Guest post by: David Parsons
Game: Katamari Forever
Platform: PS3
Release date: July 23, 2009

We're throwing it back here a bit since this game has been around for a while now, but the Katamari Damacy series keeps on giving. Long after you've finished playing every level and restored the cosmos, you'll find yourself saying, "Hmmm, I feel like rolling up some junk." Or at least I do. Not only is it still fun even after you've already beaten it, but it's great to show to an unsuspecting friend who has never seen it before and watch their reaction to the concepts of the game play. FULL ENTRY

Platforms: Apple iOS (iPhone); Android (not yet released)
Price: $7.99

Unless you’re one of those freaks, running pretty much sucks. It’s hard and it’s boring. While nothing but training can make it any easier, there are ways to make it more interesting.

Enter Zombies, Run!, an iOS app created by developer Six to Start and writer Naomi Alderman that turns your running routine into a game. Six to Start calls the app a “Running Game and Audio Adventure,” and as far as I know, it’s the first of its kind.

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Smelly

Clammy with excitement
Hands fly across the face of the controller
Across the face of the board

Migrated East
Strange birds sit cross-legged in piles

Stations and booths hold wonder after wonder after wonder
Lines stretch out in right angles
Held up by concrete floors and expectations

What brings you here, Free Heart?
I hear only

A chorus of nerd farts

Most of us in 2012 have phones that are capable of playing games. Not all of these phones or games are equal, but whether you have an iPhone, an Android, a Windows Phone, or you are some poor silly bastard still stuck with a BlackBerry, chances are you can play Angry Birds on it. Hell, even if you have one of those crazy old phones with buttons on it, there are still games you can play that are entertaining enough to make you forget your train ride, your wait at the doctor’s office, or those excruciating two minutes of boredom during commercials. Games like this may not be high art, but they are enough.

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When Nintendo formally announced the Wii U, it’s upcoming home console, at the 2011 E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo), it gave me pause to think about my storied past with the video game colossus, what it has meant to me, and if our relationship is headed for a dead end.

When I was a little kid, I was in love with Nintendo. I’d play my NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) until my thumbs were sore, and then I’d keep playing. I didn’t have very many games, and I wasn’t particularly amazing at them, but that didn’t stop me from attempting the the same level in Ninja Gaiden more times than I could possibly stand to now. Maybe I’ve lost my patience, maybe I just didn’t know any better, but I was a machine.

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Hi!

Welcome to Joyschtick, a blog about video games and the world they live in.

I have a confession to make before we begin: I’m not the best at video games.

::sigh::

It’s true. My love for video games has always exceeded my skill at them. I’ve been playing games for 25 of my 30 years, and I just haven’t improved all that much. But even though my hands may not have the smooth tracking and spidery dexterity required to pull off a headshot from across the map, I can touch-type like a mofo, and I’ll be using those skillz to blog the crap out of you.

Now that that’s out of the way, let me tell you a little bit about myself.

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