City Games

City Games City Games transforms the city into an interactive playground, where challenges, puzzles, and engaging tasks await around every corner. Play local games.

Win local prizes.

Before PlayStation and Nintendo were rivals, they were working on the same project. 🎮Sony’s path to PlayStation began wi...
09/03/2026

Before PlayStation and Nintendo were rivals, they were working on the same project. 🎮

Sony’s path to PlayStation began with a partnership to develop a CD-ROM attachment for the Super Nintendo. The idea was to bring disc-based technology to Nintendo’s cartridge-based system. That means one of Nintendo’s biggest competitors has roots in a project intended to expand what the Super Nintendo could do. PlayStation’s official account.

The collaboration even produced prototype hardware combining Super Nintendo cartridge support with a CD drive. But the partnership unraveled. In 1991, Nintendo announced a CD partnership with Philips, and although Sony and Nintendo continued discussions afterward, their shared project never became a retail product. Sony eventually moved forward with its own independent console. Project history.

That console became the original PlayStation, which launched in Japan on December 3, 1994, and in North America on September 9, 1995. It went on to sell more than 102 million units worldwide. A relationship that began with Sony helping develop Nintendo hardware had become one of gaming’s defining rivalries. PlayStation’s official timeline.

Imagine how different your childhood game collection might have looked if that partnership had worked out.

What was the first PlayStation game you couldn’t put down?

One business per category. Will yours be the one locals discover?City Games turns exploring your community into a game. ...
09/02/2026

One business per category. Will yours be the one locals discover?

City Games turns exploring your community into a game. Players complete challenges, earn points, and compete for local prizes. Your business can be part of the adventure.

Become the exclusive partner in your category for your community’s Suburban Side Quest and get:

📱 Your own branded mini-game with 10 challenges
📣 Promotion across four City Games social platforms
🏆 A sponsored monthly challenge and rotating leaderboard banner
🔒 Your category’s exclusive sponsor spot

Founding partners pay just $79/month for the first 12 months, regularly $97/month. We’re also waiving the $150 setup fee.

Give locals a new reason to discover your business.

Message us your business category and city to check availability. No commitment required.

TRY IT @ citygames.co

Batman has a surprising Michigan connection, and it’s hiding right in the name Bruce Wayne. 🦇When Batman co-creator Bill...
09/02/2026

Batman has a surprising Michigan connection, and it’s hiding right in the name Bruce Wayne. 🦇

When Batman co-creator Bill Finger was developing Bruce Wayne’s identity, he later explained that the surname Wayne came from Revolutionary War hero General “Mad” Anthony Wayne. Finger wanted a name that suggested wealth and colonial American history, and Anthony Wayne provided the inspiration.

Here’s where Michigan enters the story. Anthony Wayne played an important role in establishing American control of Detroit following the Revolutionary era, and Wayne County, Michigan, home to Detroit, was named in his honor. So while Batman wasn’t created in Michigan, the historical figure who inspired part of Bruce Wayne’s name has a very real connection to our state.

From Gotham City to the Great Lakes, that’s a pretty wild piece of Michigan pop-culture history. 🦇

Grand Rapids is your game board. 🎯The new CITY GAMES FIELD GUIDE is packed with easy, out-in-the-world challenges you ca...
08/27/2026

Grand Rapids is your game board. 🎯

The new CITY GAMES FIELD GUIDE is packed with easy, out-in-the-world challenges you can knock out while you’re already exploring the city.

📸 Grab a Downtown Snap
☕ Check in at a local coffee shop
🍹 Score Patio Points
🌉 Cross the Blue Bridge
🎨 Hunt down some public art
🌳 Take a lap through Riverside Park

Every stop is another excuse to get out, explore Grand Rapids, complete challenges, rack up points, and work your way toward local prizes.

You don’t need to clear your whole day. Pick a challenge, head out, and start playing.

PLAY LOCAL GAMES. WIN LOCAL PRIZES.

🎮 Play City Games now. https://citygames.co

08/27/2026

Did you know East Grand Rapids once had a huge amusement park right on Reeds Lake?

For decades, Ramona Park was one of West Michigan’s premier entertainment destinations. Located along Reeds Lake in East Grand Rapids, the park featured roller coasters, amusement rides, a theater, dance pavilion, boat rides and crowds of visitors who came from across Grand Rapids and West Michigan for a day at the lake. The park grew out of the streetcar era, when the Grand Rapids Railway Company helped turn Reeds Lake into a major recreation destination.

At its peak, Ramona Park looked almost nothing like the quiet Reeds Lake waterfront Grand Rapids locals know today. Its famous wooden roller coaster, the Jack Rabbit Derby Racer, towered over the park, while the Ramona Theatre hosted live entertainment and the lakeshore bustled with visitors. The amusement park era eventually came to an end, and Ramona Park closed for good in 1955.

Today, you can spend an afternoon around Reeds Lake, Gaslight Village and East Grand Rapids without realizing that generations of Grand Rapids residents once came to this exact area for roller coasters and amusement park thrills.

Next time you’re at Reeds Lake, picture a giant wooden coaster rising over the shoreline. 🎢

08/27/2026

When Peter Cullen walked into an audition in 1984 to voice a heroic robot truck named Optimus Prime, he already knew exactly where to find the character.

Cullen’s older brother Larry had served as a Marine officer in Vietnam. Before the audition, Peter told him he was trying out for a “hero truck.” Larry’s advice was simple: don’t play him like some loud, stereotypical Hollywood hero. “Be strong enough to be gentle.”

Cullen took that advice directly into the booth. He later explained that he essentially modeled Optimus on Larry, borrowing not only his deeper voice, but his quiet strength, dignity, honesty and leadership. Two weeks later, Cullen learned he’d gotten the role.

So one of the most recognizable voices in pop culture wasn’t really created by trying to sound like a giant robot. Peter Cullen was trying to sound like his real-life hero, his brother Larry.

08/27/2026

Kyle Chandler has one of those careers that sneaks up on you. A lot of people instantly think of Coach Eric Taylor from Friday Night Lights, and for good reason, but that is only one piece of the story. He has also played John Rayburn in Bloodline, Deputy Jackson Lamb in Super 8, Dr. Mark Russell in Godzilla: King of the Monsters, and now Hal Jordan in Lanterns.

What makes Chandler stand out is that he keeps showing up as the guy who can anchor a story without overplaying it. He was the heart of Early Edition as Gary Hobson, brought real tension to Bloodline, and has popped up in films like King Kong, Manchester by the Sea, Argo, and The Wolf of Wall Street. Whether he is playing a coach, a cop, a scientist, or a superhero, he always feels believable.

That is probably why he has stayed so respected for so long. Kyle Chandler does not usually go for flashy. He goes for steady, grounded, and memorable. And now, with Hal Jordan taking center stage in Lanterns, it feels like the perfect time to look back at just how many iconic roles he has stacked over the years.

08/26/2026

Before Mark Hamill’s Joker became one of the most iconic voices in Batman history, Tim Curry was actually in the role.

Curry was originally cast as the Joker for Batman: The Animated Series and even recorded dialogue for the character before being replaced by Hamill. Curry later said he was fired from the part, although the exact reason has gotten a little murky over the years. One frequently repeated claim is that Curry’s performance was considered “too scary,” but Curry himself later attributed the change to bronchitis, so that part of the story isn’t nearly as settled as the casting itself.

And honestly, Tim Curry as the Joker isn’t hard to imagine. This was the same actor who had already given us Dr. Frank-N-Furter and would become an entire generation’s nightmare as Pennywise in IT.

Instead, Mark Hamill got the role and created the Joker voice that would define the character for decades. But somewhere in the history of Batman is an alternate version where the Joker sounds like Tim Curry, and I desperately want to hear those recordings.

08/25/2026

Before the arena-sized productions, giant video walls and over-the-top concert spectacle we’re used to today, Dolly Parton brought something much simpler to Grand Rapids.

On August 6, 2016, Dolly played Van Andel Arena as part of her Pure & Simple Tour, her first major U.S. and Canadian tour in more than 25 years. The show was built around the thing that made Dolly famous in the first place: the songs, the stories and her personality. The concept grew out of earlier Pure & Simple performances where Dolly intentionally stripped away the flashy production and focused on a small band and a more personal presentation. (Dolly Parton)

That makes the Grand Rapids stop a pretty cool piece of local concert history. One of the biggest entertainers in country music walked into Van Andel Arena and, instead of trying to make everything bigger, deliberately made the experience feel smaller and more personal.

And yes, Dolly really was here. Her own official website still has the Grand Rapids stop archived from August 6, 2016.

Word.
08/21/2026

Word.

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Grand Rapids, MI
49501, 49502, 49503, 49504, 49505, 49506, 49507, 49508, 49510, 49514, 49515, 495

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