nerdynebraskan

@Gaia Gensouki 91 points on New Year's Day? That has to be a new one-day record. In fact, I think I wouldn't be surprised if @Gloves (with 65 points) wasn't close to or beyond that previous record as well.

Tetris is done.

WWF WrestleMania Challenge is done.

Tecmo Super Bowl is done.

Monopoly is done.

I thought I was the only one who played this game!

Jaws is done, and so am I. Goodnight, y'all.

Mega Man is done.

Pac-Man is done.

Dr. Mario is done.

Chip N Dale Rescue Rangers is done.

Friday the 13th is done.

I'll have some time right away, so I'll be around for the "gold rush" season that comes with the new year.

Hey y'all, I've been thinking about this for weeks, and I think it's time for me to prioritize other things in my life. I'll contribute next year, but I'll be much less involved with this challenge. I'll play some of my favorites, and maybe do some first-time clears or revisit some gems I haven't played in years. I'll be curious to see who comes out on top!

Because he was playing an NES game on an AV Famicom. The pin configuration is different enough that the cartridge has to face backwards. It's also true if you play Famicom games on an NES top loader.

Welcome to the 700 club! You earned it, given how much you put into this earlier in the year.

@Gaia Gensouki is alive! I believe this is my third year beating over 200 games for this challenge, but only my first time eclipsing 900 points. I've scored about 60 points better than my previous single-year best. I've definitely been wondering about what happened to you. You were crushing me. You mentioned something about needing to slow down. And then, you were just... gone. I hope you can beat at least one more game. As of right now, your effort this year has earned you the mantle of being one of only four players to score 690+ in a year. But I'm still the only one who has ever scored 700. It would be a shame for you to stay stalled out there with more than 100 games still on the board.

Big Nose Freaks Out is done.

All-Pro Basketball is done for another year.

I'm now 20-0 in All-Pro Basketball. I should have this finished in the next few days. Now that I've reacquainted myself specifically, I thought I'd share some tips for @Khromak or anyone else who would care to tackle this in future years: If you block an opponent's dunk, hold down the D-pad diagonally in the opposite direction for your best rebounding odds. E.g.: If you are blocking from the left, you'll be holding down + right. The best accuracy for layups seems to be on the left side of the hoop. Dunks are still the most reliable way to score, but I get through the games faster by shooting from the floor. If a defender is on top of you deep in your own end, try a half-court shot to get the ball out of there before it's stolen. The ball clears into CPU court about 90% of the time, and I have 50%+ odds of having a player in position to make the rebound and get an easy shot in the paint. The best bet for stealing the ball is to just stand on top of the CPU player holding the ball; there's no need to push buttons. CPU has a bad habit of sometimes just running side to side near half-court. That's a prime spot to steal. You can also sometimes steal by standing in their passing lane, but you're better off standing on top of the ball-holder unless you're specifically anticipating a pass. Passing is for suckers. It's almost always safer to run all the way up the court with one player. Just try to run away from the nearest defender at a diagonal angle to reduce their odds of stealing. I will only pass if 1) a defender is on top of me and 2) I have a player selected right in front of me who is open. You can't run out of bounds or across the back court, so don't worry about overcompensating on the D-pad when you're running away from a defender.

I'll be starting All Pro Basketball.

Congratulations on finally taking third place. What's next for you, @Khromak?

I've heard that, but I literally don't know where to start on any Koei games. The screen is just full of abbreviated commands and such. It just seems like an indecipherable mess of micromanagement. I've considered playing it straight from start to finish with a walkthrough, but that doesn't have much appeal.

@Khromak I guess I'll have to do All Pro Basketball again this year. I'll share some specific tips after I re-familiarize myself with it. I've had thoughts of tackling Gemfire and Shingen the Ruler, but that interface is just... overwhelming. Let's go ahead and tag the master in: @Daniel_Doyce

Long time, no see! You seem to be playing through in roughly alphabetic order, but is there some sort of more specific method to your madness? Do you skip games that give you too much trouble?