Bah, apocalypses. They never seem to pan out, do they? Well, I guess since the world is still turning, and the whole Christmas trip is now passed, it's time to look at 2013, and figure out what I get done. This is more of a list of things that I want to accomplish. I get to look at this at the end of 2013 and see what little I actually finished from it. Let's get to it.
1. Edit Anarchy Veiled.
2. Write a script treatment for Memphistopheles (awful title, cool idea). Write script.
3. Launch the Z-Trigger website, and maintain a workflow of at least two videos per month.
4. Edit Crusader for self-publishing, while designing a cash-free method of marketing.
5. Write drafts of Road to the West (alt. book 2) and the new idea, currently titled 24 Exposures.
6. Outline, and hopefully write, the draft of book three of Alternative.
7. Put together material and possibly a script or two of the TV series I've been concocting.
8. Actually write a short story!
9. Find an agent, escape from retail.
10. Write and possibly shoot a short film. Nothing more than ten minutes long. I have ideas, but no equipment.
This list is shorter than I thought it would be...
Alright, 2013, let's see what happens.
And the first thing I'll have to do is learn to edit.
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Saturday, December 1, 2012
A Word about The Alternative
July 8th, 2008. That's when The Alternative was born. It was after one in the morning. I was stretched out on my bed at my parents house, flipping through channels, occasionally muting to look up full episodes of Tiny Toon Adventures on YouTube.
I was troubled. I was over half-way through my college career, and I couldn't get my mind off of how irritated I was with everything that was going on around me. The writing program was driving me mad, pushing the constraints of "literature" on me, and I was getting nowhere with the film program. I wasn't in school for me. I didn't know why I was there.
That night, I recalled the many attempts I'd made to write sci-fi, crafting worlds, manipulating our own, just doing something to tell a story that wasn't entirely grounded in reality. It'd been several years since I'd last bothered with attempting something in that vein. I'd written about seventy pages of nonsense for a story when I was in high school, over 100 handwritten notebook pages of things that we won't discuss here before that, and dabbled in and out and around these visuals and ideas ever since they'd failed.
It wouldn't hurt to try again, just to do something!
This was when I started to write a story called The Alternative. I wrote about ten pages at first, just rambling through a raging action sequence without direction just because I wanted to. I still have that bit, and the few pages I wrote afterwards. They're terrible. Every line. It was fun! That night, I continued with notes. I'd never written notes for a piece of fiction before. I'd always just gone from a single idea, crafting whatever it was that I was doing along the way. Not a great method, but it had done the trick before.
Those notes are still on my current hard drive, on my back up thumb drive, the netbook in my closet, and the desktop wired into my video game rig around my TV. That document contains some very basic notes about the galaxy I was writing in, some of the worlds, future antagonists, my trio of lead characters, their pasts, and even that lovely spacecraft that I wanted to carry my cast around the galaxy in. Those details are all still incomplete, mind you, and I really need to get to work on a series bible, especially in light of the thing that everyone reading this probably already knows, and will have to deal with reading about again in the later paragraphs of this blog.
Next came a couple of attempts at short fiction, as character origin stories to precede the novel. This turned into a lazy piece of flash fiction, and an ambitious (for me) short story, which I workshopped in my literature-only advanced fiction class in college. Yes, I'm not all that kind to such things as I had forced on me at UNCW. Let's leave that alone, though. Clyde Edgerton, the professor of said class, told me that the story wasn't big enough for everything I was trying to include, that it would make a great novel.
I'm not sure that he had this in mind.
Not long after, I had expanded the concept into a series. This developed into an attempt to write comics, and then back to prose. I found the vision of three origin tales, one for each character, then bringing the cast together over the course of a pair of novels that would send them into combat against a strong intergalactic threat. There were political themes I wanted to tackle, and I wove them into the notes. Let me tell you, if this set of notes were a basket, none of them would be finished, and the whole bloody thing would be rather hard to carry, much less be a proper place to drop your fruit. Wow, I can't tell if that sentence makes sense. I need sleep. ComicCon today, ya see? I'll have to tell you about that later.
After the comic writing plans fell through, due to various things, I knew that I wasn't going to sell a high concept comic book series with pitiful scripting skills as I posses. I returned to prose in late 2011, finally starting down the path to writing the first novel of The Alternative. I had a few new ideas on how to approach the story, and used the completed first story arc from the comic scripts to assist in my efforts. I thought I'd be okay to get rolling in a positive direction, targeting something between sixty and seventy thousand words.
And then I hit my early snags at about eleven thousand words into the story. It was mid-October, and I had other ideas in mind. To distract myself, I decided to give NaNoWriMo a second shot. My first attempt crashed and burned at just over ten thousand words with a pitiful novel attempt in the pipe. I finished the first draft of Crusader on December 3, 2011, reaching the goal for NaNo in time, and wrapping up the short book afterwards. Then I moved to Louisiana, and struggled to find a way to edit the piece. I still haven't finished editing that short piece, but I haven't really given up on it. It's not a great story, and I'm not that confident that I will ever be able to publish it. However, a New York literary agency has had it in their possession to read, so I do know how to pitch it. Well...someday, maybe.
Back to Alt.
I made several attempts to write more short fiction this year, and I only completed one piece of flash fiction. The other unfinished shorts are still in my active queue. I'm really not good at writing short fiction. The Alternative manuscript kept popping up in the word processor, and I wasn't getting a lot done. I set deadlines, and failed to meet them. I was fairly realistic as well, which is why it's pretty sad that I couldn't ever get on track. I can't say that some exterior force played a hand. Sure, I hate my job, and it drained me of my will to function many times, but that should have been even more of a motivator to get this thing written. However, it never really came to pass.
November 1st, over eight thousand words.
To some, this isn't impressive. For me, it was the most I'd ever composed in a single day. I had a lot of dry stretches throughout the month, but I kept pushing forward, grabbing up two days where I wrote over ten thousand words of new content. The novel was completed on November 25th, a day I spent between two different coffee shops, mind and stomach warped by fine espresso. I had a finished manuscript, bearing 90k words. Yes, it was less than my goal, but over the month, I'd figured that I didn't have enough content for the other 15k. I may prove that to be wrong over the editing cycle.
Four years, and six months have passed since I started my journey with The Alternative. I've yet to give up on the crazy thing, despite the challenges that will come with writing a story as big as I think I've conceived. It's no George R.R. Martin creation, and I will say that I'm happy about that. I've started down the path now, and I can't wait to keep going. It's been bizarre and enlightening. Some people seem to be genuinely interested in the mess that I'm making with my laptop these days, and I hope that never ceases.
The strange journey continues with the editing phase of my novel, some time recently coined Anarchy Veiled, a title that I have no idea if it sticks or not. I've yet to successfully edit anything this large, and I don't even know how to. I'm scared, to say the least, that I will find myself hating this book as much as I hate Crusader right now.
But on the other hand, it's a better book than that psychotically bitter piece of Japanese RPG inspired fantasy fiction. It's not perfect, it's not even a great book, but I really enjoy what I've tried to do with the tale, the character, the world that I've been devising. And apparently changed my mind about at least twice over the course of the 450-ish pages that I've written so far. If you are reading this and you have a copy of the manuscript, I hope that you're enjoying it, or that this has made you more interested in what a madman has been obsessed with for over four years. Some of you have been having to hear about it far too much to have only seen this product after all of this time. A couple of you are technically rereading this story, albeit in a much better form.
I'll leave you with this; it's been a blast so far, and I've not had as much fun writing anything in my entire "career" as a writer as I did writing this book. It was constantly challenging, thoroughly exciting, and I wouldn't trade this experience for anything.
Now, I'll get to editing this some time, and we'll see how long it takes for me to tell you the story of the road to getting the second part of this story written!
I was troubled. I was over half-way through my college career, and I couldn't get my mind off of how irritated I was with everything that was going on around me. The writing program was driving me mad, pushing the constraints of "literature" on me, and I was getting nowhere with the film program. I wasn't in school for me. I didn't know why I was there.
That night, I recalled the many attempts I'd made to write sci-fi, crafting worlds, manipulating our own, just doing something to tell a story that wasn't entirely grounded in reality. It'd been several years since I'd last bothered with attempting something in that vein. I'd written about seventy pages of nonsense for a story when I was in high school, over 100 handwritten notebook pages of things that we won't discuss here before that, and dabbled in and out and around these visuals and ideas ever since they'd failed.
It wouldn't hurt to try again, just to do something!
This was when I started to write a story called The Alternative. I wrote about ten pages at first, just rambling through a raging action sequence without direction just because I wanted to. I still have that bit, and the few pages I wrote afterwards. They're terrible. Every line. It was fun! That night, I continued with notes. I'd never written notes for a piece of fiction before. I'd always just gone from a single idea, crafting whatever it was that I was doing along the way. Not a great method, but it had done the trick before.
Those notes are still on my current hard drive, on my back up thumb drive, the netbook in my closet, and the desktop wired into my video game rig around my TV. That document contains some very basic notes about the galaxy I was writing in, some of the worlds, future antagonists, my trio of lead characters, their pasts, and even that lovely spacecraft that I wanted to carry my cast around the galaxy in. Those details are all still incomplete, mind you, and I really need to get to work on a series bible, especially in light of the thing that everyone reading this probably already knows, and will have to deal with reading about again in the later paragraphs of this blog.
Next came a couple of attempts at short fiction, as character origin stories to precede the novel. This turned into a lazy piece of flash fiction, and an ambitious (for me) short story, which I workshopped in my literature-only advanced fiction class in college. Yes, I'm not all that kind to such things as I had forced on me at UNCW. Let's leave that alone, though. Clyde Edgerton, the professor of said class, told me that the story wasn't big enough for everything I was trying to include, that it would make a great novel.
I'm not sure that he had this in mind.
Not long after, I had expanded the concept into a series. This developed into an attempt to write comics, and then back to prose. I found the vision of three origin tales, one for each character, then bringing the cast together over the course of a pair of novels that would send them into combat against a strong intergalactic threat. There were political themes I wanted to tackle, and I wove them into the notes. Let me tell you, if this set of notes were a basket, none of them would be finished, and the whole bloody thing would be rather hard to carry, much less be a proper place to drop your fruit. Wow, I can't tell if that sentence makes sense. I need sleep. ComicCon today, ya see? I'll have to tell you about that later.
After the comic writing plans fell through, due to various things, I knew that I wasn't going to sell a high concept comic book series with pitiful scripting skills as I posses. I returned to prose in late 2011, finally starting down the path to writing the first novel of The Alternative. I had a few new ideas on how to approach the story, and used the completed first story arc from the comic scripts to assist in my efforts. I thought I'd be okay to get rolling in a positive direction, targeting something between sixty and seventy thousand words.
And then I hit my early snags at about eleven thousand words into the story. It was mid-October, and I had other ideas in mind. To distract myself, I decided to give NaNoWriMo a second shot. My first attempt crashed and burned at just over ten thousand words with a pitiful novel attempt in the pipe. I finished the first draft of Crusader on December 3, 2011, reaching the goal for NaNo in time, and wrapping up the short book afterwards. Then I moved to Louisiana, and struggled to find a way to edit the piece. I still haven't finished editing that short piece, but I haven't really given up on it. It's not a great story, and I'm not that confident that I will ever be able to publish it. However, a New York literary agency has had it in their possession to read, so I do know how to pitch it. Well...someday, maybe.
Back to Alt.
I made several attempts to write more short fiction this year, and I only completed one piece of flash fiction. The other unfinished shorts are still in my active queue. I'm really not good at writing short fiction. The Alternative manuscript kept popping up in the word processor, and I wasn't getting a lot done. I set deadlines, and failed to meet them. I was fairly realistic as well, which is why it's pretty sad that I couldn't ever get on track. I can't say that some exterior force played a hand. Sure, I hate my job, and it drained me of my will to function many times, but that should have been even more of a motivator to get this thing written. However, it never really came to pass.
November 1st, over eight thousand words.
To some, this isn't impressive. For me, it was the most I'd ever composed in a single day. I had a lot of dry stretches throughout the month, but I kept pushing forward, grabbing up two days where I wrote over ten thousand words of new content. The novel was completed on November 25th, a day I spent between two different coffee shops, mind and stomach warped by fine espresso. I had a finished manuscript, bearing 90k words. Yes, it was less than my goal, but over the month, I'd figured that I didn't have enough content for the other 15k. I may prove that to be wrong over the editing cycle.
Four years, and six months have passed since I started my journey with The Alternative. I've yet to give up on the crazy thing, despite the challenges that will come with writing a story as big as I think I've conceived. It's no George R.R. Martin creation, and I will say that I'm happy about that. I've started down the path now, and I can't wait to keep going. It's been bizarre and enlightening. Some people seem to be genuinely interested in the mess that I'm making with my laptop these days, and I hope that never ceases.
The strange journey continues with the editing phase of my novel, some time recently coined Anarchy Veiled, a title that I have no idea if it sticks or not. I've yet to successfully edit anything this large, and I don't even know how to. I'm scared, to say the least, that I will find myself hating this book as much as I hate Crusader right now.
But on the other hand, it's a better book than that psychotically bitter piece of Japanese RPG inspired fantasy fiction. It's not perfect, it's not even a great book, but I really enjoy what I've tried to do with the tale, the character, the world that I've been devising. And apparently changed my mind about at least twice over the course of the 450-ish pages that I've written so far. If you are reading this and you have a copy of the manuscript, I hope that you're enjoying it, or that this has made you more interested in what a madman has been obsessed with for over four years. Some of you have been having to hear about it far too much to have only seen this product after all of this time. A couple of you are technically rereading this story, albeit in a much better form.
I'll leave you with this; it's been a blast so far, and I've not had as much fun writing anything in my entire "career" as a writer as I did writing this book. It was constantly challenging, thoroughly exciting, and I wouldn't trade this experience for anything.
Now, I'll get to editing this some time, and we'll see how long it takes for me to tell you the story of the road to getting the second part of this story written!
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Z Trigger -- Rollerball Review
At long last, I have produced a video review. I have more coming, all of which will be better than this one.
Hope you enjoy it. Again, more is coming.
Hope you enjoy it. Again, more is coming.
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Transition
Alright, so I haven't been updating much. I have been hard at work on a number of projects, the largest which will be replacing this blog fairly soon. Also, I've been in front of a camera, and hammering out gameplay footage for a series of videos. I think I've said all of this in previous posts, but I wanted to remind my five readers that it is happening. I wrote scripts for two videos last night, and the camera and tripod are on the table in front of me as I type. I intend to shoot those two and at least one more today. I want to get in two more, but it's going to be hard.
I need to shave...can't look scraggly to the public. I've already got enough going against me in these videos.
I need to track down a lapel microphone, and eventually replace my camera. The fact that firewire is trying to go extinct is hurting my project quite a bit. I dropped into Best Buy last week, and well...forty dollars is a bit too much. Not to mention, they only have one cable in the entire store. I'll get this stuff taken care of over the next few weeks, but the first couple of videos are going to have to have cheap production values. I will fix that! I promise! The fact that is, I have the gear to get good sound, at the very least, but it's not working so well right now. For some reason, ProTools and my shotgun mic don't work very well together. Also, the microphone jack on my camera acts murky when I plug a microphone into it.
I need for this whole thing to work out. The site as well. It's going to be a tough bit of road, but there are some things going on in the background that I hope will help. N4G is going to be key in getting a viewer base built up. The thing that kills my efforts is that I'm not funny. I'm not trying to be funny, either. That's what usually sells, and I'm not going to make that effort either.
Anyway...let's see if it works.
I need to shave...can't look scraggly to the public. I've already got enough going against me in these videos.
I need to track down a lapel microphone, and eventually replace my camera. The fact that firewire is trying to go extinct is hurting my project quite a bit. I dropped into Best Buy last week, and well...forty dollars is a bit too much. Not to mention, they only have one cable in the entire store. I'll get this stuff taken care of over the next few weeks, but the first couple of videos are going to have to have cheap production values. I will fix that! I promise! The fact that is, I have the gear to get good sound, at the very least, but it's not working so well right now. For some reason, ProTools and my shotgun mic don't work very well together. Also, the microphone jack on my camera acts murky when I plug a microphone into it.
I need for this whole thing to work out. The site as well. It's going to be a tough bit of road, but there are some things going on in the background that I hope will help. N4G is going to be key in getting a viewer base built up. The thing that kills my efforts is that I'm not funny. I'm not trying to be funny, either. That's what usually sells, and I'm not going to make that effort either.
Anyway...let's see if it works.
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Ultima VII--Progress and A Dialing of Difficulty Downward.
I'm not entirely certain that anyone remembers me saying that I'd be posting about my time in Britannia's Age of Armageddon, but I sure do, and it's about time I delivered.
So, the truth is, I absolutely hate the combat. Maybe I'm just not used to it yet, but it's just a little irritating. I'm not saying that it's the core of the experience, because it really isn't, but given that I know that I'm going to have to fight some dragons somewhere in my future, I'm don't feel like I'm going to be ready. However, I dialed down the combat difficulty, picked up two more companions, beat down some bandits, and now I'm equipped for war with the Guardian.
Now for the good stuff: the story is progressing in an amazing way. I'd say spoiler alert, but let's face it, none of you are going to care about spoilers if you haven't played this particular game from twenty years ago. So far, two brutal ritualistic murders have taken place in the wake of two Fellowship members coming into towns. I don't know if it's obvious enough so let me say it: The Fellowship is evil. As are Elizabeth and Abraham. You know...EA...like the vile corporation that raped Origin Systems and destroyed this franchise. Okay, moving on.
Along the way I've found some of the adventurers from previous games, such as Iolo, Shamino, and Sentri. While I've never had Sentri in my party in the earlier games I've played, I have recruited Iolo. Shamino, however, has only met my character in the first Ultima...as it was his castle that I ransacked and ripped through to save a princess who would tell me where his time machine was. Yeah, scroll back a ways and check out my review of that one to see how nutty that game was!
Between murder sites, character recruiting, and begging Lord British for healing, I met a gypsy named Margareta, who told me a lot of what is to come in the game. Apparently I will be fighting Captain Hook, meeting a Time Lord, and even chatting up with some wisps.
Not a screenshot.
I also spoke with another mage who'd lost his mind and was put on the trail of a magic carpet. This is one of my primary objectives right now, because I would love some help traveling around the map. Let's face it: traveling through the swamp sucks with a party of this size, because touching the water poisons you. Well, small price to pay to see greater Britannia. However, I think that it's not so much the Avatar that gets poisoned as it is Spark. The little kid has a death wish.
Yeah, I haven't gotten very far. I have made progress, but it's a beast of a game. I do have some leads, including a serpent knife, and of course the vile EA(!). As long as things keep going this well (yes I think it's going well!), I will post more about my trip through Britannia in the coming Age of Armageddon. I think that I will play Ultima VIII: Pagan and do just the same. If you think I should, drop a comment! Show me that you are reading rather than letting me just look at my statistics and guessing that people give a crap!
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Things I Liked from Comic Con...or just the past week.
Aahhh, Comic-Con. A word...or two...that just seeps geekiness. Comics, television, film, video games, the works, all in one place. Big announcements, panels with writers and artists, etc. It's a place I've never been and don't really want to until I'm someone who people are asking stupid questions like "Where did you get the idea for The Alternative?" While most of the news from the show so far has just been a bit average, I have seen two things this week that either surprised and found me interested, or caused me to drool like an idiot dog deciding which car to chase.
The first of these was the Ouya, however you pronounce such a bizarre word I can't really tell you other than its probably the worst big name on peoples lips since the WiiU. Still, like the WiiU it seems poised to challenge the industry with some kind of change. In this case its "free video games". While I could easily get excited about such a concept, it's a bit too early to see what is really going to happen. I have gotten a bit ahead of myself so let me step back a bit, because, as anyone who has slogged through this mess of opinionated garbage, I never edit my blogs. It's not like I've ever broken ten readers on a single article anyway.
The Ouya is an indie console for indie developers who make indie games for a buck on cell phones and the like. They are posing the idea that all of the games of our memory were played on the television, in our living rooms. Well, I can't argue there. They are convinced that they can be an industry player too, which is a great thought on paper. Given their position in development, they are missing one very important thing: the big industry names. I don't think we will ever see a Nintendo name on this thing, but I do think that they should have hit up Sega about putting Phantasy Star Online 2 just so they can attach what appears to be a promising game onto their console very early. It won't be hard to get this rolling either, since the console runs on the Android OS.
From the creative perspective, this device is fascinating, in that it seems driven to be a market for independent developers, as the iPhone, and Android cell phones have been for the past couple of years. Ouya is trying to bring the enemy into the very place that other games are trying to keep alive. While I truly detest the idea of bringing a million Angry Birds clones to my television, my indie developer aspirations are fueled by the idea that I don't have to play a game I made on a telephone. I can download it to the little plastic box and give it a spin there.
Tradition and the modern meeting for mass consumption is a nice thought, so let me put the sweet chocolate sauce on this: the console is available to be bought for $100 right now. Just jump over to their kickstarter page (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ouya/ouya-a-new-kind-of-video-game-console), and you can pay for a console early, meaning you have one on launch day, or maybe even earlier. Since they have more than surpassed their goal, you are just insuring that you will jump into an interesting new landscape for gaming.
But I am a touch skeptical...more on that as the Ouya thing develops...
And now that I'm down considering the possibilities of the Ouya, it's time to tell you why I'm due to return to the comic shops in a stupid, gaping jaw, salivating all over Batman back issues and crying in joy when I get home to open it, why yes it's a new Sandman comic story. Not only is it a new Sandman story, it's a new Sandman story written by Neil Gaiman! If that isn't enough to get you excited, then clearly you either haven't read Sandman, or you just don't like it. If it's the latter, I am sad for you, because I loved about 93% of the original run of Sandman. Yeah, there were a few issues that just kind of dragged for me. For the most part though, Sandman is a bulletproof book, and hearing that we are getting more stories of Morpheus, it's a good time to be a comics fan.
Oh, and there is this awesome Brian Wood comic coming out...Star Wars, during the time of the Galactic Civil War...I'm there for that too.
I might have more to say about that one when it starts coming out. For now, I pause, step back and ...hit the post button.
The first of these was the Ouya, however you pronounce such a bizarre word I can't really tell you other than its probably the worst big name on peoples lips since the WiiU. Still, like the WiiU it seems poised to challenge the industry with some kind of change. In this case its "free video games". While I could easily get excited about such a concept, it's a bit too early to see what is really going to happen. I have gotten a bit ahead of myself so let me step back a bit, because, as anyone who has slogged through this mess of opinionated garbage, I never edit my blogs. It's not like I've ever broken ten readers on a single article anyway.
The Ouya is an indie console for indie developers who make indie games for a buck on cell phones and the like. They are posing the idea that all of the games of our memory were played on the television, in our living rooms. Well, I can't argue there. They are convinced that they can be an industry player too, which is a great thought on paper. Given their position in development, they are missing one very important thing: the big industry names. I don't think we will ever see a Nintendo name on this thing, but I do think that they should have hit up Sega about putting Phantasy Star Online 2 just so they can attach what appears to be a promising game onto their console very early. It won't be hard to get this rolling either, since the console runs on the Android OS.
From the creative perspective, this device is fascinating, in that it seems driven to be a market for independent developers, as the iPhone, and Android cell phones have been for the past couple of years. Ouya is trying to bring the enemy into the very place that other games are trying to keep alive. While I truly detest the idea of bringing a million Angry Birds clones to my television, my indie developer aspirations are fueled by the idea that I don't have to play a game I made on a telephone. I can download it to the little plastic box and give it a spin there.
Tradition and the modern meeting for mass consumption is a nice thought, so let me put the sweet chocolate sauce on this: the console is available to be bought for $100 right now. Just jump over to their kickstarter page (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ouya/ouya-a-new-kind-of-video-game-console), and you can pay for a console early, meaning you have one on launch day, or maybe even earlier. Since they have more than surpassed their goal, you are just insuring that you will jump into an interesting new landscape for gaming.
But I am a touch skeptical...more on that as the Ouya thing develops...
And now that I'm down considering the possibilities of the Ouya, it's time to tell you why I'm due to return to the comic shops in a stupid, gaping jaw, salivating all over Batman back issues and crying in joy when I get home to open it, why yes it's a new Sandman comic story. Not only is it a new Sandman story, it's a new Sandman story written by Neil Gaiman! If that isn't enough to get you excited, then clearly you either haven't read Sandman, or you just don't like it. If it's the latter, I am sad for you, because I loved about 93% of the original run of Sandman. Yeah, there were a few issues that just kind of dragged for me. For the most part though, Sandman is a bulletproof book, and hearing that we are getting more stories of Morpheus, it's a good time to be a comics fan.
Oh, and there is this awesome Brian Wood comic coming out...Star Wars, during the time of the Galactic Civil War...I'm there for that too.
I might have more to say about that one when it starts coming out. For now, I pause, step back and ...hit the post button.
Thursday, July 5, 2012
More Rambling About Final Fantasy
Longtime readers will recognize a trend about my gaming. Yes, I love JRPG's. For whatever reason, I enjoy running around beautifully rendered worlds with generic archetypes with insane hair and seeing the deepest points of the uncanny valley as I do so. And those who just even just scan through know that I have the softest spot for the Final Fantasy franchise. Evidence of this is found in my defense of the 13th entry and its successor and beyond. I still enjoy the games, despite their flaws. So you should know very well how exhausted I am.
I have completed every single player, roman numeral entry in the series. I have played a couple of the off-shoots. And here I sit, during the 25th Anniversary celebration of the series as a whole. A history of great games is past, and there are thousands of people noting a list of successes that has come as a result risks taken by a company so many years past. But among them, there is anger, distress, frustration cold and bitter over decisions made by the persons holding the reins. These people don't want the changes made in the series.
Frankly, I feel that they just want more of Final Fantasy VII.
And I'm only right about a few of those people, I'm sure. But let's face it, nostalgia is both the best thing about Final Fantasy, and its curse. The majority of the first nine titles are indisputably among the most important games in history. Very few fans really argue about the quality of these titles, and will usually agree to disagree about which is the best. For some, these are their favorite games. I wouldn't argue with them either. There is something very special about playing a Final Fantasy game, and I always look forward to a new entry in the franchise. Hell, I'm even looking forward to Square announcing Final Fantasy XIII-3 at the anniversary thing in Japan at the end of August. It's unique to the Final Fantasy franchise, and no other series gives me that feeling. There are many great games out there, but Final Fantasy does the trick.
So you can imagine my frustration when I have to see the constant bickering on the internet about a Final Fantasy VII remake being the sole savior to the franchise. That's short sighted. Square-Enix was correct to say that it would be the end to the series. They are trying to make a game that satisfies both their creative needs and bring long estranged fans back. Whether you like XIII and its sequel or not, they were trying to bring some fresh blood to the series. It's not perfect, but it's a motion for progress. The sales numbers aren't all that much lower from previous installments, but the sales of other franchises are much higher, and that bothers the number crunchers of Square. The quick trigger anger flood of the internet scares them with poor review numbers on aggregate sites like MetaCritic.
The voice of the internet is hurting the video game industry in an indescribable way. Everyone sees the first person shooter as the way to make money, or even the duck and cover third person shooter. Pair that six hour campaign with a decent multi-player with DLC every few months, and you have a temporary success. If not a shooter, a sandbox game so full of content that some gamers just run out of interest by the time the finale rolls in to surprise people that they have actually reached the end. 'Casual' games allow people to fill the five minutes that they are waiting for the bus or class to start. These aren't bad points in gaming, and these are all extreme examples, but they aren't the complete experience of video games.
Innovation is supposedly driving the industry, but stagnation is the truth behind that 'innovation'. So many companies are so driven to reinvent the wheel that they forget that the simplest things are often what people were drawn to in the first place. Let's bring this back to Final Fantasy:Final Fantasy VIII contains what is probably the most needlessly complex stat system I've ever seen in a Japanese RPG. Some embraced the change and made it through a story that definitely sits in the love-or-hate category, and possibly even shattered the games difficulty in the progress. They immediately called in a system reminiscent of Final Fantasy VI, and it worked much better in the long run. The Wii even relies on simplicity, which is why so many people are drawn to it. The WiiU hasn't proven itself, but it seems to want to incite simplicity, despite having the potential for extreme complexity. The reality is, at the end of the day, it's just another button to press, and that has always been the core of the experience. For all of their innovation, we have reached a stage that we are just finding slightly different things for those buttons to do. Adding in a RPG leveling system for the kills accumulated in multi-player was innovative, but it's not a wholly different way to play those games. You still kill people in an arena and collect weapons that are stronger and kill more people in the process. World of Warcraft built on Everquest, which, in essence, was the same thing that Ultima had been doing or past twenty years before it had released. No one reinvented the wheel. They just put it in a different spot on the car.
So when Final Fantasy XIII dropped and players found themselves doing something rather alien to other games in the series, they were upset. They were also upset by the story, but let's face it, Final Fantasy hasn't ever been perfect in that department. It's Japan. They have their themes that always show up, and it was full tighter because of that threading. Nothing was truly shocking here, though, aside from the giant corridor from Act I to the end of Act II. Enough people realized this to have a good time, and we even got a great sequel out of it. It's not perfect, it's not as good as the classics, but it's still a lot of fun when you allow yourself to enjoy it.
Final Fantasy XV is no doubt coming down the pipeline. Square won't let their most important franchise to die out. People's expectations are rather low. That might be a good thing, because the people who will jump in regardless will probably be satisfied that it's a decent game. There is also the possibility that the experience that they picked up working on the potentially FFXIII Trilogy will show them with a fresh and exciting experience. More likely, it's going to be another average entry in a series that used to excel on every occasion.
But speculation is something that is dangerous and exciting. I don't know whether to expect another sci-fi inspired entry or a return to traditional fantasy entries, but I do know think that the XIII battle system is done after the potential XIII-3. There is going to be a push for control over a complete battle party rather than the methods used in XII and XIII, which both had perks. I know there will be characters that I like, and probably even more that are annoying to ends unseen. I'd like to see a return to simpler times, such as in IX, where the equipment setup doesn't require constant modification and reading of the strategy guide to understand how to get a proper weapon in the end game. Some variation on classic character building and possibly another variation on FFX's sphere grids will possibly arise, and I'm okay with that. I wasn't iffy about FFXII's license board, but it was functional enough. The Crystarium was great, despite being a time sink once the other three classes opened up in the last act. Whatever comes, I'm ready though.
I'm not trying to sell anyone on Final Fantasy. If you hate Final Fantasy, there is nothing in this blog to get you to enjoy it. If nothing else, you probably either read it and think I'm an idiot, or are at least interested in what keeps people playing these games.
Nostalgia keeps us buying the new ones. Nostalgia makes us buy the remakes and rereleases.
Now, where is a series box set to commemorate that 25th anniversary?
Oh wait, we aren't getting one...we're getting a music game that does look entertaining, and a VII PC Port rerelease with achievements.
I guess Konami and Capcom are the only ones who know how to throw a good anniversary shindig.
http://castlevania.wikia.com/wiki/Castlevania_Best_Music_Collections_BOX
http://venturebeat.com/2012/05/23/capcom-celebrates-street-fighters-25th-anniversary-with-a-huge-collectors-box-set/
I think I need to make my own box...and since I'm teaching myself photoshop, this might be the best opportunity.
Check back soon for some photo editing notes and examples.
I have completed every single player, roman numeral entry in the series. I have played a couple of the off-shoots. And here I sit, during the 25th Anniversary celebration of the series as a whole. A history of great games is past, and there are thousands of people noting a list of successes that has come as a result risks taken by a company so many years past. But among them, there is anger, distress, frustration cold and bitter over decisions made by the persons holding the reins. These people don't want the changes made in the series.
Frankly, I feel that they just want more of Final Fantasy VII.
And I'm only right about a few of those people, I'm sure. But let's face it, nostalgia is both the best thing about Final Fantasy, and its curse. The majority of the first nine titles are indisputably among the most important games in history. Very few fans really argue about the quality of these titles, and will usually agree to disagree about which is the best. For some, these are their favorite games. I wouldn't argue with them either. There is something very special about playing a Final Fantasy game, and I always look forward to a new entry in the franchise. Hell, I'm even looking forward to Square announcing Final Fantasy XIII-3 at the anniversary thing in Japan at the end of August. It's unique to the Final Fantasy franchise, and no other series gives me that feeling. There are many great games out there, but Final Fantasy does the trick.
So you can imagine my frustration when I have to see the constant bickering on the internet about a Final Fantasy VII remake being the sole savior to the franchise. That's short sighted. Square-Enix was correct to say that it would be the end to the series. They are trying to make a game that satisfies both their creative needs and bring long estranged fans back. Whether you like XIII and its sequel or not, they were trying to bring some fresh blood to the series. It's not perfect, but it's a motion for progress. The sales numbers aren't all that much lower from previous installments, but the sales of other franchises are much higher, and that bothers the number crunchers of Square. The quick trigger anger flood of the internet scares them with poor review numbers on aggregate sites like MetaCritic.
The voice of the internet is hurting the video game industry in an indescribable way. Everyone sees the first person shooter as the way to make money, or even the duck and cover third person shooter. Pair that six hour campaign with a decent multi-player with DLC every few months, and you have a temporary success. If not a shooter, a sandbox game so full of content that some gamers just run out of interest by the time the finale rolls in to surprise people that they have actually reached the end. 'Casual' games allow people to fill the five minutes that they are waiting for the bus or class to start. These aren't bad points in gaming, and these are all extreme examples, but they aren't the complete experience of video games.
Innovation is supposedly driving the industry, but stagnation is the truth behind that 'innovation'. So many companies are so driven to reinvent the wheel that they forget that the simplest things are often what people were drawn to in the first place. Let's bring this back to Final Fantasy:Final Fantasy VIII contains what is probably the most needlessly complex stat system I've ever seen in a Japanese RPG. Some embraced the change and made it through a story that definitely sits in the love-or-hate category, and possibly even shattered the games difficulty in the progress. They immediately called in a system reminiscent of Final Fantasy VI, and it worked much better in the long run. The Wii even relies on simplicity, which is why so many people are drawn to it. The WiiU hasn't proven itself, but it seems to want to incite simplicity, despite having the potential for extreme complexity. The reality is, at the end of the day, it's just another button to press, and that has always been the core of the experience. For all of their innovation, we have reached a stage that we are just finding slightly different things for those buttons to do. Adding in a RPG leveling system for the kills accumulated in multi-player was innovative, but it's not a wholly different way to play those games. You still kill people in an arena and collect weapons that are stronger and kill more people in the process. World of Warcraft built on Everquest, which, in essence, was the same thing that Ultima had been doing or past twenty years before it had released. No one reinvented the wheel. They just put it in a different spot on the car.
So when Final Fantasy XIII dropped and players found themselves doing something rather alien to other games in the series, they were upset. They were also upset by the story, but let's face it, Final Fantasy hasn't ever been perfect in that department. It's Japan. They have their themes that always show up, and it was full tighter because of that threading. Nothing was truly shocking here, though, aside from the giant corridor from Act I to the end of Act II. Enough people realized this to have a good time, and we even got a great sequel out of it. It's not perfect, it's not as good as the classics, but it's still a lot of fun when you allow yourself to enjoy it.
Final Fantasy XV is no doubt coming down the pipeline. Square won't let their most important franchise to die out. People's expectations are rather low. That might be a good thing, because the people who will jump in regardless will probably be satisfied that it's a decent game. There is also the possibility that the experience that they picked up working on the potentially FFXIII Trilogy will show them with a fresh and exciting experience. More likely, it's going to be another average entry in a series that used to excel on every occasion.
But speculation is something that is dangerous and exciting. I don't know whether to expect another sci-fi inspired entry or a return to traditional fantasy entries, but I do know think that the XIII battle system is done after the potential XIII-3. There is going to be a push for control over a complete battle party rather than the methods used in XII and XIII, which both had perks. I know there will be characters that I like, and probably even more that are annoying to ends unseen. I'd like to see a return to simpler times, such as in IX, where the equipment setup doesn't require constant modification and reading of the strategy guide to understand how to get a proper weapon in the end game. Some variation on classic character building and possibly another variation on FFX's sphere grids will possibly arise, and I'm okay with that. I wasn't iffy about FFXII's license board, but it was functional enough. The Crystarium was great, despite being a time sink once the other three classes opened up in the last act. Whatever comes, I'm ready though.
I'm not trying to sell anyone on Final Fantasy. If you hate Final Fantasy, there is nothing in this blog to get you to enjoy it. If nothing else, you probably either read it and think I'm an idiot, or are at least interested in what keeps people playing these games.
Nostalgia keeps us buying the new ones. Nostalgia makes us buy the remakes and rereleases.
Now, where is a series box set to commemorate that 25th anniversary?
Oh wait, we aren't getting one...we're getting a music game that does look entertaining, and a VII PC Port rerelease with achievements.
I guess Konami and Capcom are the only ones who know how to throw a good anniversary shindig.
http://castlevania.wikia.com/wiki/Castlevania_Best_Music_Collections_BOX
http://venturebeat.com/2012/05/23/capcom-celebrates-street-fighters-25th-anniversary-with-a-huge-collectors-box-set/
I think I need to make my own box...and since I'm teaching myself photoshop, this might be the best opportunity.
Check back soon for some photo editing notes and examples.
Thursday, June 28, 2012
It's Moving Time again.
Not from my house, but from my computer.
Because the lovely Jo has decided it is time, a new laptop will be arriving at my doorstep tomorrow while I serve the Retail Demons in Capitalistic Ritual. The beast in question is a Dell XPS with a 17.3 inch 1080P 3D monitor, a single TB hard drive, 8 GB of ram, a NVidia GeForce 555M 3GB video card, a blu-ray burner, and a lot of other things. I could paste the details, but hey, that's not really worth your reading time. In short, this thing is beautiful. The computer isn't the only piece of the puzzle. A Dell color laser printer/scanner is also in the setup, as well as Adobe Premiere Elements 10, Photoshop CS6 Extended, Dream Weaver, and a Wacom Bamboo tablet.
Needless to say, this is going to be an incredible machine.
But this is just a catalog of things that I need to get done on the new machine so that I can get rolling when it arrives. Software to install, files to move, things of that nature. So, this is, more or less, pointless to read. But if you clicked into this place to give me another blog view with which to fuel my ego that someone gives a crap about what I'm doing with this machine. Anyway, here we go.
Photoshop CS6
Premiere Elements
Dream Weaver
Sketchbook Express
ProTools
Diablo 2 and the GOG Library
MS Office
Focus Writer
A Media Player (Undecided)
Rhythm Rascal
Power Tab
Files:
All manuscripts
D2 save files
A nice dump of my entire music collection onto the HD
I need some source photography for PS experiments...I have an email out about that...
That about wraps it up. If anyone reads this and knows of a stylish and awesome media player that I can use to rip my music and then play it back without mucking up the file names images etc drop a comment. Thanks much three readers. I'll post pics in time. Possibly ones that are awesome.
Because the lovely Jo has decided it is time, a new laptop will be arriving at my doorstep tomorrow while I serve the Retail Demons in Capitalistic Ritual. The beast in question is a Dell XPS with a 17.3 inch 1080P 3D monitor, a single TB hard drive, 8 GB of ram, a NVidia GeForce 555M 3GB video card, a blu-ray burner, and a lot of other things. I could paste the details, but hey, that's not really worth your reading time. In short, this thing is beautiful. The computer isn't the only piece of the puzzle. A Dell color laser printer/scanner is also in the setup, as well as Adobe Premiere Elements 10, Photoshop CS6 Extended, Dream Weaver, and a Wacom Bamboo tablet.
Needless to say, this is going to be an incredible machine.
But this is just a catalog of things that I need to get done on the new machine so that I can get rolling when it arrives. Software to install, files to move, things of that nature. So, this is, more or less, pointless to read. But if you clicked into this place to give me another blog view with which to fuel my ego that someone gives a crap about what I'm doing with this machine. Anyway, here we go.
Photoshop CS6
Premiere Elements
Dream Weaver
Sketchbook Express
ProTools
Diablo 2 and the GOG Library
MS Office
Focus Writer
A Media Player (Undecided)
Rhythm Rascal
Power Tab
Files:
All manuscripts
D2 save files
A nice dump of my entire music collection onto the HD
I need some source photography for PS experiments...I have an email out about that...
That about wraps it up. If anyone reads this and knows of a stylish and awesome media player that I can use to rip my music and then play it back without mucking up the file names images etc drop a comment. Thanks much three readers. I'll post pics in time. Possibly ones that are awesome.
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Ways to Show Immaturity as a Video Game Journalist
If anyone has paid attention to the internet following E3, they have probably seen a number of articles deconstructing the recent announcements from the Big 3 and beyond. If you have looked for an article from me about E3, don't. I've decided no to make any comment beyond a long sigh. So, just go ahead and let one out for yourself, lasting about twenty seconds, and move on.
The other thing that is common are articles that just show how far the "video game journalist" has to come before they will have any level of acceptance as writers. And while I'm not here to defend my hobby, because it's not real journalism folks, I will say that we could at least act like professionals. This means that we need to let things take their course before we say that something doesn't work. Sure, we can speculate, and post our speculations. I've done that myself, saying that Microsoft has something to prove with their next generation. No console has blown everyone's minds out the gae on the third generation, so there is some history to the statement. That doesn't mean that Durango is going to be awful, or that it will have growing pains. It's a statment, based on history. Okay, let's move on.
1. "Franchises that Need to Die" lists:
This one is just immature. I've seen countless articles on N4G saying that various game series need to end. There are often some positive reasons for their statements, such as putting the spotlight on other franchises, or that some games over saturate certain markets. More often than not, it's a cheap ploy for page views by writers who want to make money off of site advertisement. We all want that, but writing unique content for your page helps more for this, or breaking a story before anyone else. Instead, we get frequent pieces about how Call of Duty has too many games, and that Final Fantasy is garbage now. Some go as far as to say that Halo should never have had sequels. Well, let me break it down for you folks. The video game industry runs on money. A lot of it. Millions of dollars go into these productions, and it's a nightmare trying to recoup the costs. Franchises help this more than it hurts. A new Call of Duty every year doesn't mean anything more than Activision grabs a quick million seller, and they even have enough of a creative soul to make it different. That can't be said for EA who could pretty much copy one set of Madden code into the next year and add whatever cheap new feature they have left to try, and shove that thing onto store shelves. But that's a different conversation. Final Fantasy is one of the most important role playing games on consoles, and to end that has dangerous repercussions. Taking away Final Fantasy would bring Square Enix to it's knees, and possibly mean a lot of lost jobs for a big named studio. As for Halo, gamers should be so lucky that there is a studio that cares as much about it's IP as 343 Industries, and Bungie before them. Halo has a rich, well crafted lore that is about to be explored in the games themselves. The single player campaigns have always been brilliantly crafted, and have even been the blueprint for FPS games since the series reached the public in 2001. Not to mention, the console shooter is now a standard because of Halo. Without it, we probably wouldn't have gotten The Elder Scrolls franchise on consoles. That's just the short version. I've seen a lot of other games hit lists like this.
2. "Why X-Console/X-Idea is Going to Fail"
I'm slightly to blame here, considering that I never had any faith in the Playstation Move. But hey, let's face it, Sony hasn't ever had that much push for their peripherals (remember the Pocketstation). So, take what I'm going to say with a grain of salt if you must.
There are dozens of naysayer articles about the WiiU and the tablet controller, and people have every right to believe that Nintendo is nuts for doing this. However, none of us own the WiiU yet, and not even the mightiest of crystal ball will tell us the fate of this device in gaming. Obviously, someone thinks this is a good idea. Look at Microsoft's Smart Glass technology that is going to be launched on the X-Box 360 this generation. That is Microsoft experimenting with a similar concept to Nintendo, doing a preemptive take on what could be their own tablet control. If Nintendo pulls it off, expect Sony to rush their way into some overly complex design of the exact same thing that may somehow involve shoving a Playstation Eye into the box because they still have warehouses full of the stupid things years after that toy died on the PS2.
In reality, there is no way to determine how successful a product is going to be at an early stage in its life. If we did that, then we wouldn't be looking forward to new 3DS games right now. The PSP wouldn't have...had...an...acceptable run. The PS3 definitely wouldn't be the giant it is in the industry. Speculate, but be realistic. Some things work out, and the rest fall by the wayside and end up on the shelf of a collector who likes weird obscure things. The WiiU is a risk, taken by Nintendo. As a business, they believe in it. Microsoft believes in Smart Glass, and they believed in the Kinect. Sure, I hate the Kinect, but I'm glad it has panned out for them. It puts revenue in their pockets, and keeps them in R&D to prepare for the next move.
3. "Top 10 Best Games Ever."
People have been playing home video games for almost forty years. That's a lot of games. When you factor the amount of consoles, iterations of home computers, hand held consoles, cell phones and tablets, you have an enormous library to pick games out of. These might be your favorite games, but that doesn't mean that you should toot your horn on the internet with a blog about it, post it to N4G to get attention, and, at times I have seen this phenomena, get angry when someone points out that you putting Super Mario Bros. in your list means you haven't played anything.
Opinions are just opinions, and fighting about them doesn't really get you anywhere. State it, be prepared to back it up, but it doesn't mean that someone is wrong when they say you haven't played enough games. It's disgusting how people act when they are trying to put themselves out there as professional writers. Sure, if this piece gets circulated on N4G I'm going to probably see two year old blog posts of mine brought up where I may have said something that contradicts this article, but who cares. That was two years ago. I've changed since then, and so has my opinion. Just like the opinions of those ten best games out of the thousands that exist, it's flexible.
As for why it's detrimental to your writing career, it's just not creative. If you break out your top ten games, then you are writing a piece about yourself, and you don't have anything else to talk about. It's filler. Your top ten NES games? Equally weak. Everyone has a pretty good idea about the best titles in the NES library, and even the best obscure ones. Web celebrities can get away with this because we are already interested in their opinions anyway, but even then, it's a quick thing. Screw Attack does decent top tens, but they also put a comedic spin on things. Top Ten Games that Make you Want to Bone? That's a brilliant list to put out on Valentines Day!
People do enjoy a good list, and maybe they will even enjoy this rant on the poor state of content generation for blogs on my website that has an incredibly small amount of entertaining content on it. I understand why people do it, and I even think that I will stick some of my favorites on a list some day just for the fun of it. But that doesn't mean that I'm going to run that list right over to N4G so I can pick up some views of it. N4G is a great resource for up and coming writers and websites to build a viewer base. Don't exploit it for your Top Ten Genesis games not Starring Sonic the Hedgehog. The five viewers you pick up is not worth as much as the review of Pier Solar, which is a recent homebrew Genesis game actually programmed onto a Genesis cartridge.
If you disagree, fine, but I'm tired of the cheap shots made on video game websites. I've been watching the Vita not do so well, but even I know that I will pick one up if they ever get some games I care about on it. I don't see it crashing and burning, and even if I did, I have the intelligence to realize that spilling a list of reasons why it's doomed is counterproductive. Think forward, to what's coming, or just write retro columns. Negativity in the gaming community is part of why we all seem to have so much trouble getting along. I exist in a great spot in the middle. I'm well played on many genres, even thundering my way through most of those Call of Duty games that it's fun to hate these days. I've got a few Madden titles, but only one per console at maximum. My JRPG collection contains some obscure titles, and my interest in shmups is only hindered by my inability to drop several hundred dollars on Saturn imports. Just think before you crack open that WordPress editing screen to show why you think Nintendo is mad to put money in something for kids again. Remember, you were a kid once. Didn't you have enough fun to still be playing games twenty years later?
The other thing that is common are articles that just show how far the "video game journalist" has to come before they will have any level of acceptance as writers. And while I'm not here to defend my hobby, because it's not real journalism folks, I will say that we could at least act like professionals. This means that we need to let things take their course before we say that something doesn't work. Sure, we can speculate, and post our speculations. I've done that myself, saying that Microsoft has something to prove with their next generation. No console has blown everyone's minds out the gae on the third generation, so there is some history to the statement. That doesn't mean that Durango is going to be awful, or that it will have growing pains. It's a statment, based on history. Okay, let's move on.
1. "Franchises that Need to Die" lists:
This one is just immature. I've seen countless articles on N4G saying that various game series need to end. There are often some positive reasons for their statements, such as putting the spotlight on other franchises, or that some games over saturate certain markets. More often than not, it's a cheap ploy for page views by writers who want to make money off of site advertisement. We all want that, but writing unique content for your page helps more for this, or breaking a story before anyone else. Instead, we get frequent pieces about how Call of Duty has too many games, and that Final Fantasy is garbage now. Some go as far as to say that Halo should never have had sequels. Well, let me break it down for you folks. The video game industry runs on money. A lot of it. Millions of dollars go into these productions, and it's a nightmare trying to recoup the costs. Franchises help this more than it hurts. A new Call of Duty every year doesn't mean anything more than Activision grabs a quick million seller, and they even have enough of a creative soul to make it different. That can't be said for EA who could pretty much copy one set of Madden code into the next year and add whatever cheap new feature they have left to try, and shove that thing onto store shelves. But that's a different conversation. Final Fantasy is one of the most important role playing games on consoles, and to end that has dangerous repercussions. Taking away Final Fantasy would bring Square Enix to it's knees, and possibly mean a lot of lost jobs for a big named studio. As for Halo, gamers should be so lucky that there is a studio that cares as much about it's IP as 343 Industries, and Bungie before them. Halo has a rich, well crafted lore that is about to be explored in the games themselves. The single player campaigns have always been brilliantly crafted, and have even been the blueprint for FPS games since the series reached the public in 2001. Not to mention, the console shooter is now a standard because of Halo. Without it, we probably wouldn't have gotten The Elder Scrolls franchise on consoles. That's just the short version. I've seen a lot of other games hit lists like this.
2. "Why X-Console/X-Idea is Going to Fail"
I'm slightly to blame here, considering that I never had any faith in the Playstation Move. But hey, let's face it, Sony hasn't ever had that much push for their peripherals (remember the Pocketstation). So, take what I'm going to say with a grain of salt if you must.
There are dozens of naysayer articles about the WiiU and the tablet controller, and people have every right to believe that Nintendo is nuts for doing this. However, none of us own the WiiU yet, and not even the mightiest of crystal ball will tell us the fate of this device in gaming. Obviously, someone thinks this is a good idea. Look at Microsoft's Smart Glass technology that is going to be launched on the X-Box 360 this generation. That is Microsoft experimenting with a similar concept to Nintendo, doing a preemptive take on what could be their own tablet control. If Nintendo pulls it off, expect Sony to rush their way into some overly complex design of the exact same thing that may somehow involve shoving a Playstation Eye into the box because they still have warehouses full of the stupid things years after that toy died on the PS2.
In reality, there is no way to determine how successful a product is going to be at an early stage in its life. If we did that, then we wouldn't be looking forward to new 3DS games right now. The PSP wouldn't have...had...an...acceptable run. The PS3 definitely wouldn't be the giant it is in the industry. Speculate, but be realistic. Some things work out, and the rest fall by the wayside and end up on the shelf of a collector who likes weird obscure things. The WiiU is a risk, taken by Nintendo. As a business, they believe in it. Microsoft believes in Smart Glass, and they believed in the Kinect. Sure, I hate the Kinect, but I'm glad it has panned out for them. It puts revenue in their pockets, and keeps them in R&D to prepare for the next move.
3. "Top 10 Best Games Ever."
People have been playing home video games for almost forty years. That's a lot of games. When you factor the amount of consoles, iterations of home computers, hand held consoles, cell phones and tablets, you have an enormous library to pick games out of. These might be your favorite games, but that doesn't mean that you should toot your horn on the internet with a blog about it, post it to N4G to get attention, and, at times I have seen this phenomena, get angry when someone points out that you putting Super Mario Bros. in your list means you haven't played anything.
Opinions are just opinions, and fighting about them doesn't really get you anywhere. State it, be prepared to back it up, but it doesn't mean that someone is wrong when they say you haven't played enough games. It's disgusting how people act when they are trying to put themselves out there as professional writers. Sure, if this piece gets circulated on N4G I'm going to probably see two year old blog posts of mine brought up where I may have said something that contradicts this article, but who cares. That was two years ago. I've changed since then, and so has my opinion. Just like the opinions of those ten best games out of the thousands that exist, it's flexible.
As for why it's detrimental to your writing career, it's just not creative. If you break out your top ten games, then you are writing a piece about yourself, and you don't have anything else to talk about. It's filler. Your top ten NES games? Equally weak. Everyone has a pretty good idea about the best titles in the NES library, and even the best obscure ones. Web celebrities can get away with this because we are already interested in their opinions anyway, but even then, it's a quick thing. Screw Attack does decent top tens, but they also put a comedic spin on things. Top Ten Games that Make you Want to Bone? That's a brilliant list to put out on Valentines Day!
People do enjoy a good list, and maybe they will even enjoy this rant on the poor state of content generation for blogs on my website that has an incredibly small amount of entertaining content on it. I understand why people do it, and I even think that I will stick some of my favorites on a list some day just for the fun of it. But that doesn't mean that I'm going to run that list right over to N4G so I can pick up some views of it. N4G is a great resource for up and coming writers and websites to build a viewer base. Don't exploit it for your Top Ten Genesis games not Starring Sonic the Hedgehog. The five viewers you pick up is not worth as much as the review of Pier Solar, which is a recent homebrew Genesis game actually programmed onto a Genesis cartridge.
If you disagree, fine, but I'm tired of the cheap shots made on video game websites. I've been watching the Vita not do so well, but even I know that I will pick one up if they ever get some games I care about on it. I don't see it crashing and burning, and even if I did, I have the intelligence to realize that spilling a list of reasons why it's doomed is counterproductive. Think forward, to what's coming, or just write retro columns. Negativity in the gaming community is part of why we all seem to have so much trouble getting along. I exist in a great spot in the middle. I'm well played on many genres, even thundering my way through most of those Call of Duty games that it's fun to hate these days. I've got a few Madden titles, but only one per console at maximum. My JRPG collection contains some obscure titles, and my interest in shmups is only hindered by my inability to drop several hundred dollars on Saturn imports. Just think before you crack open that WordPress editing screen to show why you think Nintendo is mad to put money in something for kids again. Remember, you were a kid once. Didn't you have enough fun to still be playing games twenty years later?
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
More Coming Soon
Okay, so it's time for me to propose things that I'll try, and possibly not come through on. However, given the circumstances that have befallen me as of late, I think that I'm in a better spot to move on some of these ideas.
Alright, the first is the previously mentioned overhaul of my blog. I don't know if I will be moving it into another site, but it will be sectioned off into different things based on whatever I am writing about. There will be a visual element to this. And that leads to another thing:
Working with a friend of mine (you know who you are), I have put together some of the basic ideas behind a shmup which borrows ideas from the Metroid series, and even games like Mass Effect to make an interesting variation on the traditional scrolling shooter.
I've written the base of a script with which to review Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, which I consider an absolute blight on the series name. I will be reviewing this once I have access to some of the toys I'm going to bring up below.
Next, given the mention of toys, I am getting ready to record a couple of songs. I have two songs ready to record, and a few other things in mind. I might try to get an EP together, and maybe even sell it. This would include artwork and liner notes, prepared by the idiot whose blog you are currently scoffing at.
I would like to launch a blip video thing on the new site, and on that, I would feature the review, possibly a "making of" type thing for the EP, and whatever else came down the pipe, including a fake PSA that has been boiling in my brain for the past few weeks. Video game reviews are part of this consideration, but I don't have anything concrete in mind just yet.
Before the power supply to my net book bit the dust two weeks ago, I was gathering steam to continue work on The Alternative, and I think that it's going to be moving at a pretty decent rate once (again now) the new toys arrive. I would like to see it finished by the end of August, with work starting on book two by October. There are a couple of short stories that need to be finished as well, but I suck at composing short fiction in a decent time, so I make no promises.
Some that read this might remember a short lived video game podcast called Z-Trigger which I co-hosted. This idea is not dead to me, and some of my (yes I'm getting to it) toys will allow me to find a new form for this concept. I just hope everyone is still interested when I finally get to it. If you are reading this, go ahead and shout about how incompetent I am at the end of this post.
There is an idea floating in my mind about an e-mag genre literature journal. This idea is in embryo stage, and I'm not sure if it will make it anywhere. I would build this site, moderate, be the editor, and possibly even make collections out of the stuff I publish. This is very low on the list, given its ambition.
I'm trying to think if there is anything else coming up in the queue before moving onto the supplies that are going to make these projects more likely. There is a lot in my head, and I'm always adding to it, mostly because I'm completely mad. The way I see it is that if I have a lot of prospective projects to work on, I'm never bored when I sit down before a computer. Especially when it is...oh, you know, a Dell XPS laptop with eight gigs of ram, a terabyte hard drive, blu-ray, possibly even 3D, Photoshop CS6 Extended, a newer version of Premiere Elements 10, and the most up to date version of Dreamweaver.
Yes, all of these things are coming soon, and the trimmings just don't stop there. I am also looking into a Wacom tablet to make them all more possible. This is all part of a long winding path that might even lead into more school, but more importantly, a new set of experiences that will flesh out my creative portfolio. Having a working knowledge of Photoshop and Dreamweaver paired with a growing knowledge of HTML and CSS would do wonders for me. Now if only I can get those pesky weak art skills off the ground. But, regardless of the hideousness of my line work, I have ambition, and that is always number one in my book for having a great time.
There is a bit of time before all of these things can really kick off, but some of the basic tools are already in my hands. The new laptop, Dreamweaver, and especially the tablet, are still a bit of time off. I don't even know when the tablet will be confirmed, but given the nature of such a device and how it can be integrated into the all of the other tools, it's almost essential.
I don't know where I will begin exactly. Given how many different things I could do, and how they all tie into one big plan, I have options. Time is of the essence, and unfortunately there is never enough of it. I see the music option to be a viable one, given the nature of what I already have invested there, and, not to mention, how much easier it would be to put together a decent documentary about the process. Short, but, hopefully, interesting. These are all pieces, and the big picture is far too big for even me to see. Mostly because there is an idiot painting this portrait. And it's time for the idiot to stop typing.
Keep watching. Something is coming. Even if it is just bizarre and cool looking photoshop art.
Alright, the first is the previously mentioned overhaul of my blog. I don't know if I will be moving it into another site, but it will be sectioned off into different things based on whatever I am writing about. There will be a visual element to this. And that leads to another thing:
Working with a friend of mine (you know who you are), I have put together some of the basic ideas behind a shmup which borrows ideas from the Metroid series, and even games like Mass Effect to make an interesting variation on the traditional scrolling shooter.
I've written the base of a script with which to review Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, which I consider an absolute blight on the series name. I will be reviewing this once I have access to some of the toys I'm going to bring up below.
Next, given the mention of toys, I am getting ready to record a couple of songs. I have two songs ready to record, and a few other things in mind. I might try to get an EP together, and maybe even sell it. This would include artwork and liner notes, prepared by the idiot whose blog you are currently scoffing at.
I would like to launch a blip video thing on the new site, and on that, I would feature the review, possibly a "making of" type thing for the EP, and whatever else came down the pipe, including a fake PSA that has been boiling in my brain for the past few weeks. Video game reviews are part of this consideration, but I don't have anything concrete in mind just yet.
Before the power supply to my net book bit the dust two weeks ago, I was gathering steam to continue work on The Alternative, and I think that it's going to be moving at a pretty decent rate once (again now) the new toys arrive. I would like to see it finished by the end of August, with work starting on book two by October. There are a couple of short stories that need to be finished as well, but I suck at composing short fiction in a decent time, so I make no promises.
Some that read this might remember a short lived video game podcast called Z-Trigger which I co-hosted. This idea is not dead to me, and some of my (yes I'm getting to it) toys will allow me to find a new form for this concept. I just hope everyone is still interested when I finally get to it. If you are reading this, go ahead and shout about how incompetent I am at the end of this post.
There is an idea floating in my mind about an e-mag genre literature journal. This idea is in embryo stage, and I'm not sure if it will make it anywhere. I would build this site, moderate, be the editor, and possibly even make collections out of the stuff I publish. This is very low on the list, given its ambition.
I'm trying to think if there is anything else coming up in the queue before moving onto the supplies that are going to make these projects more likely. There is a lot in my head, and I'm always adding to it, mostly because I'm completely mad. The way I see it is that if I have a lot of prospective projects to work on, I'm never bored when I sit down before a computer. Especially when it is...oh, you know, a Dell XPS laptop with eight gigs of ram, a terabyte hard drive, blu-ray, possibly even 3D, Photoshop CS6 Extended, a newer version of Premiere Elements 10, and the most up to date version of Dreamweaver.
Yes, all of these things are coming soon, and the trimmings just don't stop there. I am also looking into a Wacom tablet to make them all more possible. This is all part of a long winding path that might even lead into more school, but more importantly, a new set of experiences that will flesh out my creative portfolio. Having a working knowledge of Photoshop and Dreamweaver paired with a growing knowledge of HTML and CSS would do wonders for me. Now if only I can get those pesky weak art skills off the ground. But, regardless of the hideousness of my line work, I have ambition, and that is always number one in my book for having a great time.
There is a bit of time before all of these things can really kick off, but some of the basic tools are already in my hands. The new laptop, Dreamweaver, and especially the tablet, are still a bit of time off. I don't even know when the tablet will be confirmed, but given the nature of such a device and how it can be integrated into the all of the other tools, it's almost essential.
I don't know where I will begin exactly. Given how many different things I could do, and how they all tie into one big plan, I have options. Time is of the essence, and unfortunately there is never enough of it. I see the music option to be a viable one, given the nature of what I already have invested there, and, not to mention, how much easier it would be to put together a decent documentary about the process. Short, but, hopefully, interesting. These are all pieces, and the big picture is far too big for even me to see. Mostly because there is an idiot painting this portrait. And it's time for the idiot to stop typing.
Keep watching. Something is coming. Even if it is just bizarre and cool looking photoshop art.
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Fighting Codes
Lo, and behold, the fruits of my digital labor!
Okay, so it's not incredible by any measure, but it's something. Before today, I could make a text laden white page of boring crap, and it wasn't in any way impressive. Now, I can build a background in Photoshop, botch it in size, build the text content in HTML and use CSS to setup a page with proper links and consistent visualization of the content. With the page pictured above, I have three pages linked together, and there is less than two pages of HTML and CSS to show for it, all spread across four notepad documents. I'm really digging what CSS can do, and it was always the tool that I had longed to use in my previous attempts at web design and didn't know about.
So after this one day of reading and practicing, I'm getting this stretch of ambition where I will rebuild this blog entirely out of my own content and design, using the on-site HTML editor...and hopefully a CSS style sheet if I can figure out how to employ that. If nothing else I guess I can link it in from somewhere. Anyway.
I have a lot to do from here out if I want to continue using HTML and develop my skills into something. Not to mention, I really would like to do something beyond this. If I can use HTML and CSS, I can learn other languages...except for C.
Okay, back to my notepad pages.
Okay, so it's not incredible by any measure, but it's something. Before today, I could make a text laden white page of boring crap, and it wasn't in any way impressive. Now, I can build a background in Photoshop, botch it in size, build the text content in HTML and use CSS to setup a page with proper links and consistent visualization of the content. With the page pictured above, I have three pages linked together, and there is less than two pages of HTML and CSS to show for it, all spread across four notepad documents. I'm really digging what CSS can do, and it was always the tool that I had longed to use in my previous attempts at web design and didn't know about.
So after this one day of reading and practicing, I'm getting this stretch of ambition where I will rebuild this blog entirely out of my own content and design, using the on-site HTML editor...and hopefully a CSS style sheet if I can figure out how to employ that. If nothing else I guess I can link it in from somewhere. Anyway.
I have a lot to do from here out if I want to continue using HTML and develop my skills into something. Not to mention, I really would like to do something beyond this. If I can use HTML and CSS, I can learn other languages...except for C.
Okay, back to my notepad pages.
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Ultima 1: Ending the First Age of Darkness
I have finished my first Ultima game, and I had an absolute blast. I can't think of anything like it.
A strange man appears in Sosaria, and is hired by kings to fight monsters and go to random sign posts around the world in exchange for stat points and gems. When the Stranger has all of the gems, they are to buy a space shuttle and fly into space where they shoot down Tie Fighters to become a Space Ace. Becoming a Space Ace convinces a princess to tell you where the King's time machine is, provided the Stranger frees her from prison. Why the Princess is in prison, I don't know. Still, the Stranger travels through time and kills the evil wizard Mondain before destroying the Gem of Immortality.
So, three different types of nerdy stories, with a guest appearance by a balrog...er...I mean, balron!
Okay, so it's a bizarre game, but it's a lot of fun, and I think everyone should give it a try.
This isn't really a review, but I think that there are some people bored enough to read this, and I'd like that...ummm...you go out and pick it up. www.gog.com . You'll also get the second and third games from the series, for just six bucks. Enjoy folks.
A strange man appears in Sosaria, and is hired by kings to fight monsters and go to random sign posts around the world in exchange for stat points and gems. When the Stranger has all of the gems, they are to buy a space shuttle and fly into space where they shoot down Tie Fighters to become a Space Ace. Becoming a Space Ace convinces a princess to tell you where the King's time machine is, provided the Stranger frees her from prison. Why the Princess is in prison, I don't know. Still, the Stranger travels through time and kills the evil wizard Mondain before destroying the Gem of Immortality.
So, three different types of nerdy stories, with a guest appearance by a balrog...er...I mean, balron!
Okay, so it's a bizarre game, but it's a lot of fun, and I think everyone should give it a try.
This isn't really a review, but I think that there are some people bored enough to read this, and I'd like that...ummm...you go out and pick it up. www.gog.com . You'll also get the second and third games from the series, for just six bucks. Enjoy folks.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
A Personal Halo Retrospective
It's been eleven years since the first Halo came into the world after a long string of versions and designs. Third person shooters and strategy games lined the road that lead to a game changing first person shooter, now known and, at times, revered by the gaming public. Me, I enjoy it. Even as it has changed, become the poster child for great online gaming, become the old favorite, and completely get put behind an overrated modern war shooter and all of its clones. But, the point is, Halo 4 is coming, and I just finished Reach (my first Halo completed on Normal difficulty sadly, but I did it), so I feel like talking about Halo.
Ten years ago, I was selling donuts for marching band and met one of my grandmothers neighbors who was chewing through the single player campaign again. He got me in for a bit of co-op, and I enjoyed what I played. He then invited me to one the lan gaming group he had on the weekends. I spent a many of sessions with these people, and cultivated some level of FPS gaming ability that I've been trying to improve on in recent years (with increasing the difficulty out of the easy mode that allowed me to see through several games). It took a long time until I actually got a chance to play through the campaign. When it finally happened, I was impressed, and I am still impressed. Great art design, and fairly strong story telling matched with strong game play made for a great experience. I still enjoy it when I return to it.
Unfortunately the magic was blurred with the sequel. Ambition and bizarre story decisions hurt Halo 2, but it seemed that the focus went into the multiplayer rather than the single player campaign. Also, the ending left a lot to be desired. They picked up the pieces with Halo 3, which I flew through in co-op in a single night (well almost...the person who bought the game was pretty ticked that an eighty dollar game was almost completed in a few hours.
But this was the last that I thought that I'd see of the series. What Bungie had delivered was a great trilogy of sci fi action games, changing the way that people approached the genre, and, unfortunately, made the style common in the gaming landscape. However, it was still the first, and it definitely deserves respect for that. When Bungie announced that they were releasing an expansion to Halo 3 called ODST, I bought in. Or, well, I played it co-op with the same roommate who had paid for my Halo needs in the past (well, I did buy that sweet Master Chief 360 controller). Following ODST, I was impressed that they could actually shift the way that their series was designed a bit. ODST was incredibly entertaining.
Now, Bungie has parted ways with the series, and has set sail for new shores with the Destiny franchise. In their absence, Halo Wars was released (which I haven't played yet), and the prequel Reach. I just finished Reach, which was a stunning game. There are so very few games that are so dismal in tone from the outset, especially war focused shooters like the Halo franchise has produced. I'm impressed that they would risk such a move.
But I do feel that Bungie created something very dense, ready for the creation of great stories. While the Halo games won't win awards for their storytelling, there is the potential there for something amazing. The lore is interesting, and is always growing. Given the work done on Reach, I think that the stories of the Halo universe are in good hands with 343i.
I am actually looking forward to Halo 4, and Bungie's Destiny franchise. These studios have done good stuff. Remember, I think of games as a source for having fun.I enjoy a good story, and stellar gameplay, but I can still dig a good shooter. And that exactly what I've always expected from the Halo franchise.
The Redeemer Saga...I'm going to enjoy it....
Just give Reach a try...bleak game...
Ten years ago, I was selling donuts for marching band and met one of my grandmothers neighbors who was chewing through the single player campaign again. He got me in for a bit of co-op, and I enjoyed what I played. He then invited me to one the lan gaming group he had on the weekends. I spent a many of sessions with these people, and cultivated some level of FPS gaming ability that I've been trying to improve on in recent years (with increasing the difficulty out of the easy mode that allowed me to see through several games). It took a long time until I actually got a chance to play through the campaign. When it finally happened, I was impressed, and I am still impressed. Great art design, and fairly strong story telling matched with strong game play made for a great experience. I still enjoy it when I return to it.
Unfortunately the magic was blurred with the sequel. Ambition and bizarre story decisions hurt Halo 2, but it seemed that the focus went into the multiplayer rather than the single player campaign. Also, the ending left a lot to be desired. They picked up the pieces with Halo 3, which I flew through in co-op in a single night (well almost...the person who bought the game was pretty ticked that an eighty dollar game was almost completed in a few hours.
But this was the last that I thought that I'd see of the series. What Bungie had delivered was a great trilogy of sci fi action games, changing the way that people approached the genre, and, unfortunately, made the style common in the gaming landscape. However, it was still the first, and it definitely deserves respect for that. When Bungie announced that they were releasing an expansion to Halo 3 called ODST, I bought in. Or, well, I played it co-op with the same roommate who had paid for my Halo needs in the past (well, I did buy that sweet Master Chief 360 controller). Following ODST, I was impressed that they could actually shift the way that their series was designed a bit. ODST was incredibly entertaining.
Now, Bungie has parted ways with the series, and has set sail for new shores with the Destiny franchise. In their absence, Halo Wars was released (which I haven't played yet), and the prequel Reach. I just finished Reach, which was a stunning game. There are so very few games that are so dismal in tone from the outset, especially war focused shooters like the Halo franchise has produced. I'm impressed that they would risk such a move.
But I do feel that Bungie created something very dense, ready for the creation of great stories. While the Halo games won't win awards for their storytelling, there is the potential there for something amazing. The lore is interesting, and is always growing. Given the work done on Reach, I think that the stories of the Halo universe are in good hands with 343i.
I am actually looking forward to Halo 4, and Bungie's Destiny franchise. These studios have done good stuff. Remember, I think of games as a source for having fun.I enjoy a good story, and stellar gameplay, but I can still dig a good shooter. And that exactly what I've always expected from the Halo franchise.
The Redeemer Saga...I'm going to enjoy it....
Just give Reach a try...bleak game...
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
The Speculation Machine
E3 is coming up in about a month or so, and everyone is already screaming about the future. Who will live? Who fails? What technological masterpiece will represent the greater gamer population this time? Well, no one knows, and everyone with an opinion is posting it on the internet. And every time I see one of these articles, I can't help but read it and wonder what drug induced fanboy madness could generate such thoughts. The most recent of these was an article saying that Sony was this generations Sega, and that the PS4 will fail. While this isn't impossible, it most certainly isn't likely. Sony has held a huge place in gamers homes since the PS1 launched, and I don't see that changing. The PS3 was a harsh learning experience for Sony though. They had to see that having a colossal ego wasn't the route to take for getting a console off of the ground. Now they are doing fine, despite dumping millions of R&D dollars into a short lived motion control program (thank God that the Move is pretty much no more). Nintendo isn't in a much better place, though. As the Wii has wound down in sales and visibility in preparation for the release of the WiiU, they have released a follow up to the successful DS line with the 3DS, which had a harsh start to what has turned into a success, and there is unending doubt surrounding the WiiU. As a longtime Nintendo fan, I can't help but feel the same. The rumors of technology on par with the 360/PS3 don't do much to help Nintendo stay appealing to the so-called Core gamer. Sure, the tablet controller is an interesting interface and could do great things when applied well, but we don't see that yet. We know that games that have been announced for current consoles are due on the WiiU, but that's it. The lack of information doesn't lend itself to Nintendo's favor, so the outlook is bleak. But nothing is concrete. I will keep watching it, because it does look interesting.
Microsoft is the company who needs to watch themselves.
As with Nintendo, Sega, and Sony alike, there have been decisions made for each of these three companies that have ended up causing more harm than good. Nintendo stuck with cartridges, which made production costs high, and development difficult due to the complex architecture of the machine. Sega entered their third generation with a chain of failed products targeted at toppling the Nintendo giant, and ultimately drained finances from their company, and focused on a very small target audience: arcade gamers. Sony entered their third generation with a egotistical marketing campaign, paired with an expensive piece of hardware that was difficult to develop for, and had a small amount of interesting exclusive titles, and a collection of buggy ports from the 360. While Microsoft hasn't played its cards for the next generation, or even given a peek of their hand, there is much for them to look out for. One of these concepts is the idea of preventing used games from being played on a console.
While I don't prefer used games, they are a necessary evil. The problem is tied to the cost of new games. When your console still plays DVD's and you are pushing a sixty dollar price tag without including instruction manuals (as EA has done), I don't see where the price of product can make any sense. Yes, it costs millions to make a game, and market it. But that sixty dollar price mark on war-shooter-game-eighty doesn't make me want to play it. Next, the push for digital distribution only doesn't help the collection mindset, which ultimately keeps a console in the gaming landscape for decades to come. Also, sequels have to make money, and those used copies of war-shooter-game-seventy-nine would definitely get people prepared to play the samey crap that major developers are pushing these days. All of these things have a place and its time to find a balance to them all. If you want to sell one of those irritating online pass things, give an incentive. Sure, Alice: Madness Returns isn't that great of a game (per reviewers), but the online pass includes a copy of the cult classic Alice. That's worth ten bucks the EA can make without breaking a sweat. It's an old game past its lifespan, and its a way to make quick money. But EA is essential the video game version of Satan, so this is a moot point.
But we have to wait for these things to happen, folks. No console is in trouble yet. There are things playing against everyone this generation. While this has been one of the most financially fruitful generations in gaming since its inception, its time is fading. The deck has been shuffled and the cards are still being dealt. No one is going to topple anyone until all the systems are on the market, and the bets are being made.
Microsoft is the company who needs to watch themselves.
As with Nintendo, Sega, and Sony alike, there have been decisions made for each of these three companies that have ended up causing more harm than good. Nintendo stuck with cartridges, which made production costs high, and development difficult due to the complex architecture of the machine. Sega entered their third generation with a chain of failed products targeted at toppling the Nintendo giant, and ultimately drained finances from their company, and focused on a very small target audience: arcade gamers. Sony entered their third generation with a egotistical marketing campaign, paired with an expensive piece of hardware that was difficult to develop for, and had a small amount of interesting exclusive titles, and a collection of buggy ports from the 360. While Microsoft hasn't played its cards for the next generation, or even given a peek of their hand, there is much for them to look out for. One of these concepts is the idea of preventing used games from being played on a console.
While I don't prefer used games, they are a necessary evil. The problem is tied to the cost of new games. When your console still plays DVD's and you are pushing a sixty dollar price tag without including instruction manuals (as EA has done), I don't see where the price of product can make any sense. Yes, it costs millions to make a game, and market it. But that sixty dollar price mark on war-shooter-game-eighty doesn't make me want to play it. Next, the push for digital distribution only doesn't help the collection mindset, which ultimately keeps a console in the gaming landscape for decades to come. Also, sequels have to make money, and those used copies of war-shooter-game-seventy-nine would definitely get people prepared to play the samey crap that major developers are pushing these days. All of these things have a place and its time to find a balance to them all. If you want to sell one of those irritating online pass things, give an incentive. Sure, Alice: Madness Returns isn't that great of a game (per reviewers), but the online pass includes a copy of the cult classic Alice. That's worth ten bucks the EA can make without breaking a sweat. It's an old game past its lifespan, and its a way to make quick money. But EA is essential the video game version of Satan, so this is a moot point.
But we have to wait for these things to happen, folks. No console is in trouble yet. There are things playing against everyone this generation. While this has been one of the most financially fruitful generations in gaming since its inception, its time is fading. The deck has been shuffled and the cards are still being dealt. No one is going to topple anyone until all the systems are on the market, and the bets are being made.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Ultima VII -- Here We Go
Those who have spoken with me about gaming in recent months know that I've taken an interest in the classic Ultima series from Origin Systems, and raped by EA. Well, I've picked up a couple of the games in various forms, and I'm going to take a crack at them. So far, I've picked up Ultima III: Exodus on the NES (CIB no less), Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar, and Ultima VII: The Black Gate and Serpent Isle on the PC. The only one I've been able to make any headway in is Ultima VII, and I think that is due to a mixture of things. One is that I am horrible at old RPG's. Another is that I suck at Western RPG's period. The most personal one is that I just can't figure out how to heal my characters in Ultima III on the NES. I'll figure it out eventually, but for now, Ultima VII.
The idea is to make a chronicle of my efforts in Britannia, taking down the Guardian and The Fellowship, and eventually heading off to Serpent Isle to bring back the serpents of balance. Yes, I know too much about the plots already, thanks to the fantastic Spoony Experiment retrospective, but I'm not counting that into my experience of the games. I feel like the game has to tell the story too, rather than what little I know from watching Spoony's videos.
So, I've made my first run at the game, which starts with a murder investigation. What is easily one of the most graphic images I've seen in a classic video game opens the story. So far, I've drawn a connection to The Fellowship, a creepy cult that has replaced the Virtues of the Avatar as Britannia's religion, and the dead blacksmiths issues with the local branch's leader. In my investigation, I recruited the blacksmith's son, Spark, who doesn't really have anything left in his home town. I assume I need to hire a boat to the mainland, seeing as the game starts on an island.
Obviously, I haven't gotten very far. So instead, it's time to look at a few other things. My purchase of the game was from GOG.Com. I was looking at the SNES version, but I gathered from a few reviews that such a review would be a horrible decision. Well, I've not completely discounted that move, given that it's not in front of me to make that move, but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. For now, GOG's version of the game is a very sweet purchase. Gamers who buy Ultima VII from GOG will be gifted with the original game, the Forge of Virtue, which sends the player on a quest to regain status in three virtues as well as destroy the remains of Exodus from Ultima III, Serpent Isle, which plays as Part II to the game, and The Silver Seed, the expansion to Serpent Isle. The Silver Seed is supposedly the first example (as far as I can tell...) of EA cutting the budgets necessary for Origin Systems to finish their work on these games. Such budget cuts would be the primary reason for such colossal messes as Ultima's VIII and IX, which were the primary reason for the series disappearing.
On that note, I would love to see Lord British reclaim his franchise from EA and make a new entry in the series. With the success of such giants as The Elder Scrolls in the past decade, the time is right for the Avatar to return to the RPG landscape. The Elder Scrolls couldn't have even happened without the ground work provided by Origin Systems and the Wizardry series, which has also completely faded from view (though I've never played it). Or maybe I would just like to see more Wing Commander games.
That, however, is a discussion I'll save for another day.
Check back, as I indulge in a giant role playing quest that has nothing to do with Final Fantasy.
The idea is to make a chronicle of my efforts in Britannia, taking down the Guardian and The Fellowship, and eventually heading off to Serpent Isle to bring back the serpents of balance. Yes, I know too much about the plots already, thanks to the fantastic Spoony Experiment retrospective, but I'm not counting that into my experience of the games. I feel like the game has to tell the story too, rather than what little I know from watching Spoony's videos.
So, I've made my first run at the game, which starts with a murder investigation. What is easily one of the most graphic images I've seen in a classic video game opens the story. So far, I've drawn a connection to The Fellowship, a creepy cult that has replaced the Virtues of the Avatar as Britannia's religion, and the dead blacksmiths issues with the local branch's leader. In my investigation, I recruited the blacksmith's son, Spark, who doesn't really have anything left in his home town. I assume I need to hire a boat to the mainland, seeing as the game starts on an island.
Obviously, I haven't gotten very far. So instead, it's time to look at a few other things. My purchase of the game was from GOG.Com. I was looking at the SNES version, but I gathered from a few reviews that such a review would be a horrible decision. Well, I've not completely discounted that move, given that it's not in front of me to make that move, but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. For now, GOG's version of the game is a very sweet purchase. Gamers who buy Ultima VII from GOG will be gifted with the original game, the Forge of Virtue, which sends the player on a quest to regain status in three virtues as well as destroy the remains of Exodus from Ultima III, Serpent Isle, which plays as Part II to the game, and The Silver Seed, the expansion to Serpent Isle. The Silver Seed is supposedly the first example (as far as I can tell...) of EA cutting the budgets necessary for Origin Systems to finish their work on these games. Such budget cuts would be the primary reason for such colossal messes as Ultima's VIII and IX, which were the primary reason for the series disappearing.
On that note, I would love to see Lord British reclaim his franchise from EA and make a new entry in the series. With the success of such giants as The Elder Scrolls in the past decade, the time is right for the Avatar to return to the RPG landscape. The Elder Scrolls couldn't have even happened without the ground work provided by Origin Systems and the Wizardry series, which has also completely faded from view (though I've never played it). Or maybe I would just like to see more Wing Commander games.
That, however, is a discussion I'll save for another day.
Check back, as I indulge in a giant role playing quest that has nothing to do with Final Fantasy.
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Final Fantasy XIII-2 Review
So, with 112 fragments collected, I've finally toppled the vile trio of Bahamuts that made up the ridiculous final boss. Now I'm ready to talk about the game in whole.
FF XIII made enough people upset with it's story, gameplay, etc. etc. whiny etc. that Square Enix felt the need to make a sequel as fast as they could instead of wrapping up production on the longer-in-the-works XIII Versus. While this is a questionable business move, the product of this decision is one of the more interesting works from the Final Fantasy series in recent years. Open progression, a multitude of little things to do, and consistent rewards for playing the game (IE, crystarium points given for finished quests), are just a few of the things that make this a more enjoyable experience than the often weak XIII.
But the story is the most important factor in the JRPG's quality. XIII-2 has a decent plot, but some of the most interesting character choices that I've seen in a very long time. Caius Ballad, ridiculously named and awkwardly dressed villain of the game, is the center of one of the most tragic narratives in the series, and with a small cast, the story carries itself well to the end. However, two things mar what is an otherwise fantastic tale. The first is tone. Having Mog fly around and cutesy things up to an annoying level breaks the bleak outlook on things in half. The other is the language explaining the time travel aspect of the game. I'm not convinced that anyone on the staff ever looked up the word "paradox" in the dictionary, because what the characters are saying when they say "paradox" doesn't make any sense. Sure the word is nice sounding, but it doesn't fit "random object found in a different place in time/space". Artefacts, yes. Fragments, yes. Paradox, no.
Getting around that little thing, the only other issues are some of the same that hit FFXIII. Getting stronger weapons is a miserable process, and so is obtaining enough materials to strengthen up the monsters collected by the player throughout. Gambling in the casino would be a nice diversion, but using it as a requirement for collecting more fragments is short sighted given the difficulty of making money on the slot machines. It should noted that I haven't played around with the chocobo racing yet. I will when I'm dabbling with the post game content, but I didn't want to put that much time in while pursuing the end of the game.
While XIII had a great soundtrack, XIII-2 is a bit of a mixed bag. About half of it is good. A quarter of it is pretty good music, but bizarrely out of place. The other quarter is J-Pop nonsense with horrible lyrics. Seeing as I got the collector's edition, I've still got to listen to the soundtrack to make a clear decision on whether the composer was drunk or just drawing at straws. In addition to the orchestral stuff, there are some slick fusion pieces, a distracting heavy metal chocobo theme, and some light jazz numbers. It's a bit reminiscent of the Cowboy Bebop soundtrack, but not as memorable in the long term.
If you are looking for a recommendation on whether or not to play this game, I say go for it. For all of its faults, it's one of my favorite games in the series since the Playstation era. A strong core plot can be found beneath the silly top half, and one of the best endings I've seen in the series as a whole are waiting to be seen by players who give the time. Having played XIII isn't required to enjoy this game, but it will give some clarity, as well as a couple of bonuses.I've logged 40 hours, so it's not very long, but it's worth the price to play it.
9/10
FF XIII made enough people upset with it's story, gameplay, etc. etc. whiny etc. that Square Enix felt the need to make a sequel as fast as they could instead of wrapping up production on the longer-in-the-works XIII Versus. While this is a questionable business move, the product of this decision is one of the more interesting works from the Final Fantasy series in recent years. Open progression, a multitude of little things to do, and consistent rewards for playing the game (IE, crystarium points given for finished quests), are just a few of the things that make this a more enjoyable experience than the often weak XIII.
But the story is the most important factor in the JRPG's quality. XIII-2 has a decent plot, but some of the most interesting character choices that I've seen in a very long time. Caius Ballad, ridiculously named and awkwardly dressed villain of the game, is the center of one of the most tragic narratives in the series, and with a small cast, the story carries itself well to the end. However, two things mar what is an otherwise fantastic tale. The first is tone. Having Mog fly around and cutesy things up to an annoying level breaks the bleak outlook on things in half. The other is the language explaining the time travel aspect of the game. I'm not convinced that anyone on the staff ever looked up the word "paradox" in the dictionary, because what the characters are saying when they say "paradox" doesn't make any sense. Sure the word is nice sounding, but it doesn't fit "random object found in a different place in time/space". Artefacts, yes. Fragments, yes. Paradox, no.
Getting around that little thing, the only other issues are some of the same that hit FFXIII. Getting stronger weapons is a miserable process, and so is obtaining enough materials to strengthen up the monsters collected by the player throughout. Gambling in the casino would be a nice diversion, but using it as a requirement for collecting more fragments is short sighted given the difficulty of making money on the slot machines. It should noted that I haven't played around with the chocobo racing yet. I will when I'm dabbling with the post game content, but I didn't want to put that much time in while pursuing the end of the game.
While XIII had a great soundtrack, XIII-2 is a bit of a mixed bag. About half of it is good. A quarter of it is pretty good music, but bizarrely out of place. The other quarter is J-Pop nonsense with horrible lyrics. Seeing as I got the collector's edition, I've still got to listen to the soundtrack to make a clear decision on whether the composer was drunk or just drawing at straws. In addition to the orchestral stuff, there are some slick fusion pieces, a distracting heavy metal chocobo theme, and some light jazz numbers. It's a bit reminiscent of the Cowboy Bebop soundtrack, but not as memorable in the long term.
If you are looking for a recommendation on whether or not to play this game, I say go for it. For all of its faults, it's one of my favorite games in the series since the Playstation era. A strong core plot can be found beneath the silly top half, and one of the best endings I've seen in the series as a whole are waiting to be seen by players who give the time. Having played XIII isn't required to enjoy this game, but it will give some clarity, as well as a couple of bonuses.I've logged 40 hours, so it's not very long, but it's worth the price to play it.
9/10
Friday, March 30, 2012
On Lost Games and D Review
Let's have a moment of silence for games lost to the ages due to bankrupt publishers, dead studios, and missing source code.
Or let's read on, because silence isn't exactly what a blog is about, now is it.
A couple of nights ago, I played through D for the Sega Saturn, a first person horror experience also released for the 3DO and Playstation. Developer Warp Studios closed up shop in the early 2000's after releasing D2. Whether the game is in demand by gamers now is in question, as the title, and others in its series, fetch between forty and sixty dollars on average in the aftermarket. Obviously, there is an interest, and some of it may have been sparked by the line of D reviews done by RetrowareTV series Happy Video Game Nerd.
Given the market for horror games, and indie titles as well, the time is right for this series to be revived on XBLA and PSN. A PSClassics release of D would be easy enough, but Enemy Zero and D2 would require ports from the original versions. A PC version of Enemy Zero exists, so there is that to help the process of porting the title if it ever happened.
Other titles aren't as fortunate.
The Panzer Dragoon series had a second chance on the X-BOX, and included a port of the original Saturn title, ported from the PC version. However, Zwei, and the incredibly expensive PD Saga still haven't seen new life. Zwei isn't impossible to find, but fetches a decent price. Saga however is rare. It's expensive. It's on a console that most people aren't interested in. But it was a title that could have sent ripples into the RPG genre had it been release on the Playstation. The original source code for this game has long since vanished, making a port almost impossible.
So, I know I've probably talked these series into the ground (and I still have D to dig into later on this post), but there is a reason. Games like D need to be remembered. Sure it's not perfect, but there is no other experience like it. Panzer Dragoon Saga hasn't been copied by anyone to date, and that is a concept that could be used for great inspiration in a title this generation. Or if nothing else, get these titles ported. Older games need to be kept alive, preserved, and as such, carried on as tradition in this art form. Film and music receive this treatment, so why won't games?
So before I move on, allow me to ask the question-- How does one go about staring the Criterion Collection for Video Games?
_______________________________________________________________________________
D.
Warp Games
Sega Saturn
I'm going to ignore the presence of the uncanny valley for the purpose of this review.
D was released at the tail end of the FMV game trend, and was the first game to use CGI for everything in the game. It plays like Myst, in that the solving of puzzles allows progress through the game. Tonally, it's more in line with The Shining, using a very deliberate pace to tell the story. The voice acting is limited, and still weak, but it doesn't ruin the experience. Neither does the early CG video. The story is decent, and only made fluid by the game itself. Laura Harris has to enter a creepy hospital/castle to find out why her father is killing patients, experiencing bizarre hallucinations, and solving puzzles along the way. Nothing about the game is challenging beyond a couple of a questionable puzzle decisions and the QTE with the knight about 2/3 through the game.Well, there is the two hour time limit you have in which to complete the entire game, but that can be handled with patience on the part of the gamer. Still, D deserves to be played. Seek it out, and experience one of the most unique games you could ever play.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Short but sweet, just like the game. Alright, Script Frenzy starts in two days. I will be writing for a concept I'm calling Memphistopheles for right now. Also, I need to figure out how Criterion got started.
Or let's read on, because silence isn't exactly what a blog is about, now is it.
A couple of nights ago, I played through D for the Sega Saturn, a first person horror experience also released for the 3DO and Playstation. Developer Warp Studios closed up shop in the early 2000's after releasing D2. Whether the game is in demand by gamers now is in question, as the title, and others in its series, fetch between forty and sixty dollars on average in the aftermarket. Obviously, there is an interest, and some of it may have been sparked by the line of D reviews done by RetrowareTV series Happy Video Game Nerd.
Given the market for horror games, and indie titles as well, the time is right for this series to be revived on XBLA and PSN. A PSClassics release of D would be easy enough, but Enemy Zero and D2 would require ports from the original versions. A PC version of Enemy Zero exists, so there is that to help the process of porting the title if it ever happened.
Other titles aren't as fortunate.
The Panzer Dragoon series had a second chance on the X-BOX, and included a port of the original Saturn title, ported from the PC version. However, Zwei, and the incredibly expensive PD Saga still haven't seen new life. Zwei isn't impossible to find, but fetches a decent price. Saga however is rare. It's expensive. It's on a console that most people aren't interested in. But it was a title that could have sent ripples into the RPG genre had it been release on the Playstation. The original source code for this game has long since vanished, making a port almost impossible.
So, I know I've probably talked these series into the ground (and I still have D to dig into later on this post), but there is a reason. Games like D need to be remembered. Sure it's not perfect, but there is no other experience like it. Panzer Dragoon Saga hasn't been copied by anyone to date, and that is a concept that could be used for great inspiration in a title this generation. Or if nothing else, get these titles ported. Older games need to be kept alive, preserved, and as such, carried on as tradition in this art form. Film and music receive this treatment, so why won't games?
So before I move on, allow me to ask the question-- How does one go about staring the Criterion Collection for Video Games?
_______________________________________________________________________________
D.
Warp Games
Sega Saturn
I'm going to ignore the presence of the uncanny valley for the purpose of this review.
D was released at the tail end of the FMV game trend, and was the first game to use CGI for everything in the game. It plays like Myst, in that the solving of puzzles allows progress through the game. Tonally, it's more in line with The Shining, using a very deliberate pace to tell the story. The voice acting is limited, and still weak, but it doesn't ruin the experience. Neither does the early CG video. The story is decent, and only made fluid by the game itself. Laura Harris has to enter a creepy hospital/castle to find out why her father is killing patients, experiencing bizarre hallucinations, and solving puzzles along the way. Nothing about the game is challenging beyond a couple of a questionable puzzle decisions and the QTE with the knight about 2/3 through the game.Well, there is the two hour time limit you have in which to complete the entire game, but that can be handled with patience on the part of the gamer. Still, D deserves to be played. Seek it out, and experience one of the most unique games you could ever play.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Short but sweet, just like the game. Alright, Script Frenzy starts in two days. I will be writing for a concept I'm calling Memphistopheles for right now. Also, I need to figure out how Criterion got started.
Monday, March 12, 2012
Collection Post
I've recently been on quite the collecting frenzy. In two weeks time, I've added quite a bit to my collection, mostly pertaining to my list of "epic collection" pieces. I guess you could just go ahead and call this a "Recent Acquisitions" post, but more, I'm going to ruminate on my ideas about collecting video games, collectors, the retro market, and possibly just the art form itself.
But let's begin with my recent additions to the library.
Bust a Move 2 Arcade Edition -- PS1 Long Box
Wing Commander --Sega CD
Ecco: The Tides of Time -- Sega CD
Resident Evil -- PS1 Long Box
Virtua Fighter 3TB -- Dreamcast JP import
Enemy Zero -- Saturn
Silpheed -- Sega CD
Blood Stone 007 -- XBOX360
Kings Knight --NES loose
James Bond 007-- Game Boy
The World is Not Enough -- PS1
Great Football ---SMS in box
Great Baseball -- SMS in box
The Ninja -- SMS in box
Vortex -- SNES in box
Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 -- Saturn
Skeleton Warrior -- Saturn
Panzer Dragoon II Zwei -- Saturn
phew...that took too long.
Now, for those who are disgusted with how much money I could spend on video games, allow me to inform you that that haul didn't cost as much as it could have, and my lovely Jo is the person who paid for some of it. I may have seventy dollars in that haul. I think Jo has seventy five in it. Now, when you pull out the fact that PDIIZ was forty dollars, and that a RE Long Box usually fetches fifty dollars online, I've done very well. But let's not spend too much time focusing on the financial investment involved. Nor the fact that my lovely fiance was also the person who added the modded Saturn to the collection in the past few weeks as well. And a Nook, which I should also make a post about...
But if you are still reading this ridiculousness, then you should note that there is no real trend to my collecting, aside from my bizarre penchant for failed video game consoles. There are a couple of things that I look for when I go out hunting for games. One is long box titles for the Sega CD, Saturn, and PS1. Another is 32X games, which I seek a full library of. Old RPG's that don't cost a small fortune, good deals, and cheap games. Then there is the "Epic List". While, per the name, this should be a list of games with brilliant stories and fantastic design, it is but a list of very specific games and prints that I want to have in my library at all times.
Ultima IV NES CIB (maps etc)
Final Fantasy NES CIB (maps, etc)
Vandal Hearts PS1 (CIB)
Gun Nac NES (doesn't matter)
Xenogears (PS1,CIB, print doesn't matter)
Snatcher (SEGA CD, CIB)
Panzer Dragoon (cib, Saturn)
Panzer Dragoon Saga (CIB Saturn)
Lunar 2 (Sega CD, CIB)\
Super Mario Bros. 3 NES CIB
32X Library (9/38 so far), CIB not necessary, but nice.
Castlevania franchise (CIB not required for Cartridge games)
NES Star Wars Games (Loose or CIB, though CIB would be nice.)
Zillion (SMS, boxed at least.)
Resident Evil Code Veronica X (GameCube, CIB)
Dark Wizard (SEGA CD, CIB)
Might and Magic (Genesis, CIB)
Vay (Sega CD, CIB)
Earthbound (SNES, any, don't spend a fortune though)
D (PS1 or Saturn, CIB, Long Box...although I don't think there was a Jewel Case Reprint)
D2 (DC, CIB)
Sonic 1 and 3 CIB (not expensive at all. More of a waiting game at PNT)
Myst PS1 CIB
Shenmue 2 (DC Euro Import or XBOX CIB)
Popful Mail (Sega CD CIB)
Shining Force CD (Sega CD CIB)
Secret of Mana (SNES, loose is fine)
Resident Evil Long Box PS1
Panzer Dragoon 2 Zwei (Saturn)
Enemy Zero (Saturn)
That is copied straight from the notepad file I have it in, so please ignore the format. And as you'll see, this list makes no real sense. Some of these games are recommendations that I take very seriously. Some of these games are classics, cult classics, or just unique enough to make a part of the collection.The unique stuff is the most fun. Games like D and Enemy Zero will never find a wide enough audience to warrant a remake of any kind, so Panzer Dragoon is a fantastic rail shooter, and that's one of my favorite genres. The most expensive game on the list belongs to that franchise. Some would question why would I specifically need a Long Box variant of Resident Evil when there are other versions with more replay value. To that I just say, look at the long box variant art work, the inlay design, and even the booklet. There is a lot to appreciate. It's just a shame that none of the best games in the Playstation library were ever released in the long box format. I would have loved to have seen what Square would have done with the Final Fantasy artwork had the style continued. Cover art seems to be part of what a lot of collectors are impressed by, which is why there are places like The Cover Project and Game Rave online.
But then there are the obsessive Library collectors, who don't even play the things that they collect. I've read about a collector who has a compete collection of PS2 games, all sealed. What is the point of collecting if you don't play the games collected? But that is just a small note. The increase of collectors, mostly library collectors, has caused aftermarket sellers to raise the price of games higher than they should be. Namely the Saturn games I collected have skyrocketed in recent years for no other reason than that retro games are in demand now. This is due in part to people buying the games, and of course, supply and demand dictates that the price should go up. But sadly, that means that these games are becoming more expensive because someone ultimately wants to make more money off of new collectors.
This is why I found myself in the shop of a reseller at a flea market on Saturday, disgusted by the prices of some of the most common games in the retro market. This guy had Tetris carts marked for twenty bucks, and no, it wasn't the Tengen unlicensed cart either. Nor should Mario 3 be twenty five dollars loose. No one should ever spend $2500.00 on sealed Saturn games. Where did this mindset come from other than that there are people who want to make money on the stupid anyway? There isn't a precedence for this, I shouldn't have to spend twenty dollars on a copy of MK3 on the Saturn when there is a trilogy set on X-Box Live Arcade for ten bucks. It was a common title on the console, with Digital Press rarity rating of 2.
This has turned into more of a rant than anything, but then again, I'm tired. I just got off work, and I'm ready for some sleep. Tomorrow I will play some games, and hopefully make it through work without as much chaos as I witnessed tonight. However, the hunt will continue, and I will be gaming. But seriously, I need to get some videos online, and talk to people with some actual game footage. If anyone actually reads this and knows of a cheap shelving solution, please drop it in the comments, because there is a lot of overflow that I keep having to flex around on my shelves. Perhaps I can just start with a collection video and go from there. But I'd have to find people who'd care enough to watch. Anyway, gamers, keep playing.
But let's begin with my recent additions to the library.
Bust a Move 2 Arcade Edition -- PS1 Long Box
Wing Commander --Sega CD
Ecco: The Tides of Time -- Sega CD
Resident Evil -- PS1 Long Box
Virtua Fighter 3TB -- Dreamcast JP import
Enemy Zero -- Saturn
Silpheed -- Sega CD
Blood Stone 007 -- XBOX360
Kings Knight --NES loose
James Bond 007-- Game Boy
The World is Not Enough -- PS1
Great Football ---SMS in box
Great Baseball -- SMS in box
The Ninja -- SMS in box
Vortex -- SNES in box
Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 -- Saturn
Skeleton Warrior -- Saturn
Panzer Dragoon II Zwei -- Saturn
phew...that took too long.
Now, for those who are disgusted with how much money I could spend on video games, allow me to inform you that that haul didn't cost as much as it could have, and my lovely Jo is the person who paid for some of it. I may have seventy dollars in that haul. I think Jo has seventy five in it. Now, when you pull out the fact that PDIIZ was forty dollars, and that a RE Long Box usually fetches fifty dollars online, I've done very well. But let's not spend too much time focusing on the financial investment involved. Nor the fact that my lovely fiance was also the person who added the modded Saturn to the collection in the past few weeks as well. And a Nook, which I should also make a post about...
But if you are still reading this ridiculousness, then you should note that there is no real trend to my collecting, aside from my bizarre penchant for failed video game consoles. There are a couple of things that I look for when I go out hunting for games. One is long box titles for the Sega CD, Saturn, and PS1. Another is 32X games, which I seek a full library of. Old RPG's that don't cost a small fortune, good deals, and cheap games. Then there is the "Epic List". While, per the name, this should be a list of games with brilliant stories and fantastic design, it is but a list of very specific games and prints that I want to have in my library at all times.
Ultima IV NES CIB (maps etc)
Final Fantasy NES CIB (maps, etc)
Vandal Hearts PS1 (CIB)
Gun Nac NES (doesn't matter)
Xenogears (PS1,CIB, print doesn't matter)
Snatcher (SEGA CD, CIB)
Panzer Dragoon (cib, Saturn)
Panzer Dragoon Saga (CIB Saturn)
Lunar 2 (Sega CD, CIB)\
Super Mario Bros. 3 NES CIB
32X Library (9/38 so far), CIB not necessary, but nice.
Castlevania franchise (CIB not required for Cartridge games)
NES Star Wars Games (Loose or CIB, though CIB would be nice.)
Zillion (SMS, boxed at least.)
Resident Evil Code Veronica X (GameCube, CIB)
Dark Wizard (SEGA CD, CIB)
Might and Magic (Genesis, CIB)
Vay (Sega CD, CIB)
Earthbound (SNES, any, don't spend a fortune though)
D (PS1 or Saturn, CIB, Long Box...although I don't think there was a Jewel Case Reprint)
D2 (DC, CIB)
Sonic 1 and 3 CIB (not expensive at all. More of a waiting game at PNT)
Myst PS1 CIB
Shenmue 2 (DC Euro Import or XBOX CIB)
Popful Mail (Sega CD CIB)
Shining Force CD (Sega CD CIB)
Secret of Mana (SNES, loose is fine)
Resident Evil Long Box PS1
Panzer Dragoon 2 Zwei (Saturn)
Enemy Zero (Saturn)
That is copied straight from the notepad file I have it in, so please ignore the format. And as you'll see, this list makes no real sense. Some of these games are recommendations that I take very seriously. Some of these games are classics, cult classics, or just unique enough to make a part of the collection.The unique stuff is the most fun. Games like D and Enemy Zero will never find a wide enough audience to warrant a remake of any kind, so Panzer Dragoon is a fantastic rail shooter, and that's one of my favorite genres. The most expensive game on the list belongs to that franchise. Some would question why would I specifically need a Long Box variant of Resident Evil when there are other versions with more replay value. To that I just say, look at the long box variant art work, the inlay design, and even the booklet. There is a lot to appreciate. It's just a shame that none of the best games in the Playstation library were ever released in the long box format. I would have loved to have seen what Square would have done with the Final Fantasy artwork had the style continued. Cover art seems to be part of what a lot of collectors are impressed by, which is why there are places like The Cover Project and Game Rave online.
But then there are the obsessive Library collectors, who don't even play the things that they collect. I've read about a collector who has a compete collection of PS2 games, all sealed. What is the point of collecting if you don't play the games collected? But that is just a small note. The increase of collectors, mostly library collectors, has caused aftermarket sellers to raise the price of games higher than they should be. Namely the Saturn games I collected have skyrocketed in recent years for no other reason than that retro games are in demand now. This is due in part to people buying the games, and of course, supply and demand dictates that the price should go up. But sadly, that means that these games are becoming more expensive because someone ultimately wants to make more money off of new collectors.
This is why I found myself in the shop of a reseller at a flea market on Saturday, disgusted by the prices of some of the most common games in the retro market. This guy had Tetris carts marked for twenty bucks, and no, it wasn't the Tengen unlicensed cart either. Nor should Mario 3 be twenty five dollars loose. No one should ever spend $2500.00 on sealed Saturn games. Where did this mindset come from other than that there are people who want to make money on the stupid anyway? There isn't a precedence for this, I shouldn't have to spend twenty dollars on a copy of MK3 on the Saturn when there is a trilogy set on X-Box Live Arcade for ten bucks. It was a common title on the console, with Digital Press rarity rating of 2.
This has turned into more of a rant than anything, but then again, I'm tired. I just got off work, and I'm ready for some sleep. Tomorrow I will play some games, and hopefully make it through work without as much chaos as I witnessed tonight. However, the hunt will continue, and I will be gaming. But seriously, I need to get some videos online, and talk to people with some actual game footage. If anyone actually reads this and knows of a cheap shelving solution, please drop it in the comments, because there is a lot of overflow that I keep having to flex around on my shelves. Perhaps I can just start with a collection video and go from there. But I'd have to find people who'd care enough to watch. Anyway, gamers, keep playing.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Final Fantasy XIII-2, Writing, and Some Other Nonsense
Around twenty hours and thirty fragments into Final Fantasy XIII-2, I realized how much I miss the Chrono franchise. Sure, the Final Fantasy series still holds my attention far more than most RPG's, but the magic isn't quite as strong. At least, not until XIII-2.
Everything about this game screams out for me to dump an inconceivable amount of time into the game. It's too bad that the story, protagonists, and framework of the game kind of hurt it. Serah is an idiot, with ridiculous dialogue. Noel has an interesting past, and is a character I like to follow, but his ramblings about time are repetitive and don't drive the narrative. With all of the melodrama spread like fine butter over this story, it's a surprise to see that there was real potential here.
The antagonist, Caius Ballad (whose name is just as ridiculous as his giant winged sword), actually walks around with the real tragedy of the game. I won't ruin anything, but the things that happen around him are actually compelling, and could have made for one of the best stories in the franchise. There just isn't enough drive to the plot. However, I also think that if they locked the focus on the plot, it would have detracted from the gameplay. There could be a balance to be struck, with a longer story arc than exists, but it's not here just yet. I'm looking forward to the next two chapters, and the finale, because the game is actually quite good. Sure, it's not FFVI or even IX, but it's a sight better than X-XII, and pushes beyond the weaknesses of its immediate predecessors.
But there are other things going on in the world beyond this game. By the way, the Collector's Edition version is spectacular. The packaging is lovely, the art book a nice little addition, and the four disc soundtrack stealing the show. While I wish they'd kept the artwork from the announcement photo, it's not a hideous design. The soundtrack itself is...well...schizophrenic. The orchestral bits are pretty good, and there are some other moments that are alright, but all of the battle music is awful. Death metal fused J-Rock doesn't fill with me excitement when I'm cutting down giant monsters.
I just jumped back on the game for a second there didn't I? Okay, let's just move on.
Instead of working on my short story, Dead City Center, or editing my novel, currently titled either Crusader, Weakness, or something else...I'm writing this blog and playing this game. The short story I'm working on right now is a great little oddity, and an absolute blast to think about, but a nightmare to structure and write. I will be finishing, and then editing it. I want publication. A portfolio. I want work.
And as for work, I'm still at CVS, I'm working very hard, yes, and it sucks away a lot of time. I do like being at home more though, and life has improved in that regard. Spending more time with Jo just sweetens everything about my existence. Getting off work means more than it ever has.
So, here's the coming soon.
--Finish Dead City Center
--Edit more of Weakness
--Create a cover and Ad Campaign for the novel.
--Begin the kickstarter program
--Find a publisher for Dead City Center
--Beg some media types to do a story on the novel and its kickstarter.
Now, I do fully realize that no one will care about this beast of a book just yet. This will take a lot of work, and I hope that my friends will spread the word. Just a little share on their facebook page will be all that it takes.
And I pray that it helps with the stuff that is tabbed on my browser right now.
Let's see what happens folks...
Recent Library Additions:
Final Fantasy XIII-2 Collector's Edition (XBOX 360)
Sonic and Knuckles (CIB, Genesis)
Mortal Kombat II (32X)
Everything about this game screams out for me to dump an inconceivable amount of time into the game. It's too bad that the story, protagonists, and framework of the game kind of hurt it. Serah is an idiot, with ridiculous dialogue. Noel has an interesting past, and is a character I like to follow, but his ramblings about time are repetitive and don't drive the narrative. With all of the melodrama spread like fine butter over this story, it's a surprise to see that there was real potential here.
The antagonist, Caius Ballad (whose name is just as ridiculous as his giant winged sword), actually walks around with the real tragedy of the game. I won't ruin anything, but the things that happen around him are actually compelling, and could have made for one of the best stories in the franchise. There just isn't enough drive to the plot. However, I also think that if they locked the focus on the plot, it would have detracted from the gameplay. There could be a balance to be struck, with a longer story arc than exists, but it's not here just yet. I'm looking forward to the next two chapters, and the finale, because the game is actually quite good. Sure, it's not FFVI or even IX, but it's a sight better than X-XII, and pushes beyond the weaknesses of its immediate predecessors.
But there are other things going on in the world beyond this game. By the way, the Collector's Edition version is spectacular. The packaging is lovely, the art book a nice little addition, and the four disc soundtrack stealing the show. While I wish they'd kept the artwork from the announcement photo, it's not a hideous design. The soundtrack itself is...well...schizophrenic. The orchestral bits are pretty good, and there are some other moments that are alright, but all of the battle music is awful. Death metal fused J-Rock doesn't fill with me excitement when I'm cutting down giant monsters.
I just jumped back on the game for a second there didn't I? Okay, let's just move on.
Instead of working on my short story, Dead City Center, or editing my novel, currently titled either Crusader, Weakness, or something else...I'm writing this blog and playing this game. The short story I'm working on right now is a great little oddity, and an absolute blast to think about, but a nightmare to structure and write. I will be finishing, and then editing it. I want publication. A portfolio. I want work.
And as for work, I'm still at CVS, I'm working very hard, yes, and it sucks away a lot of time. I do like being at home more though, and life has improved in that regard. Spending more time with Jo just sweetens everything about my existence. Getting off work means more than it ever has.
So, here's the coming soon.
--Finish Dead City Center
--Edit more of Weakness
--Create a cover and Ad Campaign for the novel.
--Begin the kickstarter program
--Find a publisher for Dead City Center
--Beg some media types to do a story on the novel and its kickstarter.
Now, I do fully realize that no one will care about this beast of a book just yet. This will take a lot of work, and I hope that my friends will spread the word. Just a little share on their facebook page will be all that it takes.
And I pray that it helps with the stuff that is tabbed on my browser right now.
Let's see what happens folks...
Recent Library Additions:
Final Fantasy XIII-2 Collector's Edition (XBOX 360)
Sonic and Knuckles (CIB, Genesis)
Mortal Kombat II (32X)
Friday, January 6, 2012
More on Final Fantasy XIII
I finally finished it. I put final nail in Orphan's coffin, and it's done...at least the story is. Now I'm obsessed with the missions and side quests. Good job, Square. You kept me in on this one...somehow.
I'm still not incredibly satisfied with the game, but there is something to be said for the fact that I"m nearing 70 hours of total play time, and I'm still burning forward. I plan to finish up before I get XIII-2 at the end of the month.
Considering the nonsensical way that the game works, it's still impressively difficult to get through some of the missions. There is one enemy that takes something like twelve of the same piece of armor, maxed to it's capabilities without moving it up to the next level of armor, to even live through one of the attacks. And that's not even close to the most difficult marks to take on. 12 missions left, and I'll be done with that...then I have to take on getting five stars on everything.
And on that note, let's make a short note on that particular title...
I'm going to try a gameplay blog of that one as time passes...maybe just a twitter feed about my progress or something. That would be nice.
Okay, another short note on this whole thing--I got a strategy guide for Final Fantasy Anthology. It's pretty cool. Yes, I have completed both of the games in the set, but I still wanted the book. It will likely encourage another run through it, just because I'm slightly batty. That and my last run was monumentally better than my first, and I can even take down Kefka before he does anything seriously damaging. Yay for carefully stacked Relics and Weapons.
Perhaps there is something to that whole "Play Final Fantasy VI Again" bit....hmmm
I will consider that for something. Or maybe even the whole series. Which would me acquiring a PS1 copy of Final Fantasy Origins or Dawn of Souls for the GBA, which would match the strategy guide I have for it (thank you again Sandy!).
Anyway, signing off after this rambling bit.
Go away!
I'm still not incredibly satisfied with the game, but there is something to be said for the fact that I"m nearing 70 hours of total play time, and I'm still burning forward. I plan to finish up before I get XIII-2 at the end of the month.
Considering the nonsensical way that the game works, it's still impressively difficult to get through some of the missions. There is one enemy that takes something like twelve of the same piece of armor, maxed to it's capabilities without moving it up to the next level of armor, to even live through one of the attacks. And that's not even close to the most difficult marks to take on. 12 missions left, and I'll be done with that...then I have to take on getting five stars on everything.
And on that note, let's make a short note on that particular title...
I'm going to try a gameplay blog of that one as time passes...maybe just a twitter feed about my progress or something. That would be nice.
Okay, another short note on this whole thing--I got a strategy guide for Final Fantasy Anthology. It's pretty cool. Yes, I have completed both of the games in the set, but I still wanted the book. It will likely encourage another run through it, just because I'm slightly batty. That and my last run was monumentally better than my first, and I can even take down Kefka before he does anything seriously damaging. Yay for carefully stacked Relics and Weapons.
Perhaps there is something to that whole "Play Final Fantasy VI Again" bit....hmmm
I will consider that for something. Or maybe even the whole series. Which would me acquiring a PS1 copy of Final Fantasy Origins or Dawn of Souls for the GBA, which would match the strategy guide I have for it (thank you again Sandy!).
Anyway, signing off after this rambling bit.
Go away!
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