Paul Meekin

CHICAGO – Of “Star Trek”’s 725+ hours of film and television over the years, I’ve seen at least…650 of them, probably more. I care about the franchise, care about its canon, and absolutely love taking every opportunity I can to explore its themes, scientific theories, history, and lore. It’s a show with nearly unequaled depth. Hell, seemingly years of my life have been spent at www.ditl.org reading about the soft-sciences behind the “Star Trek” mythos. I also really liked what JJ Abrams did with the property in the 2009 reboot, and its sequel, too - despite its…murky relationship with the laws of physics.

CHICAGO – There’s nothing quite like exceeding bottom-of-the-barrel-low expectations. Considering “Call of Juarez”’s less than spectacular reputation amongst gamers - the last game in the series was referred to as “the kind of racist one” - it’s kind of neat to see the franchise may have a little something to offer after-all.

CHICAGO – Much to the chagrin of practically everyone I know, the idea of “relaxing” is a bit…underwhelming (which is probably the point). Even with the crash of the waves, warm sand, girls in bikinis, surfing, snorkeling, and the ability to re-enact those Corona beer commercials, well, not to sound ungrateful to the Barbadoses and Bermudas of the world, I’d be bored in 10 minutes. But if you give me an arcade, or a golf course, or a football, or, well, thousands of undead zombies, as is the case in “Dead Island: Riptide” suddenly we have ourselves a ball game.

CHICAGO – I’m of the mind that the most enjoyable video games are often times, in a way, toys. “Grand Theft Auto”, “Far Cry 3”, “Minecraft”, “Red Faction: Guerrilla”, and even the best sports games like “NBA 2K13” and older “NCAA Football” titles all contain features or elements of gameplay that tickle the tinkering part of a player’s imagination.

CHICAGO – My favorite 80’s sci-fi movie is a hammy flick named “Guyver II” starring David Hayter - the voice of “Solid Snake”, the EA sports “It’s in The Game!” guy, and writer of “X-men: United”. I’m fully aware “Guyver II” was released in 1994, but lets not split hairs, here.

CHICAGO – “Darkstalkers: Resurrection” is the latest effort in a series of attempts by Capcom to capitalize on their storied past by releasing compilations of popular games to the XBLA. “Resurrection” collects the bizarrely titled “Night Warriors: Darkstalkers Revenge” and “Darkstalkers 3”, into one convenient package along with an assortment of goodies including bonus videos, art, youtube replays, and a bunch of other stuff to hopefully satiate the desires of the long neglected fan base.

CHICAGO – I like to think most everyone fondly remembers the golden age (roughly 1987 - 1991) of arcade-y side-scrolling beat em’ ups. “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”, “The Simpsons”, “X-Men”, “Golden Axe”, “Double Dragon”, “Streets of Rage”, “Maximum Carnage”, and about a half dozen other games had the nation’s youth punching, kicking, jumping, and special attacking through quarter after quarter in the arcade, and continue after continue on their home consoles.

CHICAGO – I played the first “Bioshock” about a year after release and managed to avoid all the spoilers. What an experience that was. A deconstruction of game linearity wrapped in a beautiful, decaying, underground once-utopia that brought ideas and philosophy to the table, in addition to a huge arsenal of weapons and special powers - plasmids.

CHICAGO – I rage quit “Tiger Woods PGA Tour 14’” multiple times. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed it, and I think the franchise has put out quality games in the past, but when it came to putting in this year’s edition, it wasn’t uncommon for me to miss my hit window, short my putt, stand up, turn my Xbox 360 off, and storm outside in search of an adorable kitten to boss around.

CHICAGO – In theory, retro-game re-releases for modern consoles are great. Between upgrades in hardware architecture and OS, format changes from cartridges, to CDs, to DVDs, to digital, and, sadly, the decay of the American arcade, the ability for gamers with an eye towards history to sit back and enjoy a classic is somewhat tricky these days.