Screenshot: Ubisoft

Top mention: Shakedown: Hawaii | $ 80 | Wii U

With the PS5 and Xbox Series X. In the world, the generation console lines have shifted. PS4 and Xbox One are officially the last generation, which makes the PS3 and Xbox 360 very old. With how far we are from these consoles, they are on the verge of going retro. For some players who grew up with them, they already are. I’m not just mentioning this to say, “Do you want to feel old?” Bomb … okay, maybe that’s exactly what I’m doing here. But the realization made me ask a random question: what are the last few games to buy on seventh generation consoles?

You will be surprised to learn that every console except the Nintendo Wii was still getting new releases in 2020. That means gamers who couldn’t stand packing up their beloved consoles from yesterday could actually take advantage of some of it. They may not have brought out the best AAA games, but even big studios like Ubisoft still consistently supported old consoles for some of their franchises. There are also a handful of indie game developers who quietly dropped some modern retro games on them.

These “End of a Era” games are a collectors item for fans, so I did a little research to find out which games were last released on these consoles and where to buy them. Dust off your PS3 and get ready to feed some games.

Shakedown: Hawaii

Image: VBlank Entertainment

Shakedown: Hawaii is likely the last physical game we’ll see on most of the old consoles outside of niche gimmicks. The 16-bit action game allows players to roam freely in Hawaii and commit all sorts of island crimes. But the most interesting thing about it is that it was released on PS3, Wii U, and Wii in the summer of 2020. Oddly enough, the game was released physically, including a very limited number of 3,000 copies on the Wii, making it a sought-after collector’s item. Go to amazon and You can find copies of the Wii U version as high as $ 100. Of course, you can always buy it on more modern consoles for $ 20, but where’s the fun in that?

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$ 80

Retro City Rampage DX

Image: VBlank Entertainment

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I can’t mention Shakedown: Hawaii without mentioning it Retro City Rampage DXthat uses the same release strategy. You need to hand it over to the developer Vblank here. There’s really no point releasing a Wii game in 2020 other than making a firm commitment. While these two games could easily have fallen off the radar in a sea of ​​retro setbacks, the bizarre launch decision made them essentially timeless. No matter what, these two will always be a strange trivia party fact or a strange footnote in a game history book. At a time when there are so many games that it is difficult to stand out from the crowd, this is certainly one way to do it. And considering I’m writing about it right now and telling you how to find a copy, I guess the gambling paid off, right?

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Just dance 2019

Screenshot: Ubisoft

Ubisoft’s Just Dance series is frankly notorious for hanging out a lot longer than it suits her. While third-party games tend to cross-release in the first few years of a generation change, Just Dance manages to stick around for as long as possible. New Just Dance games were just the ticket Wii, Xbox 360, and PS3 deep in 2018 when the proverbial dance floor was completely cleared. It’s hard to hold Ubisoft responsible for the tactics. The games are aimed at families, so a lot of kids won’t be the smarter when it comes to which consoles they own. Parents can get away with keeping an old one in the house and hope that their child won’t notice for years that there’s a new Xbox. You can expect Ubisoft to follow the same strategy in the future as Just Dance 26 will inevitably be released on PS4 for the next several years.

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$ 39

From Amazon

18 bought by readers

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$ 37

From Amazon

3 bought by readers

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$ 40

From Amazon

13 bought by readers

FIFA 19

Screenshot: EA Sports

After all, this list is not complete without talking about sports games. Games like Madden and FIFA are the real cockroaches of video game culture. Not because they are gross pests, but because they are survivors who will survive us all. People who only own consoles to play a sports game don’t necessarily have to spend $ 500 to play the next FIFA. They just want their annual releases, including the minor roster changes and updates that warrant another purchase. FIFA fans have collected more kilometers PS3 and Xbox 360 than any other player, and I will stand by this claim 100%. Dust off your old 360 and grab a copy of FIFA 19 if you want to see what some video games looked like three years ago.

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$ 30

From Amazon

6 bought by readers

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$ 26

If you are curious how much time you actually spent try to escape the hell of 2020 through video games, your PlayStation knows. Sony has just launched its official PlayStation Wrap-Up page, where PlayStation 4 and 5 players can access a breakdown of their gaming habits over the past year. think Spotify is wrapped up, but for your PlayStation.

The report mainly focuses on PS4 players who can see:

• How many games did you play in 2020?
• Total hours played.
• Your most played games.
• How many hours did you play online?
• Your average playing times for each day of the week.
• Earned trophies.

The wrap-up also has some PS5 data in it if you are one of the few who own the hard-to-find console. You can see which games you played, how many hours you played in total and which trophies you earned in 2020.

In addition to your personal metrics, there are also global stats for popular games released in 2020 like The Last of Us Part II and Ghost of Tsushima. You can also download a unique PS4 theme.

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To access your PlayStation Wrap-Up, simply log in to Wrap-up side with your PSN account. You must be 18 years old and have at least 10 hours of gaming time on a PS4 in 2020.

All of this assumes that the website is actually working for you. I’ve tried accessing my PlayStation Wrap-Up on Firefox, Edge, Brave, and Chrome on Windows and Android, but none of my attempts have worked. And it looks like this I am not the only one having this problem. I’d love to show you how much time I spent last year playing (and playing again) Final Fantasy VII Remake, Demon’s Souls, and Monster Hunter World: Iceborne, but unfortunately the internet goblins foiled those plans and I haven’t found any workarounds yet.

We hope the problem will be resolved soon. Annual reworks like this are usually only available for a limited time. Nintendo offered its Switch users a similar year in review, but the page is no longer accessible. I suspect too many users are trying to access their PlayStation wrap-ups at the same time. So keep checking back to see if you want to see your stats.

In the meantime, if you’re a PC gamer too, Valve is kicking off one in 2021 Steam Game Festival with hundreds of free demos to play with.

Photo: stockfour (Shutterstock)

Seven years ago, Nick Pavlidis talked about podcasting at the dining table and piqued the interest of his then four-year-old son Pavlos. “I explained to him that it was like a radio show, but on the computer,” says Pavlidis. “Back then, podcasting was still relatively in its infancy. He said, ‘Oh. Can i have one ‘”And so it is Five minutes with papa Podcast was born.

Over the past few years, Pavlidis has released 200 episodes with his son Nick and daughter Angela, now 11 and 9 years old.

“It was an amazing experience to have this audio diary from my children, ages four and two [years old] up to 11 and 9 years old, ”he says. “It’s really cool to hear some of our really fun conversations.”

Getting started is easier than you think

Thanks to the longstanding persistence of the Pavlidis, Five Minutes with Dad has built a regular audience that records new episodes on topics relevant to all families. And that’s how easy it can be to create a podcast with kids – get started. The only real requirements are a computer and a USB microphone. You’ll also need audio editing software – and there are free options for that, for example audacity.

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How often you record and post episodes is also important so that they know when to expect new content when looking for an audience. When working with children, Pavlidis also recommends keeping things short.

“The reason it’s five minutes with dad and not 45 minutes with dad is because it took us a good hour to get five minutes of useful audio when we started,” he says. “Don’t worry about perfection. Start going live and over time you will improve a lot and really have conversations with your kids about what is important to them. You learn a lot about them. “

It took us a good hour to get five minutes of useful audio when we started. Don’t worry too much about perfection. Go ahead and go live and over time you will improve a lot.

The editorial page

It is also important to give children opportunities to develop topics to make them feel like owners. Five Minutes with Dad topics include helping out in your community, choosing a pet, letting go of things you can’t control, being a role model, learning outside of school, and more. These issues are inherently large, and that is by design. According to Pavlidis, the topic of the podcast is personal growth and leadership for children. In this context, the ideas and topics come from Pavlos and Angela.

“I let my kids run with most of the creative control of the show,” says Pavlidis. “You determine the topics. I would encourage parents to be the structure of the show, but let your kids run with creative control because it keeps their interest and makes them excited and creates the opportunities to really make magic happen. ”

Letting the kids set the editorial direction has resulted in good content, but it has also helped Pavlidis learn new things about his children. During on-mic conversations on a specific topic, they often use examples or share details from their friendships or other aspects of their life.

“My daughter or son will give me context or things that they feel about the issues we are talking about. [or] Instances or examples of things [they’ve experienced at] School with her friends, ”he says. “I learn a lot of really cool things about how they’re feeling or what they’re up to on the show, but it also helps the audience have those conversations [with their own kids]or make yourself more comfortable having important conversations. ”

The show has also served as a major medium as Pavlos and Angela adjusted to the drastic changes in their lives during the pandemic. According to Pavlidis, recording episodes helped everyone remember to just slow down and talk.

“Sometimes you don’t take a break from the hustle and bustle of online learning or just through the days to have deep conversations,” he says. “It helped have some really positive conversations between me and them that alleviated some of their stress related to the pandemic.”

The business side

However, Pavlidis also uses the show to teach other valuable lessons. He pays Pavlos and Angela $ 10 each per episode, which is then broken down into smaller categories: $ 2 for donations, $ 2 for savings, $ 2 for investments, and $ 4 for spending.

“If you want something that costs $ 8 or $ 10, don’t ask me about the money, just say, ‘Dad, can we do two podcasts?'” He says. “I use the podcast as an educational tool to teach other important lessons. It’s not just about the show, it’s about how we can use the show to reaffirm important principles my kids should know. ”

Various free and paid services are available for hosting podcasts that allow listeners to download episodes as soon as they start recording. Platforms vary, and some have limitations on file size or the number of downloads allowed. Popular options are Podbean, BuzzSprout, anchor, Spreaker, and transistor, but these are just a few of the many possibilities.

Above all, Pavlidis recommends overcoming the idea of ​​having to be perfect or building an audience right away. Just dive in and get started.

“It’s so worth it, even if no one [else] listen, ”says Pavlidis. “We have been blessed to create some downloads and a following. It really pulls me to the heart, but even if it wasn’t, it’s worth spending these moments with the kids. ”