Sherman
Bio
Twitch.tv streamer (Amnesia Duck), retro game enthusiast (don't ask me about Ataris though), lucky husband, and author.
Stories (39)
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Nintendo 'Falls' Short This Season
Getting Direct September has come and gone with no new Nintendo 64 game for Nintendo’s Switch Online Expansion Pass. With October upon us it has been almost exactly one year since Nintendo launched the Switch Online Expansion Pass with its original nine titles. Since December of 2022 Nintendo has released one title per month for a total of nine new titles (at least outside of Japan). The only odd months out in this distribution pattern have been November 2021, and September of 2022-the reason for my lamentations.
By Caleb Sherman3 years ago in Gamers
The Four Fantastic Mario & Luigi Co-op Games Nintendo Needs
The era of the couch co-op game has been upon us for a while. It's not like the idea is new, but in recent years couch co-op games have dominated the multiplayer market, those and battle royale games. Franchises like Kirby and Donkey Kong have featured couch co-op since their early days. More recently the Super Mario 3D games have featured 4-player simultaneous co-op, Kirby has evolved into the 4-player landscape as well, and even the Legend of Zelda franchise has expanded into multiplayer formats, albeit not always local. But it's about time that Mario and Luigi branch out into some new couch gameplay experiences. With that in mind, here are four Mario, Luigi and Co. games that we need in the near future.
By Caleb Sherman5 years ago in Gamers
The Five Epic Spin-Offs We Want from Nintendo IPs
Nintendo is no stranger to placing their characters in bizarre situations. From golf to board games, tennis to go-karts, and soccer to an all-or-nothing brawl, Mario and friends have found themselves in uncountable spin-offs. But the Mario brand isn't the only IP to broaden its horizons, though it does have the broadest. Indeed, Link and other Hyrule natives have taken to hack-and-slash combat a la Dynasty Warriors; the Star Fox crew have taken to the skies in full on tactical combat; and space marines from the Metroid universe had the pleasure of going on four person space co-op missions. So, why not Nintendo? Why not expand into some other new frontiers?
By Caleb Sherman5 years ago in Gamers
The First Boss Complex
First impressions are the most important. Someone said this, at some point, and they were right, at least in most instances. This is why most media, including video games, try to start with the best foot forward. Murder mysteries showcase a resolved case or a murder in action. Horror movies tend to start with a scare or an eerie introduction. With video games this means a strong tutorial section or a cinematic masterpiece of a cutscene to get the story going.
By Caleb Sherman5 years ago in Gamers
Looking Forward to 'Star Wars: The Rule of Two' Trilogy
Recently, while out to dinner with a friend of my wife's—and in turn a friend of my own I suppose—I had the sheer pleasure of discussing the train wreck that was Star Wars VIII: The Last Jedi. Between rants about incompetent leaders, ridiculously rogue plans, misleading epic fight scenes that culminated in disappointment and very serious questions about nuclear fusion engines and momentum in a frictionless environment, we came to one perfect conclusion: we can not wait for Star Wars IX: The One That Got Away, to release. With only one good reason why: so that Star Wars fans could get the trilogy of movies they deserve.
By Caleb Sherman7 years ago in Futurism
Looking Forward to Carnage vs. Venom
There were two things in “superhero” film that I hoped to see from my first viewing of Spider-Man in theaters in 2002: a movie with Venom as the main character, and a movie with Carnage as the villain. The animated Spider-Man series of the 90s did a very good job of endearing Peter Parker and his serial allies and enemies to me in my formative years, but none stick out so clearly in my memory as Carnage and Venom. Now, while this may be because in my adolescence and indeed into adulthood I have been something of an “edgelord” I prefer to believe that my affinity for Carnage stems from the epic finale of 2000 Nintendo 64 Spider-Man game, where Spidey and Venom must throw-down with Doctor Octopus and Carnage, before culminating in an adrenaline pumping chase scene with “Monster Ock,” the terrifying combination of Doctor Octopus and the Carnage symbiote.
By Caleb Sherman7 years ago in Geeks
Let's Tank Akali | 'League of Legends'
Not everyone can be a tank, not everyone can survive a prolonged fight, some people are intended to get in and get out, and for many, fight or flight always terminates in flight. I'm of the opinion that anyone can survive a long fight, particularly so in the case of video games.
By Caleb Sherman7 years ago in Gamers
The Allure of Strategy Games
Real-time strategy (RTS) games and turn-based strategy (TBS?) games have one major detail in common, they're all about money. One might assume when such a broad and vague statement is made, that the reference is to the real-world purchases that keep game companies afloat. In fact, this is instead a statement of a broader pool of currencies: battlefield currencies and national resources. Allow me a moment to reminisce and divulge the secrets of these worlds that are less about tactical domineering and more about economic engineering.
By Caleb Sherman7 years ago in Gamers
Let's Talk About Dun(e)can Idaho
The Duniverse (that is, the Dune Universe), whose life began with the publication of Frank Herbert's original masterpiece in 1965, is a lush wonderland of possibilities, despite its arid world of inception. One character in particular single-handedly explores a majority of those possibilities on his own: Duncan Idaho. I have never had the great pleasure of looking at Mr. Herbert's original manuscripts, so I cannot tell you exactly when Herbert decided that Duncan Idaho, not “the Atreides,” was the main character of his Dune books. But rest assured that he is, and any further reading by anyone who has not finished the main Dune series (that is up through the end of Sandworms of Dune) will be riddled with spoilers.
By Caleb Sherman7 years ago in Futurism
The Death of 'Origin On the House'
Between the unveiling of The Sims 4's Seasons expansion, Battlefield V's closed alpha and some miscellaneous announcements about Unravel 2, Electronic Arts managed not to bring my attention to the fact that they ended the only service for which I followed them. The Origin platform's “On The House” game section has been ended permanently as EA rolls out updates to the Origin Access subscription system. Ironically, it seems to me the only reason to keep Origin installed now is to have access to the games EA previously gave away.
By Caleb Sherman7 years ago in Gamers
Common Man's View: 'Extinction'
Extinction, a Good Universe production and recently released Netflix film, presents the story of Peter (Michael Pena), the father of a family faced with the “extinction” of the human race following an alien invasion, or at least, that's how it's advertised. This high science fiction thriller wastes no time getting into the action, initiating the movie with a nightmare from the viewpoint of our protagonist as aliens invade Earth. Anyone intrigued by the idea of an alien invasion movie with more than one consciousness blasting twist should stop reading this review and go watch the movie with a safe assurance from your common man that this is a movie worth watching twice. So...I think between stellar acting, a few good reveals, and a plot that I can enjoy twice, we're giving her a five out of five!
By Caleb Sherman7 years ago in Futurism
