First Edition, Instant Classic 🥇

Hello there! Welcome to the first edition of Gamer Dad Energy! A newsletter where we cover gaming news, tips, and nostalgia for busy gamers.

We get it. Life is busy. Between work, family, responsibilities, and everything else fighting for your attention, gaming time is not always easy to find. But that does not mean the love for games goes away.

That is why we created this newsletter: to give you a quick, easy way to stay connected to the hobby you love without asking for more of your already-limited time. Whether you have hours to play or just a few minutes to catch up, we’re here to bring you the gaming news, stories, and conversations that matter.

Thanks for being here and joining us on this journey. Now, in the immortal words of Mario, Let’s-a Go!

Valve has officially revealed the specs and pricing for its upcoming Steam Machine, and it looks like gamers will have a few options to choose from, but at a significant hit to the old wallet, with performance that is only on par with a base PS5…

Unlike a traditional gaming console, Steam Machines are essentially pre-built gaming PCs designed to run Steam and connect directly to your TV. The goal is to deliver the flexibility of PC gaming with the simplicity of a console experience.

The biggest surprise of the announcement was the price. Given the current status of RAM and GPU prices, we knew the price would be high, but many gamers are saying the Steam Machine is DOA. Below is the pricing breakdown:

Valve has stated that they aren’t selling the console at a loss (like Sony and Xbox). Valve isn’t interested in making a profit on subscriptions to play games online with friends; instead, they’re making the console’s pricing cover their costs.

While the cost is higher than most of us had hoped, the Steam Machine is shaking up the market and perhaps paving the way for future console-PC hybrids, much like the upcoming Xbox console code-named Project Helix.

Are you interested in a Steam Machine? You can learn more and reserve yours here!

_-BensZ28

It blows my mind how this freaking game is still freaking good. It’s amazing, even with all its bugs that are still hard-coded in the system. There is a reason we haven’t received Elder Scrolls 6, and I believe it’s the stupid success of Skyrim.

Todd Howard says that Skyrim has sold over 60 million copies, which would put it at number 9 of best-selling games in history, according to this wiki page. The problem is, Todd Howard likes to exaggerate when he speaks, just like how I like to put on an extra sock before I say hi to my wife at night.

Anyway, the real purpose of this segment is to talk about Skyrim VR. If you have a headset and a modern PC with a good router, you have to try Skyrim VR. Just walking around and hearing the music as a fetching skeever jumps out of the bushes to t-bag you in the face is a heart-racing experience I have not had in a long time.

Seeing the jagged mountains from the ground perspective and making the perfect stealth sniper shots have already taken up 30 hours of my life, and I have yet to fight my first dragon. It’s simply one of the best VR experiences out there and one of the best gaming experiences from a masterpiece that feels human in this AI world!

Here’s the link to the modding community if you want to try it for yourself!

_-MadHad

Def Jam: Fight for NY is one of those games that feels almost impossible now. It was a brutal, over-the-top fighting game packed with real hip-hop stars, grimy arenas, wild finishers, and a style that made it feel more like a playable music video than a normal brawler.

But that is also why it probably could not be made today. The licensing alone would be a nightmare. The game featured artists like Snoop Dogg, Method Man, Ludacris, Xzibit, Ice-T, and more. Getting all those names, likenesses, voices, and music cleared again would cost a fortune.

That is also why a remaster feels unlikely. Even though fans still love it, Fight for NY is trapped in the past. It is not backward compatible, it has never been remade, and physical copies are expensive. It is a classic that deserves a comeback, but likely will never get one.

WATCH: You can watch Def Jam Fight for NY being streamed on Twitch via our partner, Backwards Compatibility, go check ‘em out!

_-BensZ28

Hide your wallet! The Steam Summer Sale is officially live, running from June 25 through July 9, and thousands of PC games are getting major discounts. This is one of the best times of the year to grab games from your wishlist, pick up older titles you missed, or finally buy that one game you keep saying you’ll play “when it goes on sale.”

Some of our favorite games are on sale, and if you don’t already have these, check out these awesome deals:

Our advice? Check your wishlist first, set a budget, and don’t let a 75% off tag trick you into buying 12 games you won’t touch until 2030. But hey, we’ve all been there.

A. Nintendo GameCube

B. PlayStation 2

C. Xbox

D. Sega Dreamcast

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Catch the Live Stream on Twitch here: Backwards Compatibility

C. Xbox