One of the greatest eras of home video was the early 2000's.
Go look at the special editions from back then. They are full of incredible artwork, incredible packaging, and some truly rare things. For example, The Dark Crystal has to be one of the greatest if not THE greatest special edition ever. You get a part of the original copy. You get a true replica of the notepad that Henson and his daughter used to make the story while stuck in an airport during a blizzard.
Unfortunately my head was in a bad place back then, and there were many movies I did not get that had great collector's editions. I am hoping that with Bluray I get another chance to having some of these neat things.
The same goes for HD remakes on the PS3. There are series that at the time I just did not want to have or did not get around to it. At the time I was scrounging up my large collections of late 90's PS1 RPG's. Then I got into NIS RPG's in the late 2000's. I had always intended to get Sly Cooper's trilogy, and Splinter Cell was always on my radar. I can't wait to get these and play them. Now we're getting PSP games remade.
I have no place for portable gaming. It is simply not a part of my life and I do not see it ever happening. So the fact that Sony is releasing some of the PSP games in HD remakes is very exciting for me. I am looking forward mainly to the God of War games. I'm already getting God of War 1 and 2 on the PS3, now I hope to get the others from the PSP too.
I think its a great move and a genius way to cash in on work that was already completed. I don't see it as a cop out, I was always a fan of GBA ports of old SNES games. This is just as great.
Now if we can get a PS2 emulator on the PS3 I'll be happy.
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Japanese playing around with DRM
This really is sad to me.
I loved having the Japanese as my videogame masters for almost two decades now. They chose the trends and they developed their "wacky" games, and I ate them up like they were candy. But Japan is xenophobic, and much like America they have a pride at being the best at everything, barely ever taking the humble route. I like that about them. I feel a kinship.
Now though, its just sad.
A few years ago we had Western(when I say western I mean culture) companies scrambling to include this new thing called "DRM" to our PC games to try and keep piracy down. It literally caused a few games to fail. The money made off sales did not make up for the money it cost to put something on PC, and for about a year they were blind, stuck to their guns and claimed it was all piracy, not DRM that did it.
Digital Rights Management, or DRM, is a way to make it difficult for pirated copies of a game to work. Its not as easy as it sounds, or as nice. Many games required that you were online to be able to play, even in a game without multiplayer. What you got was a flicker in your internet due to Yahoo restarting, and you'd get the great "Game Over you pirate!" message, and you were screwed.
They are beginning to see the light. It doesn't stop piracy, it just sets up a challenge to hackers. On top of not stopping piracy, it actually annoys the ever loving piss out of legit gamers that payed 50 bucks for your game. Entire websites dedicated to selling games without DRM are thriving(Good Old Games, Google it).
We thought DRM was done and on its way out the door...
And then someone in Japan goes "hey, can't we use an internet connection to somehow keep pirated copies from accessing the game?" and his buddies cheered "YES! its BRILLIANT! Why have we not thought of this before??"
So now, with Japan's game industry literally in the toilet, less and less of their game titles being made and selling in the West, they are about to shoot themselves in the foot. Because not only is their DRM schemes going to be annoying, its going to hit our market a full 4 years into us evolving this crap OUT of our own games. While the cycle in Japan will be: Indifference, Annoyance, Protest, Retraction, Acceptance, the west is going to be on step 25: Fuck it, I won't buy it.
I loved having the Japanese as my videogame masters for almost two decades now. They chose the trends and they developed their "wacky" games, and I ate them up like they were candy. But Japan is xenophobic, and much like America they have a pride at being the best at everything, barely ever taking the humble route. I like that about them. I feel a kinship.
Now though, its just sad.
A few years ago we had Western(when I say western I mean culture) companies scrambling to include this new thing called "DRM" to our PC games to try and keep piracy down. It literally caused a few games to fail. The money made off sales did not make up for the money it cost to put something on PC, and for about a year they were blind, stuck to their guns and claimed it was all piracy, not DRM that did it.
Digital Rights Management, or DRM, is a way to make it difficult for pirated copies of a game to work. Its not as easy as it sounds, or as nice. Many games required that you were online to be able to play, even in a game without multiplayer. What you got was a flicker in your internet due to Yahoo restarting, and you'd get the great "Game Over you pirate!" message, and you were screwed.
They are beginning to see the light. It doesn't stop piracy, it just sets up a challenge to hackers. On top of not stopping piracy, it actually annoys the ever loving piss out of legit gamers that payed 50 bucks for your game. Entire websites dedicated to selling games without DRM are thriving(Good Old Games, Google it).
We thought DRM was done and on its way out the door...
And then someone in Japan goes "hey, can't we use an internet connection to somehow keep pirated copies from accessing the game?" and his buddies cheered "YES! its BRILLIANT! Why have we not thought of this before??"
So now, with Japan's game industry literally in the toilet, less and less of their game titles being made and selling in the West, they are about to shoot themselves in the foot. Because not only is their DRM schemes going to be annoying, its going to hit our market a full 4 years into us evolving this crap OUT of our own games. While the cycle in Japan will be: Indifference, Annoyance, Protest, Retraction, Acceptance, the west is going to be on step 25: Fuck it, I won't buy it.
Friday, February 11, 2011
There is only one way to play Magic
Magic the Gathering is flippin' ridiculous.
If they did 2 expansions a year, it would be boarderline too much for me to play. They do 5 expansions with every couple of years hitting a magic moment when they do 6 expansions in one year. That is just blatant stupidity. You have to commit to that game and no other if you want to play Magic. I am not up for that. What you get is cycles of players coming and going through Magic instead of a steady stream of fans. You get those reports if you read and listen to interviews. "this expansion had a lot of return players, we hope the next one does too" then you read "our return players left and we were left with the core players."
The only way to play Magic is to come in during the start of a block, buy a ton of whatever "edition" they're on, and play that block only. By the time the next block rolls around in 7 months, all your players and friends will be sick of buying cards and will look and say "so all those cards I just bought... are... old? WTF?" And then you move on to the next game you want to play.
Anything else will just cause tension and hatred as some friends decide to skip this block but keep playing with new cards. Some will want to play only the new block. These blocks are made in a way where a new mechanic must be used to compete, so now its the haves and the have nots. Great for Wizard when you read it on paper, forcing players to buy the new stuff. Horrible in the long run for keeping people around.
These are the same guys trying to find a way to make the cheapest game on the planet(D&D) profitable by releasing 1/3rd set of books a year so you only get the full game in 3 years. So I'm not surprised. Just frustrated. Because I like Magic. Its just too far beyond itself. There is no casual playing of Magic. Only degrees of hardcore.
If they did 2 expansions a year, it would be boarderline too much for me to play. They do 5 expansions with every couple of years hitting a magic moment when they do 6 expansions in one year. That is just blatant stupidity. You have to commit to that game and no other if you want to play Magic. I am not up for that. What you get is cycles of players coming and going through Magic instead of a steady stream of fans. You get those reports if you read and listen to interviews. "this expansion had a lot of return players, we hope the next one does too" then you read "our return players left and we were left with the core players."
The only way to play Magic is to come in during the start of a block, buy a ton of whatever "edition" they're on, and play that block only. By the time the next block rolls around in 7 months, all your players and friends will be sick of buying cards and will look and say "so all those cards I just bought... are... old? WTF?" And then you move on to the next game you want to play.
Anything else will just cause tension and hatred as some friends decide to skip this block but keep playing with new cards. Some will want to play only the new block. These blocks are made in a way where a new mechanic must be used to compete, so now its the haves and the have nots. Great for Wizard when you read it on paper, forcing players to buy the new stuff. Horrible in the long run for keeping people around.
These are the same guys trying to find a way to make the cheapest game on the planet(D&D) profitable by releasing 1/3rd set of books a year so you only get the full game in 3 years. So I'm not surprised. Just frustrated. Because I like Magic. Its just too far beyond itself. There is no casual playing of Magic. Only degrees of hardcore.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Goodbye Guitar Hero
I've been saying this for years, putting your eggs in the basket of casual gamers is gambling.
I would make an argument that the casual gamer has only ran the market 3 times in videogame history. The early 80's, the later part of the NES, and now the Wii era. The early 80's lead to a crash. The post-NES era almost killed Nintendo and allowed Sony and Microsoft to enter the market. We've yet to see what will happen post-Wii, but we've seen the Move and Kinect added to the "hardcore" consoles, we'll likely see it be the basis for the PS3 and Xbox720whatever.
Anyways. Casual gamers. I myself like Guitar Hero, especially in a casual setting, like a group at a party. That's the same time I liked the Wii. The total shitstorm that happened after Guitar Hero created an entire cash cow centered around it. Instead of keeping a level head and pushing a new genre forward, they freaked out and milked it for what they could. The era lasted only half a decade or so.
Instantly the companies behind the first Guitar Hero split, and so you instantly got a competitor called Rock Band. You also got every record company in the business pushing "new" talent to go into these games that were originally about rocking out to the classic songs you always wanted to play. Suddenly you're playing a mish mash of bands you'll never hear from again, along with hip hop songs.
The worst part is, they turned out sequels like CRAZY with few improvements. So you had TWO franchises, putting out sequels, and they all did basically the same thing. That doubled the perceived amount of guitar games.
The difference between casuals and hardcore games is easily seen in the name themselves. Hardcore fans would buy the new and improved instruments, would buy the extra track lists for their favorite genre. The hardcore says "I've played these 40 songs to master, I need more to challenge me"
The casuals look and say "I already have 2 guitars, and the game comes with 40 songs, why do I need more? I wanna play Smells like Teen Spirit again, I know that one, its comfortable, I get 5 stars every time"
So Guitar Hero 3 sold something like 1.5 million copies in its first month.
Guitar Hero 6(the heavy metal looking, no licenses, "return to hardcore gaming" one) sold 180,000 in 6 months.
I think they thought they were catering to the usual gamer. Its the only thing I can think to justify things. In most game series you get a new one every other year. In 5 years we had Guitar Hero, Guitar Hero 2, Guitar Hero the 80s, Guitar Hero Metallica, Guitar Hero 3, Guitar Hero Aerosmith, Guitar Hero Van Halen, Guitar Hero 4, Guitar Hero Greatest Hits, Guitar Hero 5, and Guitar Hero 6.
Now add all that to 6 different major Rock Band releases, and 2 DJ Heros. There are hardcore gamers that would not buy that many games in so short a time. Even Madden fans, arguably the most rabid niche group, wouldn't buy Maddens released that fast.
They forgot who they were making games for, and for that they have lost their shirts and killed the genre within 5 years. Now they have to wait and find the next casual friendly genre, and who knows how far that is away. It could be 20 years, especially after the bad taste people have in their mouth about the whole band game thing. They think Dance Hero or whatever its called is going to save them. I some how doubt it.
But then again, this is not my demographic.
I would make an argument that the casual gamer has only ran the market 3 times in videogame history. The early 80's, the later part of the NES, and now the Wii era. The early 80's lead to a crash. The post-NES era almost killed Nintendo and allowed Sony and Microsoft to enter the market. We've yet to see what will happen post-Wii, but we've seen the Move and Kinect added to the "hardcore" consoles, we'll likely see it be the basis for the PS3 and Xbox720whatever.
Anyways. Casual gamers. I myself like Guitar Hero, especially in a casual setting, like a group at a party. That's the same time I liked the Wii. The total shitstorm that happened after Guitar Hero created an entire cash cow centered around it. Instead of keeping a level head and pushing a new genre forward, they freaked out and milked it for what they could. The era lasted only half a decade or so.
Instantly the companies behind the first Guitar Hero split, and so you instantly got a competitor called Rock Band. You also got every record company in the business pushing "new" talent to go into these games that were originally about rocking out to the classic songs you always wanted to play. Suddenly you're playing a mish mash of bands you'll never hear from again, along with hip hop songs.
The worst part is, they turned out sequels like CRAZY with few improvements. So you had TWO franchises, putting out sequels, and they all did basically the same thing. That doubled the perceived amount of guitar games.
The difference between casuals and hardcore games is easily seen in the name themselves. Hardcore fans would buy the new and improved instruments, would buy the extra track lists for their favorite genre. The hardcore says "I've played these 40 songs to master, I need more to challenge me"
The casuals look and say "I already have 2 guitars, and the game comes with 40 songs, why do I need more? I wanna play Smells like Teen Spirit again, I know that one, its comfortable, I get 5 stars every time"
So Guitar Hero 3 sold something like 1.5 million copies in its first month.
Guitar Hero 6(the heavy metal looking, no licenses, "return to hardcore gaming" one) sold 180,000 in 6 months.
I think they thought they were catering to the usual gamer. Its the only thing I can think to justify things. In most game series you get a new one every other year. In 5 years we had Guitar Hero, Guitar Hero 2, Guitar Hero the 80s, Guitar Hero Metallica, Guitar Hero 3, Guitar Hero Aerosmith, Guitar Hero Van Halen, Guitar Hero 4, Guitar Hero Greatest Hits, Guitar Hero 5, and Guitar Hero 6.
Now add all that to 6 different major Rock Band releases, and 2 DJ Heros. There are hardcore gamers that would not buy that many games in so short a time. Even Madden fans, arguably the most rabid niche group, wouldn't buy Maddens released that fast.
They forgot who they were making games for, and for that they have lost their shirts and killed the genre within 5 years. Now they have to wait and find the next casual friendly genre, and who knows how far that is away. It could be 20 years, especially after the bad taste people have in their mouth about the whole band game thing. They think Dance Hero or whatever its called is going to save them. I some how doubt it.
But then again, this is not my demographic.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Diversions
Well, I was making headway at getting better at Fatal Fury 2 when I got distracted by my new television. My laptop gaming has been put on hold while I'm learning and trying things out on the new tv. Dragon Age looks phenomenal on it, though I see much more the glaring problems the PS3 version of Dragon Age has with its graphics. Nothing game breaks mind you, and I still fully have enjoyed myself through several full on play throughs.
I did both dwarf origins in the last few days. I had finished my ambitious human mage run through and still wanted to see more of the game on the new TV. While I played a dwarf in World of Warcraft, but never considered myself the dwarf player. I've known dwarf players, they hardly ever think of playing anything other than dwarfs even in multiple MMO's. I am not a dwarf player. So I didn't mind making some throw away characters to go through these Origins.
If you have played the game only once, and you care about the story at all, I beg you to play all the Origins. They explain SOOOOOO much that you will not understand in a single play through. Particularly the Dwarven Noble Origin, which has had the most to do with the main story line than any of the other Origins. It explains what has gone on in the Dwarf kingdom in much less rumor and whispers than just going through in the main story.
I did both dwarf origins in the last few days. I had finished my ambitious human mage run through and still wanted to see more of the game on the new TV. While I played a dwarf in World of Warcraft, but never considered myself the dwarf player. I've known dwarf players, they hardly ever think of playing anything other than dwarfs even in multiple MMO's. I am not a dwarf player. So I didn't mind making some throw away characters to go through these Origins.
If you have played the game only once, and you care about the story at all, I beg you to play all the Origins. They explain SOOOOOO much that you will not understand in a single play through. Particularly the Dwarven Noble Origin, which has had the most to do with the main story line than any of the other Origins. It explains what has gone on in the Dwarf kingdom in much less rumor and whispers than just going through in the main story.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Final Streets of Fight
This isn't really a post about one game over the other.
Its a stealth post. It is really about the perception of Genesis vs SNES on newer gamers.
This is the perfect example of what I'm talking about. If you don't know, Final Fight was a Beat'em up by Capcom between Street Fighter and Street Fighter 2. Its graphics are very close to Street Fighter 2's graphics. You take one of 3 characters(in the arcade, 2 characters in the SNES version) and you walk through the game beating up characters. Similar to Double Dragon, River City Rampage, etc. The SNES got its port rights.
Streets of Rage was made by an in house Sega team. It was done in a similar fashion, a beat'em up starring 3 characters as they proceeded to take down a criminal organization. Each character could call in the Police to shoot various cannons and guns at the enemy. It featured multi-path decisions.
Here's the thing.
People that never played these games might go to Youtube and look at videos to compare and contrast these games. Doing this, with today's mentality, its obvious that Final Fight wins. The characters are huge, the graphics are crisp, the characters look like they play different.
And I say this is a falsity. As anyone I know that has PLAYED these games, almost always chooses Streets of Rage, especially when you bring part 2 into the equation. Why? The music of Streets of Rage was done by obvious early techno junkies, and it layed the ground work for other highly acclaimed music tracks. It actually revolutionized game music in Japan. You can hear its influence in the Soul Caliber games even today. Then, especially when you look at Final Fight 2 and Streets of Rage 2, the characters are EXTREMELY varied in Streets of Rage. Lets talk about the small characters... this allows there to be nearly 20 characters on screen at once in Streets of Rage. This allows for vehicles and all sorts of things to fit on the screen. You don't run out of nice looking things and NEW things to see during the game in Streets of Rage. Final Fight pretty much stays the same.
So, Final Fight wins on visuals. There is no doubt. THAT is why it wins today. Youtube and screenshots ARE only visuals. Tiny clips of music doesn't show the audio very well. So you say to someone that's only watched the 2 on Youtube "which was the better game?" and they will always pick Final Fight.
I owned them all, except Final Fight Guy. I had Final Fight, Final Fight 2 and Final Fight 3. Streets of Rage 1, 2 and 3 also. Beat'em ups were good for co-op play where it didn't matter if I owned the game, it didn't give the disadvantage to my friends.
Which did my friends, my family, and myself always seem to pick? I was always asked to hook up the Genesis for Streets of Rage.
Its a stealth post. It is really about the perception of Genesis vs SNES on newer gamers.
This is the perfect example of what I'm talking about. If you don't know, Final Fight was a Beat'em up by Capcom between Street Fighter and Street Fighter 2. Its graphics are very close to Street Fighter 2's graphics. You take one of 3 characters(in the arcade, 2 characters in the SNES version) and you walk through the game beating up characters. Similar to Double Dragon, River City Rampage, etc. The SNES got its port rights.
Streets of Rage was made by an in house Sega team. It was done in a similar fashion, a beat'em up starring 3 characters as they proceeded to take down a criminal organization. Each character could call in the Police to shoot various cannons and guns at the enemy. It featured multi-path decisions.
Here's the thing.
People that never played these games might go to Youtube and look at videos to compare and contrast these games. Doing this, with today's mentality, its obvious that Final Fight wins. The characters are huge, the graphics are crisp, the characters look like they play different.
And I say this is a falsity. As anyone I know that has PLAYED these games, almost always chooses Streets of Rage, especially when you bring part 2 into the equation. Why? The music of Streets of Rage was done by obvious early techno junkies, and it layed the ground work for other highly acclaimed music tracks. It actually revolutionized game music in Japan. You can hear its influence in the Soul Caliber games even today. Then, especially when you look at Final Fight 2 and Streets of Rage 2, the characters are EXTREMELY varied in Streets of Rage. Lets talk about the small characters... this allows there to be nearly 20 characters on screen at once in Streets of Rage. This allows for vehicles and all sorts of things to fit on the screen. You don't run out of nice looking things and NEW things to see during the game in Streets of Rage. Final Fight pretty much stays the same.
So, Final Fight wins on visuals. There is no doubt. THAT is why it wins today. Youtube and screenshots ARE only visuals. Tiny clips of music doesn't show the audio very well. So you say to someone that's only watched the 2 on Youtube "which was the better game?" and they will always pick Final Fight.
I owned them all, except Final Fight Guy. I had Final Fight, Final Fight 2 and Final Fight 3. Streets of Rage 1, 2 and 3 also. Beat'em ups were good for co-op play where it didn't matter if I owned the game, it didn't give the disadvantage to my friends.
Which did my friends, my family, and myself always seem to pick? I was always asked to hook up the Genesis for Streets of Rage.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Fatal Fury Recap
My write up on Fatal Fury was featured in a couple of fan-sites and forums. Its been many months so I will sum it up here before I get started into Fatal Fury 2 Special.
Basically I felt that Fatal Fury was probably starting out as a Final Fight clone. Evidenced by Japan's love of the Status Quo, and several in game. Fatal Fury - Final Fight - Double F's. Fatal Fury's South Town map is very much like Final Fight's Metro City map. Final Fight has 3 characters to choose from, Fatal Fury has 3 characters to choose from.
Next I talked about how the gameplay was. I described it as Punch Out meets Street Fighter 2. The opponents do not play by the same rules as the player. One even gets to fight while hanging from special ceiling bars. Another gets progressively more drunk as the round goes, taking a time out to get all maniac drunk. You figure out their patterns and you attack as you're supposed to.
I have no desire to spend time with the game in the future. The opponents are so unbalanced that you can not play with them in two player modes. The game is not refined, and the action is pretty slow. Later SNK games are viable alternatives to the Street Fighter 2 dominance, but not yet.
Basically I felt that Fatal Fury was probably starting out as a Final Fight clone. Evidenced by Japan's love of the Status Quo, and several in game. Fatal Fury - Final Fight - Double F's. Fatal Fury's South Town map is very much like Final Fight's Metro City map. Final Fight has 3 characters to choose from, Fatal Fury has 3 characters to choose from.
Next I talked about how the gameplay was. I described it as Punch Out meets Street Fighter 2. The opponents do not play by the same rules as the player. One even gets to fight while hanging from special ceiling bars. Another gets progressively more drunk as the round goes, taking a time out to get all maniac drunk. You figure out their patterns and you attack as you're supposed to.
I have no desire to spend time with the game in the future. The opponents are so unbalanced that you can not play with them in two player modes. The game is not refined, and the action is pretty slow. Later SNK games are viable alternatives to the Street Fighter 2 dominance, but not yet.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Currently Playing as January ends
Baldur's Gate I
I have owned this game twice, once intentionally. The other came with my old Gateway computer over a decade ago. I just never got around to finishing it. I know the first time was just the general disdain of playing the computer in the living room and my hatred for my first computer.
The second time was destroyed by the monster that was Everquest.
I'm somewhat tainted in that I know the "canoncal" ending party for the game... and my favorite practical characters are not in that group. So I'm switching people in and out constantly so I can at least get some play time with Kivan. It kind of sucks that there has to be a certain group if I want Baldur's Gate 2 to start with making sense.
Fatal Fury Special
Quite a bit ago I decided to work my way Chronologically through some fighting games. I will get around to Street Fighter 2 soon, but that is really my most played fighting game. The SNK fighters were regulated to the arcade for me, so I'm learning them through and through as I go through them. I am surprised by how much I retained while going through Fatal Fury 1 with each of the 3 characters available, so I'm optimistic that working my way through Fatal Fury Special will be fun for me. I skipped 2 because Special is 2 with cleaner combat and a few returning characters that weren't in 1. I don't feel like I'm missing anything. It is kind of like playing Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo and skipping Super Street Fighter 2.
I have owned this game twice, once intentionally. The other came with my old Gateway computer over a decade ago. I just never got around to finishing it. I know the first time was just the general disdain of playing the computer in the living room and my hatred for my first computer.
The second time was destroyed by the monster that was Everquest.
I'm somewhat tainted in that I know the "canoncal" ending party for the game... and my favorite practical characters are not in that group. So I'm switching people in and out constantly so I can at least get some play time with Kivan. It kind of sucks that there has to be a certain group if I want Baldur's Gate 2 to start with making sense.
Fatal Fury Special
Quite a bit ago I decided to work my way Chronologically through some fighting games. I will get around to Street Fighter 2 soon, but that is really my most played fighting game. The SNK fighters were regulated to the arcade for me, so I'm learning them through and through as I go through them. I am surprised by how much I retained while going through Fatal Fury 1 with each of the 3 characters available, so I'm optimistic that working my way through Fatal Fury Special will be fun for me. I skipped 2 because Special is 2 with cleaner combat and a few returning characters that weren't in 1. I don't feel like I'm missing anything. It is kind of like playing Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo and skipping Super Street Fighter 2.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
EQ2 Velious Expansion brings back Memories
I played the original EQ shortly before Kunark came out, to the point I can barely remember the update for Kunark. Unlike later MMO's, there was no reason to get expansions in EQ unless you planned to specifically go there, and you can say that about WoW's expacs, but it will not be true. At least not to the extent of original Everquest.
Velious was my first expansion to an MMO that I looked forward to. A big ice continent was all I knew about it. Spoiler sites were more rare back then, so to find out about Velious for the first few months, you relied on people in your local sale zone for stories. It really was a kind of "what's going on in the New World" kind of atmosphere.
"Tell me of far away places and adventure!"
Velious is the prototype for modern MMO's. I know everyone says that MMO's haven't grown since WoW, but the truth is, Velious was the forerunner.
The new continent had living and moving cities, with people walking the roads, NPC's running scripts about talking to each other and visiting different houses. Furthermore the civilizations were in a sort of 3 way war, and you chose which side you were on. A kind of indirect "realm vs realm" went on here between Dwarves, Giants and Dragons. Each side had their own line of quests, allying with one meant being kill on sight by the others. They had their own equipment sets. Even their own raids and "leader" raids much like WoW factions do now.
Speaking of quest lines. What started with Epic quests in Everquest quickly expanded into regular quests here first. Whole story lines connected by threads into other story lines popped up in Velious. Velious was the first real "quest hub" in MMO's. Before you had to stumble upon quests and they all had little to do with each other. Velious' quests would change the landscape. They would determine who ruled which parts of Velious, they even determined what content was in game and what was gone forever.
Not many could forget the Coldain Ring quests, which involved tiny upgrades to a single object, and evolved into a several hour war between giants and dwarves.
Velious was a true marvel of MMO expansions, and it changed the game for the industry like no other expansion to an MMO ever. Though Moria now claims the title as my favorite MMO expansion, its only because Moria is like a Velious redone in "modern" mmo times.
Velious was my first expansion to an MMO that I looked forward to. A big ice continent was all I knew about it. Spoiler sites were more rare back then, so to find out about Velious for the first few months, you relied on people in your local sale zone for stories. It really was a kind of "what's going on in the New World" kind of atmosphere.
"Tell me of far away places and adventure!"
Velious is the prototype for modern MMO's. I know everyone says that MMO's haven't grown since WoW, but the truth is, Velious was the forerunner.
The new continent had living and moving cities, with people walking the roads, NPC's running scripts about talking to each other and visiting different houses. Furthermore the civilizations were in a sort of 3 way war, and you chose which side you were on. A kind of indirect "realm vs realm" went on here between Dwarves, Giants and Dragons. Each side had their own line of quests, allying with one meant being kill on sight by the others. They had their own equipment sets. Even their own raids and "leader" raids much like WoW factions do now.
Speaking of quest lines. What started with Epic quests in Everquest quickly expanded into regular quests here first. Whole story lines connected by threads into other story lines popped up in Velious. Velious was the first real "quest hub" in MMO's. Before you had to stumble upon quests and they all had little to do with each other. Velious' quests would change the landscape. They would determine who ruled which parts of Velious, they even determined what content was in game and what was gone forever.
Not many could forget the Coldain Ring quests, which involved tiny upgrades to a single object, and evolved into a several hour war between giants and dwarves.
Velious was a true marvel of MMO expansions, and it changed the game for the industry like no other expansion to an MMO ever. Though Moria now claims the title as my favorite MMO expansion, its only because Moria is like a Velious redone in "modern" mmo times.
Friday, November 19, 2010
A little something about Games and Money
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.
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.
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.
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