Hi!  Thanks for visiting ‘Obscure Video Games.’  First and foremost, I created this site as a hobby.  I enjoy playing video games (when I have time), and I felt it would be fun to create a blog to write about some of these games.  My posts of individual game reviews will be random, not based on any one particular game system – just whatever I feel like reviewing, I guess you could say!

Additionally, I should also point out that I AM NOT AN EXPERT IN ALL THINGS VIDEO GAMES, just a guy who likes playing sometimes, among A LOT of other things.  I love video games, but as I’ve heard it pointed out, it’s really just plastic and PCBs, and there are many more important things in life!  My first and foremost priority is being the best husband and father I can be!  I always figured that if I couldn’t do that, I wouldn’t be good for anything else.  I’m a teacher, so that occupies much of my time, of course.  As far as hobbies, I read as much as possible (the great Dean Koontz and the masterful Tolkien are my favorite authors), travel internationally whenever I can, and watch a ton of college football and basketball; I’m a proud Auburn (’03) and Georgia State (’09) alum.

I am a Christian, and I try to lead my life according to Jesus’ teachings as best I can.  I’ve seen, heard, and read a lot in this world, and the only answer I’ve discovered that has ever made any sense, or given me any peace, is Jesus Christ.  Being a Christian isn’t easy, and I make mistakes constantly, like all of us do, but I do try to improve my life in the many ways I need improving, and God knows I’m still a work-in-progress.  I long ago accepted that I’m flawed, but that forgiveness and salvation are mine through Christ.  Because of this, I have peace and hope, and that is a greater joy than anything this earthly life can offer (even video games!)

Secondly, the games I wanted to review and provide information about are games that are ‘obscure’ in some way.  Now, obscure might not necessarily fit the dictionary definition here.  In some cases, I may review games from Japan that are ‘obscure’ to the average American game player.  Or, I may review older arcade games that the general population knows little to nothing about.  I tried to pick games that I just couldn’t find a ton of helpful information about on the Internet, so that those who may wish to hunt down these games for themselves would be better informed.

Any games I review come from my own collection, and I do not review games on computer emulators, although I do not have any problem with emulation – it’s just not for me.  I’ve tried gaming on emulators – I always had two problems that disallowed me from enjoying them.  One, there were too many choices!  When I first discovered an emulator with hundreds of games, I thought, “Awesome! I can play anything I want!”  But then I kept playing something for 5 minutes, and instead of investing time in it and learning patterns or leveling up or all of the amazing things you do when engrossing yourself in a game, I kept thinking, “I wonder what I should play next?” and I’d keep doing that, and never really enjoyed playing any of the games.

One the other hand, when I have one game and one game only in a console, that game has my undivided attention.  Reason number two, and even more important, is my desire to have a hard copy, a tangible object to use for gaming.  Psychologically, I think there’s something to that – I simply get no real satisfaction from playing a video game that is not a physical copy.  Anyone reading this probably falls into one of two possible categories – either you think, “That’s ridiculous, it’s all in your head – it doesn’t matter how you play the game, what matters is the game itself,” or those few who are like me who think, hopefully, “I understand exactly what you mean.”

I also have no interest in modern consoles.  I’ve given honest tries in playing PS3 and PS4 consoles, but I just can’t maintain any interest or enthusiasm for their games, even remakes of old games that I love.  I grew up during the NES and SNES days (those were my childhood consoles), and I never got far beyond them.  Anything past the Sega Saturn era just doesn’t do it for me (I actually did have a GameCube when I was in my final year at Auburn, and there are a few games for that system that I loved).  As far as modern consoles go, I particularly don’t have any desire to see menu crossbars filled with things that don’t directly involve playing a game, care anything about online gaming, or want to have to do constant ‘updates’ just to play a game.  All I want is to put in a physical copy of a game, press Power, and have that game and only that game as an option.

   All of the games I review will be in hardware format (either cartridge or disc).   Reproductions?  Absolutely.  You’ll find that many of my reviews are of reproductions or English translations.  But they’re always physical copies.  Also, any game images I post along with my reviews are pictures I have taken of my television with my camera, not pictures I pulled from the Internet.

Remember, my reviews are only my opinion of the game – again, I’m no expert on video games – I don’t have that kind of time!  Your opinion of the games I review may be different, and that’s perfectly fine!  I hope you enjoy the website.