history - Mr. Dave Pizza

Quantum Leap – Last Call at Al’s: A Tribute to Dean Stockwell

Post author:mrdavepizza
Post published:November 10, 2021
Post category:FILM & TV REVIEWS

One of the best actors in Hollywood passed away in the past couple of days at age 85. Dean Stockwell, the actor/artist/environmentalist/cigar-enthusiast, is notably remembered for his role as Al Calavicci in the '80s/'90s TV time travel show Quantum Leap. I had always intended to talk about Quantum Leap here somewhere since it is one of the most influential productions I have ever spent time with, "within my own lifetime." With the news about Mr. Stockwell, I guess maybe this is a good time.

Doubts is A Surprisingly Powerful Yet Short Visual Novel

Post author:mrdavepizza
Post published:April 11, 2021
Post category:GAME REVIEWS VISUAL NOVELS

Doubts is a short interactive fiction game from a talented solo developer by German artist, Fulmen. Play the role of Gerda, a woman in 1926 Berlin, Germany. She has decided to run away with her boyfriend and is left by herself during her boyfriend, Joseph's, temporary absence. She contemplates her surroundings and decisions in a session of examining items around their hotel room while he is away. Without certainty, she wonders if her decision to be with Joseph is such a good idea.

City of Heroes is The Best MMORPG That’s Now Defunct

Post author:mrdavepizza
Post published:February 25, 2021
Post category:PIZZAPOST

Well, quick FYI, City of Heroes hasn't had a live official server in years. There was never anything wrong with it. I'm not really sure why they even shut it down, many people today still would like to play it. But I guess they just felt it was dated or didn't make money, or they just didn't want to produce content for it anymore. I don't know, but I would love to step foot in Paragon City once again. What was it? City of Heroes was an MMO that simulated player life as a superhero that you could play with…

Art of Rally and My First and New Impressions

Post author:mrdavepizza
Post published:February 20, 2021
Post category:GAME REVIEWS

Somewhere in my past, I played an awesome rally game that came fully loaded with mud-flapping corners and virtually no control over anything. I also know that these aren't a grapevine of hits in the racing genre, but rather a genre unto itself. That said, I had no idea before Art of Rally that rally races have a rich aesthetic history that looks darn fine low-poly rendered on a computer screen. Okay, let's get meta. Art of Rally: Go I don't want to bog this down with too much research, because I know there's some treatise on the themes of…

“Cyberpunk” as a Genre And Not Just 2077

Post author:mrdavepizza
Post published:December 18, 2020
Post category:BOOK REVIEWS

It's everywhere now. It's downloaded into your cortex. Drips off the neon katakana of your tube hotel vacancy sign. It's hidden in the channel tuned to static on your peripheral, cyphered, cybernetic headset. It provides the foundation as well as the motivation for things high above its paygrade, but it is still only a literary genre--beyond video games. "Cyberpunk." I'm talking simstim, black mesa stuff here, not Grand Theft Hovercar.