Fun and Games

Perhaps as a safety measure, all the card game events seemed to have disappeared from this year’s Show. (QR codes flagged the chance to try mobile games on your own phone.) Bandaii still had a huge footprint with multiple booths. A huge line wrapped around Tamashaii Nations (below) on Thursday when they released exclusives for Dragon Ball Z, Cowboy Bebop, Voltron, and more. The Gaming section seemed to be more devoted to toys and books related to Bandaii games than getting excited about upcoming versions, which is probably what everyone needed when we’ve all been at home playing games but unable to get any imported toys.

Demon Slayer (right) displayed statues and sword replicas related to the Sega game inside a beautiful courtyard set up. The red skull and crossbones (far right) was on the floor in a completely different section of the Show, but I liked it here.

ALL A BLUR With a sea of people only standing in line or looking at displays, it felt like nothing was happening. In the past I could photograph my kids and other fans reactions to new video games. Now I have slow shutter speed.

While it looks a bit like a museum behind great ape Vegeta, he is there to signify the stat of a new mobile event, Dokkan Battle. Vegeta should have been there in March to ask New Yorkers to be patient while they waited for their turn to receive the COVID-19 vaccine and tout the new air filters. HISTORY Founded in the ’40s, Toei Animation is the studio that has produced the likes of Dragon Ball, Sailor Moon, and Transformers.

I was not anticipating NBA2K22. I was so unbelievably disappointed in 2K21, that I had decided 22 was a stay away for me. The closer we got to launch, I started reading more and more about gameplay and AI improvements. After finally seeing the game in action, I decided I would take the plunge. I am so happy I did. Gameplay is so much smoother than last year. Gone is the shot stick (thank god) and there have been vast improvements to offensive logic and defensive AI. All of that makes for a vastly improved and enjoyable experience. Hopefully they don’t ruin this experience by patching it or releasing super-powered cards too quickly. I’ve enjoyed the first month of the game tremendously. I think I’ve already played 2K22 more than I ever did with 21.