Ellen Degeneres' show is doing a "Top 12 toys of 2010" show. I don't watch the show, I don't care about the show. The thing is, her and her kind(talk show hosts people, mind out of the gutter) have made big gaming news lately.
I give you exhibit A. Oprah gives all her audiences Kinects.
Exhibit B. Ellen gives all her audiences Kinects.
I'm pretty sure Fallon did the same... though I can't remember. I do remember him practically having commercials on his show about it.
Anyway. I just find it funny that people think Oprah knows what the hell a Xbox is, much less a Kinect. These people were payed money to do it. Now, Fallon I can't look down upon so much, he probably would've had SOME kinect coverage, and if they're gonna throw money their way, why not take it.
The point is, Microsoft gave them the consoles free of charge and if anything payed them money.
Now we get to Ellen's Top 12 toys. On that list is going to be Tony Hawk's latest videogame. I call bullshit. Why? His first "skateboard controller" game is a infamous bomb among the gaming community. So much so that the sequel sold 3,000 units in its first MONTH. THREE THOUSAND UNITS. The worst of the worst bullshit games usually do at least 20,000. Its bad. Horrible. And its going to be on a list of the best toys for Christmas? Ellen got a check, don't let anyone tell you different.
Friday, November 19, 2010
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
A renewed look at offline Multiplayer for PS3
I never achieved a circle of online friends in my console gaming. When it comes to PC Games, I achieve it rather easily. Due to the inherent user investment of time, there are many mature and fun circles of players in almost any PC game.
When it comes to multiplayer with consoles, I prefer the offline kind. In my earlier years, it was important for me to have games like Mario Kart or Road Rash 2. Later I got away from that kind of stuff when I went hardcore into RPG's. Goldeneye and WCW/NWO Revenge brought my friends together again for 4x multiplayer. After that it was rare I enjoyed anything. Wii Bowling was good for a few days, Guitar Hero came and went.
When I got my PS3, I found myself with a room full of family members of many ages during our holidays and grill outs. When I had somewhere along the line of 20 game demos, it was Little Big Planet that stood out. I soon got the game and now had a new outlet for people of any age. It was also really great single player when no one was around.
Now I'm looking to expand my multiplayer capabilities. I have a few guidlines
-must have simultaneous multiplayer that is fun for a whole room to watch
-must be controller trading friendly so the room can quickly rotate in and out of the game
-must look impressive and not have sluggish framerate even in 4 player split screen
-must be fun from 12ish years up to sky is the limit on ages that can play
My first look is to Modnation Racers. This game isn't as loved as I expected it to be. Its like Little Big Planet combined with Mario Kart. Except there's no blue turtle shell BS. You can create your racer, you can create your kart. You can even create your track. I pretty much would have to limit people to choosing to either make a kart or make a character, but not both... in the interest of time.
Another I'm looking at is Scott Pilgrim vs The World: The Game. Its a cheaper download only game. It has 4 player fighting and it is sort of like a Double Dragon/River City Rampage game based on the comic book. I hear its very challenging even though its only 7 stages. Plus its like 15 bucks. The game is very enjoyable to watch, so I think it may fit well.
The hard thing to decide on is a multiplayer first person shooter. I do not think Goldeneye was that enjoyable to watch. We usually only had 4 people around when we played that one, so it wasn't an issue then. I hear Resistance has some good 4 screen matches, it uses more familiar WW2ish era weaponry, so nothing crazy like the RPK90. That's all I got for now, so I need to look for more.
Wrestling matches are too long these days to even bother with.
There is no interst in the group for something like Street Fighter. Fighting games are just too dependent on someone having prior experience with the game. No one would play me.
Party games are not an option, I will not "waste" my gaming on a game I'll bring out 10 times a year. I have to have something that I will play when no one's around as well.
Oh well. I'll just have to keep looking
When it comes to multiplayer with consoles, I prefer the offline kind. In my earlier years, it was important for me to have games like Mario Kart or Road Rash 2. Later I got away from that kind of stuff when I went hardcore into RPG's. Goldeneye and WCW/NWO Revenge brought my friends together again for 4x multiplayer. After that it was rare I enjoyed anything. Wii Bowling was good for a few days, Guitar Hero came and went.
When I got my PS3, I found myself with a room full of family members of many ages during our holidays and grill outs. When I had somewhere along the line of 20 game demos, it was Little Big Planet that stood out. I soon got the game and now had a new outlet for people of any age. It was also really great single player when no one was around.
Now I'm looking to expand my multiplayer capabilities. I have a few guidlines
-must have simultaneous multiplayer that is fun for a whole room to watch
-must be controller trading friendly so the room can quickly rotate in and out of the game
-must look impressive and not have sluggish framerate even in 4 player split screen
-must be fun from 12ish years up to sky is the limit on ages that can play
My first look is to Modnation Racers. This game isn't as loved as I expected it to be. Its like Little Big Planet combined with Mario Kart. Except there's no blue turtle shell BS. You can create your racer, you can create your kart. You can even create your track. I pretty much would have to limit people to choosing to either make a kart or make a character, but not both... in the interest of time.
Another I'm looking at is Scott Pilgrim vs The World: The Game. Its a cheaper download only game. It has 4 player fighting and it is sort of like a Double Dragon/River City Rampage game based on the comic book. I hear its very challenging even though its only 7 stages. Plus its like 15 bucks. The game is very enjoyable to watch, so I think it may fit well.
The hard thing to decide on is a multiplayer first person shooter. I do not think Goldeneye was that enjoyable to watch. We usually only had 4 people around when we played that one, so it wasn't an issue then. I hear Resistance has some good 4 screen matches, it uses more familiar WW2ish era weaponry, so nothing crazy like the RPK90. That's all I got for now, so I need to look for more.
Wrestling matches are too long these days to even bother with.
There is no interst in the group for something like Street Fighter. Fighting games are just too dependent on someone having prior experience with the game. No one would play me.
Party games are not an option, I will not "waste" my gaming on a game I'll bring out 10 times a year. I have to have something that I will play when no one's around as well.
Oh well. I'll just have to keep looking
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Minecraft Relocated.
Friday, November 5, 2010
Season 2 Minecraft: The River 5 Vengeance in Mine!
I started out pretty simply. I ran out at dawn, found several creepers and killed them with arrows. It takes about 5 arrows to kill them, so the "sling" sound was pretty fulfilling, but it was not enough for me. They weren't suffering.
For something filled with gunpowder, these guys sure do take a long time to burn. Which is actually fine with me, they squeal while they burn to death. Just light the ground in front of them on fire and they run strait through. Ah. That felt good.
But was it really enough? No.
This guy fell in a hole, and was then helpless. He couldn't escape, just hop there, hoping I would get close enough for him to explode... but I had other plans. I covered the hole with wood... nice flammable wood. Then I stacked gravel, nice heavy gravel on top. Oh? You didn't know that gravel falls as if held down by gravity? Neither did he.
It would be bad for him if somehow that wood was to disappear and allow all that rock come crashing down on his head.
"I don't deserve this." he said to me.
"Deserve ain't got nothin' to do with it" I said, as I lit the wood.
I then remembered I get extra rewarded for killing Creepers.
Poetic justice.
"I'll see you in hell" this one told me.
"Yeah... I reckon so" then I lit the fuse.
EDIT
----
To anyone that is new to this, this is season 2, titled: The River. Season 1 was titled: The Bay. You have to dig back a few posts to find The Bay as this is my gamer blog and I have some non-minecraft stuff going on.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Minecraft: The River episode 04
This one gets interesting at the end.
The next big cut was a rather large one, the first where I really cut into a mountain side. It was during this cut that I realized how drastic a change to the scenery this would be. This would not just require cutting work, but eventually sculpting landscapes as well. For now, the grunt work.
I surround the land areas I want to cut with torches because they are plentiful, renewable, and easily seen at night. I decided my route and I placed them down in what I thought would be a manageable cut.
Next I went to "water level" and I traced and cut out the shape so that I knew when to stop digging down while I was clearing the land to the bedrock.
I continued like this for several blocks of land. Each night I would return home with my tools, unload a ton of dirt and rock, and prepare for the next morning. The time in my treehouse was rather nail-biting. There was not a lot of room up there, and every morning I was greeted to this:
That was a light morning. I also learned the flaw to a treehouse... it shaded the undead from the sun, so every morning I had to jump out of my tree house, turn around and kill whatever it was keeping me awake at night.
So this particular morning I woke up and waited for the dead to turn to ash and I jumped out of my treehouse, only to see this in front of me:
If you remember, these things are full of gunpowder, they hiss, blow up and destroy things. I didn't want my tree house to be blown away, so I ran as well as I could. I must've stubbed my toe cause it blew up...
my oven! :(
This was a declaration.
This was war.
The next big cut was a rather large one, the first where I really cut into a mountain side. It was during this cut that I realized how drastic a change to the scenery this would be. This would not just require cutting work, but eventually sculpting landscapes as well. For now, the grunt work.
I surround the land areas I want to cut with torches because they are plentiful, renewable, and easily seen at night. I decided my route and I placed them down in what I thought would be a manageable cut.
Next I went to "water level" and I traced and cut out the shape so that I knew when to stop digging down while I was clearing the land to the bedrock.
I continued like this for several blocks of land. Each night I would return home with my tools, unload a ton of dirt and rock, and prepare for the next morning. The time in my treehouse was rather nail-biting. There was not a lot of room up there, and every morning I was greeted to this:
That was a light morning. I also learned the flaw to a treehouse... it shaded the undead from the sun, so every morning I had to jump out of my tree house, turn around and kill whatever it was keeping me awake at night.
So this particular morning I woke up and waited for the dead to turn to ash and I jumped out of my treehouse, only to see this in front of me:
If you remember, these things are full of gunpowder, they hiss, blow up and destroy things. I didn't want my tree house to be blown away, so I ran as well as I could. I must've stubbed my toe cause it blew up...
my oven! :(
This was a declaration.
This was war.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Minecraft: The River episode 03
The grunt work begins.
Remember that open mouth of hell I said I found? Well, I'm on top of it here to get a survey of the landscape below. I'm trying to plan out the path I want to take the river through the hills in this area near my Tree House.
It is not very easy to see a simple path through. The strait line method doesn't really match the contours of the land, nor does it really "feel" that's where the river would go. So I have to kind of take a detour as you can see in this shot here:
A bit further along the path, you can see that it goes beneath Hook Mountain and continues on towards the ocean in the valley between Hook Mountain and the other cliffs opposing the mountain.
So here we go, the first real big cut. I knew I was not going to do any turning just yet, so I dug strait lines in the direction I had decided. Next I started clearing the dirt out, and then I had to switch to picks so that I could get the rock out. I wanted to save all this dirt in case I needed it later. I made several big storage boxes near the tree house to hold much of it.
Finally I broke the dam once again and let it flood the area.
I know this wasn't the most interesting of updates, and I promise its not a season of "I cut here, I flood here" so stick with me, more cool stuff to come!
Remember that open mouth of hell I said I found? Well, I'm on top of it here to get a survey of the landscape below. I'm trying to plan out the path I want to take the river through the hills in this area near my Tree House.
It is not very easy to see a simple path through. The strait line method doesn't really match the contours of the land, nor does it really "feel" that's where the river would go. So I have to kind of take a detour as you can see in this shot here:
A bit further along the path, you can see that it goes beneath Hook Mountain and continues on towards the ocean in the valley between Hook Mountain and the other cliffs opposing the mountain.
So here we go, the first real big cut. I knew I was not going to do any turning just yet, so I dug strait lines in the direction I had decided. Next I started clearing the dirt out, and then I had to switch to picks so that I could get the rock out. I wanted to save all this dirt in case I needed it later. I made several big storage boxes near the tree house to hold much of it.
Finally I broke the dam once again and let it flood the area.
I know this wasn't the most interesting of updates, and I promise its not a season of "I cut here, I flood here" so stick with me, more cool stuff to come!
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Minecraft: The River episode 02
So today I was to set up and get ready to work on the River. I thought I would test the waters a bit, and learn how water worked in the world. At this time I did not even know if I would be able to make a river.
You can see Fort Lookout in the view, and that the bay turns into a sort of river and elbows off into the distance. You can also see that the river blocks up rather early in a very shallow spot, it looks perfect for my plans.
The blockage is short, so the plan is to simply cut right through the area. First I find my depth:
A creeper from the night before helped me out with that... while I was surveying, it ran down and exploded right beside me. No complaints I guess, I did not die, and now I have a start.
Next I cut a shape out in the way I wanted the river to go. I made sure not to make it too strait and to have some variation in its path so it did not look too man made. After cutting the shape, I start hollowing out the land.
Next I break the earth dam, and the water rushes in. It doesn't fill fully like real water, so I have to bring in water using a bucket to fill the corners, but in no time the river is connected with the pond and we have the makings of a waterway.
It has actually been several weeks since season 1. I did things like planted trees and flowers near Fort Lookout, I explored a bit more around the area. I am ready to move to a new area, so I think of where my river is likely to take me and I know how much work is going to keep me from Fort Lookout. I find two trees up in the hills and I make myself a tree house in their leaves and branches. I later add a simple chimney stove on the ground so that I can cook myself some food.
You can see Fort Lookout in the view, and that the bay turns into a sort of river and elbows off into the distance. You can also see that the river blocks up rather early in a very shallow spot, it looks perfect for my plans.
The blockage is short, so the plan is to simply cut right through the area. First I find my depth:
A creeper from the night before helped me out with that... while I was surveying, it ran down and exploded right beside me. No complaints I guess, I did not die, and now I have a start.
Next I cut a shape out in the way I wanted the river to go. I made sure not to make it too strait and to have some variation in its path so it did not look too man made. After cutting the shape, I start hollowing out the land.
Next I break the earth dam, and the water rushes in. It doesn't fill fully like real water, so I have to bring in water using a bucket to fill the corners, but in no time the river is connected with the pond and we have the makings of a waterway.
It has actually been several weeks since season 1. I did things like planted trees and flowers near Fort Lookout, I explored a bit more around the area. I am ready to move to a new area, so I think of where my river is likely to take me and I know how much work is going to keep me from Fort Lookout. I find two trees up in the hills and I make myself a tree house in their leaves and branches. I later add a simple chimney stove on the ground so that I can cook myself some food.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Minecraft: The River episode 01
When we left off, I had created a lookout tower to live in while I explored the world I found myself in. It was perched high upon the land and located in a bay of water. Monsters hardly ever ventured near the area, it was a nice safe haven. I began looking at my bay as a sort of highway, and it hit me; why shouldn't it be?
I did not understand the monumental task that I had layed out before myself.
If my plan was going to come to fruition, I had to find out how far I was from the ocean. I made some fresh leather armor, I cooked some ham for the trip, shined up my tools and made my trek at dawn.
My bay had a bend in the shape up near my gravel pit mine which gave it an illusion of being continuous. In reality it was about 3 ponds that were very close together, from up high it looked like it was a river that had just been dammed by some beavers. Exploring from the farthest pond, I came upon this site:
It looked like the mouth to hell had opened up to my left. Out from the mouth was a deep and winding valley, and in the background there was this gigantic looking mountain rising out of the earth.
I made my way over lots of hills for a closer look. I ended up calling this feature "Hook Mountain". Images of a little cottage on top of hook mountain entered my head, or perhaps a sort of Fort Lookout number 2. It was underneath lookout mountain though that cemented my resolve. The valley in between had lots of sand, like it was a dry river bed. It also seemed to be low enough to perhaps be sea level.
Speaking of sea level, there was a hint of water. I hoped through an archway and kept moving, it was not long before I had found what I was looking for: an Ocean.
Its beaches were vast and its water seemed to go on for a very long time, I made sure it was not just a small lake. While exploring I saw what looked to be a chimney.
I had not kept up with where I had gone, so I thought maybe I had found an earlier explored area where I had used blocks to get a better view, but no, it turned out that this was a natural formation. I had found what I call Chimney Falls.
Once I was there, it started to turn into night, so I had to dig myself a small shelter and wait out the darkness near the falls. In the morning I would head back home and prepare for the large task at hand.
I wanted to dig a river to the ocean.
I did not understand the monumental task that I had layed out before myself.
If my plan was going to come to fruition, I had to find out how far I was from the ocean. I made some fresh leather armor, I cooked some ham for the trip, shined up my tools and made my trek at dawn.
My bay had a bend in the shape up near my gravel pit mine which gave it an illusion of being continuous. In reality it was about 3 ponds that were very close together, from up high it looked like it was a river that had just been dammed by some beavers. Exploring from the farthest pond, I came upon this site:
It looked like the mouth to hell had opened up to my left. Out from the mouth was a deep and winding valley, and in the background there was this gigantic looking mountain rising out of the earth.
I made my way over lots of hills for a closer look. I ended up calling this feature "Hook Mountain". Images of a little cottage on top of hook mountain entered my head, or perhaps a sort of Fort Lookout number 2. It was underneath lookout mountain though that cemented my resolve. The valley in between had lots of sand, like it was a dry river bed. It also seemed to be low enough to perhaps be sea level.
Speaking of sea level, there was a hint of water. I hoped through an archway and kept moving, it was not long before I had found what I was looking for: an Ocean.
Its beaches were vast and its water seemed to go on for a very long time, I made sure it was not just a small lake. While exploring I saw what looked to be a chimney.
I had not kept up with where I had gone, so I thought maybe I had found an earlier explored area where I had used blocks to get a better view, but no, it turned out that this was a natural formation. I had found what I call Chimney Falls.
Once I was there, it started to turn into night, so I had to dig myself a small shelter and wait out the darkness near the falls. In the morning I would head back home and prepare for the large task at hand.
I wanted to dig a river to the ocean.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Cecil and Boromir: The link between FF4 and LotR
Its pretty excusable for Final Fantasy 4's story to be a bit sparse on detail. The limited ability to even spell White Dragon better than Wtdrgn shows us all that. The one thing many people ask is how could Cecil have been a Dark Knight yet still able to become a paladin later.
For better explanation I say look to Lord of the Rings. Boromir is told by his father that to save his kingdom they must get and bring back the weapon of the enemy. One of the most evil powers in the world is to be gotten by Boromir and be used by him for good.
In FF4 we learn that Cecil's "adoptive" father was the King of Baron. Its widely known the King changed and became obsessed with getting crystals. It was during this time that Cecil became leader of the Red Wings as a Dark Knight.
I posit the assumption that what happened to Boromir happened to Cecil. With no real proof, I say the King told Cecil that to protect the kingdom he would have to use the powers of the enemy. He did it out of duty.
That is how you get a mopey dark knight that feels bad about killing. We get a dark knight that almost goes insane with releasing a bomb on a village. We get a Dark Knight that can turn into a Paladin with no relapses into his former ways. We also get Rosa talking about the kindness of Cecil in past tense.
Would Boromir have been as redeemed? Probably not, but then again putting on black armor isn't nearly as tough as carrying a ring with almost limitless power.
For better explanation I say look to Lord of the Rings. Boromir is told by his father that to save his kingdom they must get and bring back the weapon of the enemy. One of the most evil powers in the world is to be gotten by Boromir and be used by him for good.
In FF4 we learn that Cecil's "adoptive" father was the King of Baron. Its widely known the King changed and became obsessed with getting crystals. It was during this time that Cecil became leader of the Red Wings as a Dark Knight.
I posit the assumption that what happened to Boromir happened to Cecil. With no real proof, I say the King told Cecil that to protect the kingdom he would have to use the powers of the enemy. He did it out of duty.
That is how you get a mopey dark knight that feels bad about killing. We get a dark knight that almost goes insane with releasing a bomb on a village. We get a Dark Knight that can turn into a Paladin with no relapses into his former ways. We also get Rosa talking about the kindness of Cecil in past tense.
Would Boromir have been as redeemed? Probably not, but then again putting on black armor isn't nearly as tough as carrying a ring with almost limitless power.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Now Playing: Final Fantasy 13, Metroid II
I'll get the Metroid stuff through first, as its rather short. I am very impressed with the Samus sprite for a Gameboy game. It moves pretty fluidly and actually has nice detail. My problem with the game is its much less linear and thought out I think compared to the first one. In the first one you were limited in exploration only by what abilities you found. In part 2 they have lava pools that do not disappear until you've done the objectives of that area. It is widely known that Metroid doesn't sell well in Japan, that's why they let non-nintendo companies make their Metroid games. I can only come to the conclusion was that the changes made were in an effort to appeal to Japanese gamers. The Japanese Gamer has never valued much freedom and non-linearity in a game. That is why the American RPG's never do too well over there. This is finally changing... but Metroid 2 is 20ish years old. Anyway. It makes it seem like a lot less daunting.
I am sure I will do many posts about Final Fantasy 13.
I am past my "Final Fantasy games should be like this" phase, I got past it around Final Fantasy 10. I never took FF12 as a part of the series so I never had hopes it would establish a new mark in the series. So 13 definitely feels like a continuation of the 8/10 mechanics, presentation and style. What surprised me though is how it actually does take a few things from 12. The fighting seems like a evolution of what 12 was, and the story has a lot of FF12's political stylings. Does it feel like a Final Fantasy? That depends on what you mean by Final Fantasy. If you want the most cutting edge, top of the line, full budgeted, amazing looking and amazing playing JRPG, then yes, Final Fantasy 13 is "Final Fantasy" in that regard. If you grew up on 7-10, then I'm sure you'll like it. If you're still dying for another 4, 6, or 9 then you will be disappointed. Otherwise, just come at it with an open mind, name it something else like "Fabula Nova Crystallus" and try and enjoy it for what it is. Its definitely not half assed, it feels like they went the extra mile on the menus and visuals.
I am sure I will do many posts about Final Fantasy 13.
I am past my "Final Fantasy games should be like this" phase, I got past it around Final Fantasy 10. I never took FF12 as a part of the series so I never had hopes it would establish a new mark in the series. So 13 definitely feels like a continuation of the 8/10 mechanics, presentation and style. What surprised me though is how it actually does take a few things from 12. The fighting seems like a evolution of what 12 was, and the story has a lot of FF12's political stylings. Does it feel like a Final Fantasy? That depends on what you mean by Final Fantasy. If you want the most cutting edge, top of the line, full budgeted, amazing looking and amazing playing JRPG, then yes, Final Fantasy 13 is "Final Fantasy" in that regard. If you grew up on 7-10, then I'm sure you'll like it. If you're still dying for another 4, 6, or 9 then you will be disappointed. Otherwise, just come at it with an open mind, name it something else like "Fabula Nova Crystallus" and try and enjoy it for what it is. Its definitely not half assed, it feels like they went the extra mile on the menus and visuals.
Monday, October 11, 2010
My Favorite NES Games: Facebook posts expanded
Before you get all huffy and puffy about me not having a certain game or franchise on the list, remember a few things. These were my favorite games while I had the NES as my main gaming machine.
Number 5: Excite Bike and why no Ninja Gaiden
I loved Excite Bike. You could put the game in and be playing in seconds. You had to write down your best times because there was no real way to save your times, but I did not care really. Then, when no one was around to play with you, you could create your own track. Its like Little Big Planet before there was Little Big Planet. Great stuff.
Ninja Gaiden is not on here because of something we call "The 5 O'clock News". Once we all got home from school, we had only a little amount of time to play before the news came on. Just about enough time for us to get to the snow level or the mines level of Ninja Gaiden and then have to turn off the game. No save feature and no way to skip levels that we already mastered...
Number 4: Mike Tyson's Punch Out and "I thought you loved Metroid"
Punch Out was the game the teens and adults whipped out once the kids got their fill of Mario. In a circle they would play round after round, switching off the controller in between fights, and hollering out the ways to beat certain fighters as they went. It was good times. F' Mr. Dream. How come the white man is always trying to bring the black man down?
I do love Metroid. Metroid though was always intimidating for me as a kid. I only saw fragments of it while at people's houses, and it seemed that if Metroid was in the box, THEY were playing it... not me. I only got to play it at night... in the dark. Do you know how earie metroid music is and how lonely that game feels at night? Anyway, I only recently played through it the "old school" way. While its a favorite now... it wasn't back in the day.
Number 3: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 and Why is there no Castlevania?
The first ninja turtle game was absolute trash. I was just the correct age for the Ninja Turtle craze when it hit. I saw the movies, I had the figures, I watched the cartoons like they were oxygen. I had played the Arcade game at Walmart every time I went. When I found there was a Ninja Turtle game and rented it as one of the first games I ever rented, my mind did somersaults trying to justify what I was seeing. "Maybe when I go to a burning building it will change to the game I know" and such stupid things, but it was the only way I could keep my sanity at the disappointment that was Turtles 1. Turtles II fixed all of that once I had come to grips with Turtles 1 just being horrible. I played that game non-stop for years.
Castlevania is a favorite series of mine. I only ever had part one, and it was always part 2 that I wanted. I barrowed part 3 for a while from a friend, but still it was not part 2. I know now that part 2 wasn't particularly well liked, but it seemed like the best idea ever to me. Symphony of the Night was probably the closest thing to what I had in my head as a kid as to what Castlevania 2 would be. Anyways, I was never happy with part 1 because it only reminded me I did not have part 3. So no Castlevania in the top 5.
Number 2: Dragon Warrior and No Final Fantasy.
Dragon Warrior is like the Chicken and the Egg with me. There was an event that really truly did change my life. Before then I hardly read, I couldn't stand being at school, and I certainly didn't care about my schoolwork. That's when I found Dragon Warrior and King Arthur. King Arthur was in a set of encyclopedias and I liked it so much my teach came to my home and gave me my own King Arthur book(I still have it). Dragon Warrior was owned by a couple of people and I had played it a bit before(I thought Chain Mail was mail you could send to the princess from other towns). I got it from my friend Roger when he got it for free when he subscribed to Nintendo Power magazine. All the posters and maps, all the artwork inside the book, it was amazing. I needed all that stuff because the game looked horrible lol. My first RPG I ever beat, I loved that game.
My first Final Fantasy was Final Fantasy 2(4) for the SNES. We have this location in my town called "old walmart" where the Walmart used to be. One of the last thing I got from Old Walmart was Final Fantasy. For some reason they had a very large display of unopened boxes of old NES games. My sister Christy bought it for me, and by then I knew exactly what it was. The game rocks. I still have it in very good condition. But by then the SNES was out so its not on my list because the NES's time had passed by then.
Number 1 Mario 3 and Where the hell is Zelda
I played Mario 3 to death. I actually got 2 and 3 at the same time, and 2 hardly got played. I loaned it out to Eric, who promptly dropped it in the mud. 3, however, got babied. I swear there were a couple of years there where I played Mario 3 at least once a day. The controls are spot on, the graphics are top notch(Mario did a freakin' flip when he had a star), and its every bit as fun as it used to be.
Zelda is not on my list even though I played much of Zelda when I was younger. I feel like a poser if I claim I liked Zelda a ton when I was younger because EVERYONE that claims to be a geek today uses Zelda as their name drop. Which is totally fine, but I'm not going to lie, I was a Dragon Warrior fan. That was my Zelda, I always wished Zelda was more like Dragon Warrior. I'm just being honest. Now, next generation, Link to the Past. I could draw that world and every dungeon in my sleep. I could almost get a Link to the Past tattoo and not feel like a poser. I'd get one of the boy on the stump playing his flute stuck in dark world.
So, that's my 5 favorite NES games during the NES era. Most of the things I listed after my favorites would have been in a top 10 and certainly in a top 20. But I chose 5 because there are 5 days in a week and this was on Facebook first.
Number 5: Excite Bike and why no Ninja Gaiden
I loved Excite Bike. You could put the game in and be playing in seconds. You had to write down your best times because there was no real way to save your times, but I did not care really. Then, when no one was around to play with you, you could create your own track. Its like Little Big Planet before there was Little Big Planet. Great stuff.
Ninja Gaiden is not on here because of something we call "The 5 O'clock News". Once we all got home from school, we had only a little amount of time to play before the news came on. Just about enough time for us to get to the snow level or the mines level of Ninja Gaiden and then have to turn off the game. No save feature and no way to skip levels that we already mastered...
Number 4: Mike Tyson's Punch Out and "I thought you loved Metroid"
Punch Out was the game the teens and adults whipped out once the kids got their fill of Mario. In a circle they would play round after round, switching off the controller in between fights, and hollering out the ways to beat certain fighters as they went. It was good times. F' Mr. Dream. How come the white man is always trying to bring the black man down?
I do love Metroid. Metroid though was always intimidating for me as a kid. I only saw fragments of it while at people's houses, and it seemed that if Metroid was in the box, THEY were playing it... not me. I only got to play it at night... in the dark. Do you know how earie metroid music is and how lonely that game feels at night? Anyway, I only recently played through it the "old school" way. While its a favorite now... it wasn't back in the day.
Number 3: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 and Why is there no Castlevania?
The first ninja turtle game was absolute trash. I was just the correct age for the Ninja Turtle craze when it hit. I saw the movies, I had the figures, I watched the cartoons like they were oxygen. I had played the Arcade game at Walmart every time I went. When I found there was a Ninja Turtle game and rented it as one of the first games I ever rented, my mind did somersaults trying to justify what I was seeing. "Maybe when I go to a burning building it will change to the game I know" and such stupid things, but it was the only way I could keep my sanity at the disappointment that was Turtles 1. Turtles II fixed all of that once I had come to grips with Turtles 1 just being horrible. I played that game non-stop for years.
Castlevania is a favorite series of mine. I only ever had part one, and it was always part 2 that I wanted. I barrowed part 3 for a while from a friend, but still it was not part 2. I know now that part 2 wasn't particularly well liked, but it seemed like the best idea ever to me. Symphony of the Night was probably the closest thing to what I had in my head as a kid as to what Castlevania 2 would be. Anyways, I was never happy with part 1 because it only reminded me I did not have part 3. So no Castlevania in the top 5.
Number 2: Dragon Warrior and No Final Fantasy.
Dragon Warrior is like the Chicken and the Egg with me. There was an event that really truly did change my life. Before then I hardly read, I couldn't stand being at school, and I certainly didn't care about my schoolwork. That's when I found Dragon Warrior and King Arthur. King Arthur was in a set of encyclopedias and I liked it so much my teach came to my home and gave me my own King Arthur book(I still have it). Dragon Warrior was owned by a couple of people and I had played it a bit before(I thought Chain Mail was mail you could send to the princess from other towns). I got it from my friend Roger when he got it for free when he subscribed to Nintendo Power magazine. All the posters and maps, all the artwork inside the book, it was amazing. I needed all that stuff because the game looked horrible lol. My first RPG I ever beat, I loved that game.
My first Final Fantasy was Final Fantasy 2(4) for the SNES. We have this location in my town called "old walmart" where the Walmart used to be. One of the last thing I got from Old Walmart was Final Fantasy. For some reason they had a very large display of unopened boxes of old NES games. My sister Christy bought it for me, and by then I knew exactly what it was. The game rocks. I still have it in very good condition. But by then the SNES was out so its not on my list because the NES's time had passed by then.
Number 1 Mario 3 and Where the hell is Zelda
I played Mario 3 to death. I actually got 2 and 3 at the same time, and 2 hardly got played. I loaned it out to Eric, who promptly dropped it in the mud. 3, however, got babied. I swear there were a couple of years there where I played Mario 3 at least once a day. The controls are spot on, the graphics are top notch(Mario did a freakin' flip when he had a star), and its every bit as fun as it used to be.
Zelda is not on my list even though I played much of Zelda when I was younger. I feel like a poser if I claim I liked Zelda a ton when I was younger because EVERYONE that claims to be a geek today uses Zelda as their name drop. Which is totally fine, but I'm not going to lie, I was a Dragon Warrior fan. That was my Zelda, I always wished Zelda was more like Dragon Warrior. I'm just being honest. Now, next generation, Link to the Past. I could draw that world and every dungeon in my sleep. I could almost get a Link to the Past tattoo and not feel like a poser. I'd get one of the boy on the stump playing his flute stuck in dark world.
So, that's my 5 favorite NES games during the NES era. Most of the things I listed after my favorites would have been in a top 10 and certainly in a top 20. But I chose 5 because there are 5 days in a week and this was on Facebook first.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Post Mortem: Soul Nomad and the World Eaters
Soul Nomad appeared soon after I got around to playing Final Fantasy 12.
Final Fantasy 12 is sort of like a single player MMO. I put well over 100 hours on that game and when it was done, I was ready for a change of pace. I had purchased Phantom Brave a long time before and finally I decided I wanted to try it. It was the total opposite of FF12. Tactical combat. Cutesy characters. A story that did not take itself seriously. I put about 30 hours onto that game in well under a week. I loved every bit of it and would not have minded 30 more hours.
Anyways, I am not typically your cutesy game playing regular. I love hard politics, I love fatal drama, and I especially love mysterious badasses kicking seemingly impossible to kick ass.
I read about Soul Nomad and thought it sounded incredible. NIS somehow knew what I was thinking when I went looking for a new game. The soul of a evil God stuck inside me. The ability to destroy anything at any time... with the consequence of losing my own soul. That kind of stuff is right up my alley.
After beating the game, I have to say I enjoyed the game even more than Phantom Brave. I liked the story more, I liked the combat about 100 times more, and the characters were numerous and enjoyable as well. If pressed for negatives, I liked a bit more control on my character leveling in Phantom Brave. Also I think Phantom Brave had better music. Tenpei is quickly becoming my new favorite music maker though, if Phantom Brave was a 9 on the music front, then Soul Nomad was an 8.
The story definitely lived up to what I was expecting. I wasn't expecting Xenogears here, but what I got was a bit more in depth than Phantom Brave. It had all the charm with a bit less cute. The tale of Gods, demons, and mortals intertwined a glimpse at a time and ended up with a nice grand and satisfying tale.
The combat was fun and unique. It was a little bit of Ogre Battle(the squad based system) and La Pucelle. You moved your group on a grid, but when you fought it went to a sort of side scrolling combat field. Different combinations of classes and characters bring you different and powerful skills. Also, every class has a different attack style depending on where you arrange them in their squad. Put them up close they may slash with a sword, put them in the back and they may call down lightning. I just wish arranging rooms and upgrading characters was a bit more user controlled and fun.
The characters were great. There are several memorable characters in this game, including the scatter brained half cow half human co-star Danette. Also the southern sounding monk named Levin is my favorite "monk" type character since Sabin from Final Fantasy 6. Its the evil god Gig that steals the show for sure though. I have never heard so much profanity outside of Grand Theft Auto, but he's not just foul mouthed, he's funny.
The ending was pretty good and wrapped up things. I got the Danette ending for those that know what that means. Nippon Ichi endings are not going to win any awards, those are for Final Fantasy Endings. Even my most disliked Final Fantasy games had top rated endings. Nippon Ichi's endings are much like the stories told in their games. They are adequate and you don't feel cheated, in fact they tend to make sure nothing is left out in their endings. You're just not going to see a 30 minute CGI movie.
Would I play it again? The answer is yes. Once you beat it, you can play it again with a twist... you can embrace and become evil. That lends it some replay value and adds a few bonus fights with cameos from characters from other games made by them(mostly Disgaea, but Phantom Brave as well).
I'd give the game an 8.5 out of 10. Only losing points on the randomness of character advancement, the lack of challenge to 90% of the fights, and the useless room leveling mechanic.
I'll rate its story after I have time to think about where it fits on the list I think is most important for an RPG.
Final Fantasy 12 is sort of like a single player MMO. I put well over 100 hours on that game and when it was done, I was ready for a change of pace. I had purchased Phantom Brave a long time before and finally I decided I wanted to try it. It was the total opposite of FF12. Tactical combat. Cutesy characters. A story that did not take itself seriously. I put about 30 hours onto that game in well under a week. I loved every bit of it and would not have minded 30 more hours.
Anyways, I am not typically your cutesy game playing regular. I love hard politics, I love fatal drama, and I especially love mysterious badasses kicking seemingly impossible to kick ass.
I read about Soul Nomad and thought it sounded incredible. NIS somehow knew what I was thinking when I went looking for a new game. The soul of a evil God stuck inside me. The ability to destroy anything at any time... with the consequence of losing my own soul. That kind of stuff is right up my alley.
After beating the game, I have to say I enjoyed the game even more than Phantom Brave. I liked the story more, I liked the combat about 100 times more, and the characters were numerous and enjoyable as well. If pressed for negatives, I liked a bit more control on my character leveling in Phantom Brave. Also I think Phantom Brave had better music. Tenpei is quickly becoming my new favorite music maker though, if Phantom Brave was a 9 on the music front, then Soul Nomad was an 8.
The story definitely lived up to what I was expecting. I wasn't expecting Xenogears here, but what I got was a bit more in depth than Phantom Brave. It had all the charm with a bit less cute. The tale of Gods, demons, and mortals intertwined a glimpse at a time and ended up with a nice grand and satisfying tale.
The combat was fun and unique. It was a little bit of Ogre Battle(the squad based system) and La Pucelle. You moved your group on a grid, but when you fought it went to a sort of side scrolling combat field. Different combinations of classes and characters bring you different and powerful skills. Also, every class has a different attack style depending on where you arrange them in their squad. Put them up close they may slash with a sword, put them in the back and they may call down lightning. I just wish arranging rooms and upgrading characters was a bit more user controlled and fun.
The characters were great. There are several memorable characters in this game, including the scatter brained half cow half human co-star Danette. Also the southern sounding monk named Levin is my favorite "monk" type character since Sabin from Final Fantasy 6. Its the evil god Gig that steals the show for sure though. I have never heard so much profanity outside of Grand Theft Auto, but he's not just foul mouthed, he's funny.
The ending was pretty good and wrapped up things. I got the Danette ending for those that know what that means. Nippon Ichi endings are not going to win any awards, those are for Final Fantasy Endings. Even my most disliked Final Fantasy games had top rated endings. Nippon Ichi's endings are much like the stories told in their games. They are adequate and you don't feel cheated, in fact they tend to make sure nothing is left out in their endings. You're just not going to see a 30 minute CGI movie.
Would I play it again? The answer is yes. Once you beat it, you can play it again with a twist... you can embrace and become evil. That lends it some replay value and adds a few bonus fights with cameos from characters from other games made by them(mostly Disgaea, but Phantom Brave as well).
I'd give the game an 8.5 out of 10. Only losing points on the randomness of character advancement, the lack of challenge to 90% of the fights, and the useless room leveling mechanic.
I'll rate its story after I have time to think about where it fits on the list I think is most important for an RPG.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Episode 7 Season 1 Finale: Minecraft: The Bay
Ok. Today is the day.
If you remember from the first episode I saw the mountain and made a plan for the cave area. The gathering of wood was because I decided to NOT make it from stone. The exploration that nearly killed me was because I was scouting the housing location. The underground river area was refined so I could get to the back of the mountain easier. So here we go, lets define the area again:
So I realize now I never showed the raw cave really before. The cave was already in very good shape, there were a couple of holes, but I filled those in so I would not hurt my ankle walking through. On the left of the picture you can see the "back" area that I made in Episode 6 and how it connects.
First I decided to take advantage of the crater the exploding green monster made way back in episode 2. I decided to make an open area porch here. Well... the real reason is because monsters were able to get up in this area, I put a door here and constantly had skeletons shooting arrows at me, and I'm sure the green monsters could explode here and hurt my main home, so I sort of made a barrier by having an outside(repairable) porch here to block their way.
I next started hollowing out and filling in the back area here with wooden panels. In the interest in keeping the front more natural looking, I did not do the entire front area in wood panel. I went down to the front and thought about what I was going to do. Then I remembered the Grand Canyon, and their Sky Bridge thing they have there. So I did this:
I know that this looks crazy bad from the ground. Glass is not totally transparent in this game so it makes the front disturbing, but I don't mind it as much because in my mind it would look great in real life haha. Anyway, this is what it looks like down the steps:
The floor is made of glass, so from the safety of Fort Lookout, you can look all along the bay and watch the sun come up and observe all around. I love this room, it is very cool to stand in.
I finished my "home" and I am happy with how neat it is. It is in a great location where I do not have to worry about monsters. It has plenty of room to move around in so I am not bored at night. Its easily accessible to me, and it has kick ass views of the surrounding area. I hope you enjoyed reading my first Season, and I hope it was not too boring. Season 2 is already in the works, but it will be a while, so I will switch back to talking about other games for a while.
Season 2 coming soon: The River.
If you remember from the first episode I saw the mountain and made a plan for the cave area. The gathering of wood was because I decided to NOT make it from stone. The exploration that nearly killed me was because I was scouting the housing location. The underground river area was refined so I could get to the back of the mountain easier. So here we go, lets define the area again:
So I realize now I never showed the raw cave really before. The cave was already in very good shape, there were a couple of holes, but I filled those in so I would not hurt my ankle walking through. On the left of the picture you can see the "back" area that I made in Episode 6 and how it connects.
First I decided to take advantage of the crater the exploding green monster made way back in episode 2. I decided to make an open area porch here. Well... the real reason is because monsters were able to get up in this area, I put a door here and constantly had skeletons shooting arrows at me, and I'm sure the green monsters could explode here and hurt my main home, so I sort of made a barrier by having an outside(repairable) porch here to block their way.
I next started hollowing out and filling in the back area here with wooden panels. In the interest in keeping the front more natural looking, I did not do the entire front area in wood panel. I went down to the front and thought about what I was going to do. Then I remembered the Grand Canyon, and their Sky Bridge thing they have there. So I did this:
I know that this looks crazy bad from the ground. Glass is not totally transparent in this game so it makes the front disturbing, but I don't mind it as much because in my mind it would look great in real life haha. Anyway, this is what it looks like down the steps:
The floor is made of glass, so from the safety of Fort Lookout, you can look all along the bay and watch the sun come up and observe all around. I love this room, it is very cool to stand in.
I finished my "home" and I am happy with how neat it is. It is in a great location where I do not have to worry about monsters. It has plenty of room to move around in so I am not bored at night. Its easily accessible to me, and it has kick ass views of the surrounding area. I hope you enjoyed reading my first Season, and I hope it was not too boring. Season 2 is already in the works, but it will be a while, so I will switch back to talking about other games for a while.
Season 2 coming soon: The River.
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Episode 6 Minecraft: The Bay
Minecraft has lots of mining in it. I mine many times though you do not see it here really. All my torches, my refining of steel, and my cooking of ham requires coal in order for it all to work. To tell the truth I have not mined very far into the ground, and really the only amazing thing I've found under there is that underground river. So here are some pictures of my trip to the mine I call "The Gravel Pit". This is the mine that is past the waterfall bridge that has gotten me most of my coal. Its full of gravel everywhere. The last of the 3 pics in this one picture is some coal beside some iron ore.
As you can see in these pictures, I have a furnace. You can burn many things in the furnace. Wood of all types work, you can burn most anything made of wood. Coal is the best bang for your buck really, it burns much longer. If you put iron ore in the furnace with some coal, you get steel. With steel you can make a full suit of steel armor.
Ok, so now back to the bulding. The back of my mountain opens up to Cyclops mountain as you can see in the picture. Where the cave opens in the rear the land forms a nice little table. It is here that I start framing the floor. I have some decisions to make. The view, to tell you the truth, behind the mountain is not great. Its just a fragmented shell compared to the beautiful front facing the bay.
So I've decided to make a full wooden structure here. Wooden floors, wooden walls, and a wooden wrap around porch. The far end that you see with the flowers will stay sort of natural. There's a nice tree there with the flowers and I like the look out that side. In this next picture you can see the opening that leads to the bay, just a tiny bit there in the background.
While working on the porch, I slip and fall. I actually land in a hole that is hard to get out, when suddenly I hear a hiss. Yes, a hiss just like the one when I was on the mountain all those days ago. I turn around to see THIS
Some kind of cactus monster that hisses and runs like a mad man strait to me. It explodes and I barely make it out with my life. Another crater was made, and I was tossed several feet away from the explosion. I am told they call them "creepers". I think that's far too nice a name. I've killed zombies on fire, but these things could blow up my entire house... I'm scared of these guys.
This is the fruits of my labor, the back of what I'm unofficially calling Fort Lookout.
As you can see in these pictures, I have a furnace. You can burn many things in the furnace. Wood of all types work, you can burn most anything made of wood. Coal is the best bang for your buck really, it burns much longer. If you put iron ore in the furnace with some coal, you get steel. With steel you can make a full suit of steel armor.
Ok, so now back to the bulding. The back of my mountain opens up to Cyclops mountain as you can see in the picture. Where the cave opens in the rear the land forms a nice little table. It is here that I start framing the floor. I have some decisions to make. The view, to tell you the truth, behind the mountain is not great. Its just a fragmented shell compared to the beautiful front facing the bay.
So I've decided to make a full wooden structure here. Wooden floors, wooden walls, and a wooden wrap around porch. The far end that you see with the flowers will stay sort of natural. There's a nice tree there with the flowers and I like the look out that side. In this next picture you can see the opening that leads to the bay, just a tiny bit there in the background.
While working on the porch, I slip and fall. I actually land in a hole that is hard to get out, when suddenly I hear a hiss. Yes, a hiss just like the one when I was on the mountain all those days ago. I turn around to see THIS
Some kind of cactus monster that hisses and runs like a mad man strait to me. It explodes and I barely make it out with my life. Another crater was made, and I was tossed several feet away from the explosion. I am told they call them "creepers". I think that's far too nice a name. I've killed zombies on fire, but these things could blow up my entire house... I'm scared of these guys.
This is the fruits of my labor, the back of what I'm unofficially calling Fort Lookout.
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