tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-48096983724385887152024-03-14T10:21:33.626-04:00Games are for grown-upsAdventures of a thirtysomething gamerJJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04804679311365980192noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4809698372438588715.post-39780946110485722422013-08-09T15:02:00.002-04:002013-08-09T15:04:59.141-04:00My game collectionAfter seeing what my friend Jason did with his <a href="http://slickanthology.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">game collection site</a>, I decided to make my own. So here ya go. It took a few days to get all my games added. They're broken up into categories that can be accessed from the side menu. Unfortunately they're listed in the order I posted them, which was in (mostly) alphabetical order. So they're listed in reverse alpha order on the site.<br />
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Regardless, all my games are listed there. I should be able to add new games pretty quick now that the bulk of my collection is there already. Most games just have the system, release date, genre, and if I completed the game or not. A few have some comments about the game. I'll probably add more as I have time.<br />
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I also still put game pics up on Tumblr of new additions and other random gaming stuff that I find interesting. <br />
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Enjoy!<br />
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<a href="https://gamesareforgrownups.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">My Game Collection</a><br />
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<a href="http://gamesareforgrownups.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">Games are for Grown Ups Tumblr</a>JJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04804679311365980192noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4809698372438588715.post-553823788434673292013-07-22T11:16:00.000-04:002013-07-22T11:16:02.873-04:00The dreaded backlog (and great games that stay great)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHSjQa2N0eW4oFjELdQGNs5TNHlDJBNfe0g5C0N6hmxeDQeCfp17o_hoAq5YWHXYB6VehnTW2tCKEqeKVQYmczR9iBvVRPUyDR5ZwOprpRpEJnhCxuwqP48g5wnKGdUsj_kOUuy77FNaY/s1600/RDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHSjQa2N0eW4oFjELdQGNs5TNHlDJBNfe0g5C0N6hmxeDQeCfp17o_hoAq5YWHXYB6VehnTW2tCKEqeKVQYmczR9iBvVRPUyDR5ZwOprpRpEJnhCxuwqP48g5wnKGdUsj_kOUuy77FNaY/s320/RDR.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
I'm easily distracted. That's really no secret. For someone who can multitask at work I'm horribly inefficient at it when I'm at home. My wife is a superhero. I don't see how she does it. My lack of focus has meant that many games over the years have gone unfinished. Part of that is having more disposable income, and thus more games. As a kid I remember having to save up my allowance for months to get a game. Because of that there was plenty of time between game purchases, which usually meant playing a game until I beat it. I was one of the few among my friends in middle school who finished Double Dragon on the NES for example (not an easy game).<br />
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I had finished so many games back then that I had a list. It was just a normal sheet of 8 1/2 x 11 notebook paper. But it was nearly full, front and back, with the games I had finished. I wish I still had it. I can remember the big ones. Zelda. Mega Man. Kid Icarus (I'm not sure if I could beat that today). It was an epic list. I had very little money, but I had loads of time (as most kids do). <br />
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Fast forward 25 years. I'm married, have two kids, and a full time job. My list of unfinished games feels like it's as long as that list of completed games I had when I was 12. At the start of this year I was determined to start going through this backlog of games. Nearly every one was amazing. I didn't stop because it sucked or it was too hard. Most of them are highly rated. Some were the game of the year the year they came out. But there were other games that came out within a month (or a few weeks) of it's release. Having more disposable income, I was able to buy it. And my vow to "go back to it after I play this new game" never happened.<br />
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I haven't only played games in my unfinished backlog this year. I played through the Mass Effect trilogy in January and February when ME1 finally made it's way to the PS3. I also played Ni No Kuni when it came out. Same with The Last of Us. But I played these games to completion. I didn't let myself get distracted. Once I started them, I played to the end.<br />
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So while I've played a few new games this year, my main focus has been on the unfinished games in my collection. The last few I've gone back to play have reminded me that there are some truly great games out there that need to be played by almost everyone. Games that earned awards the years they were released really deserved them. They're just as good now as they were then. When I fired up Red Dead Redemption again, I was stunned (again) at how beautiful and alive the world was. I looked forward to every minute I could spend in that world. I'm still not a huge fan of open world/Grand Theft Auto type games, but the setting can make a world of difference. Riding around on horseback in the wild west and shooting bandits is just great fun.<br />
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Next up was Batman: Arkham Asylum. While I may have some issues with choices they made to the story (particularly Bane and Venom), the world was incredible. The Scarecrow scenes were some of the best scenes in the entire game. At one point I thought the game (or my TV) was glitching out on me. I almost powered everything off to fix it. Then I realized it was part of the game. <br />
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Currently I'm back to finish Shadow of the Colossus (part of the Ico/SotC HD collection). I had only played up through the first 4 colossi when the game was first released on the PS2. When I got the HD collection I played up through the first 2. There are some control issues, mainly because it's a PS2 era game, but the game itself is one of the best ever made. The HD collection came out in 2011, and minus a brief attempt to get back into it this past April (where I beat the 3rd colossi), I had completely forgotten how great this game is. I started playing it again this past weekend and got up through the 10th colossi (out of 16). I couldn't put it down. Each beast is a puzzle where you have to try and figure out how to bring it down, sometimes using the environment to help. That's the whole game. Just you and this huge open world. There are no other enemies. You ride from the temple to track down each colossus. When you bring one down, you end up back at the temple and do it all over again. It doesn't sound like much, but there's really no other game like it. It was one of the first (and best) examples of "video games as art", and it still holds up.<br />
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Red Dead Redemption, Arkham Asylum, and Shadow of the Colossus have
showed me that great games stay great. And hopefully I can keep the
momentum going this year to finish games I started, and if I start a new
game to play it until I finish. I don't want to miss out on great game
experiences again.<br />
<br />JJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04804679311365980192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4809698372438588715.post-68964611513872969542013-07-12T13:36:00.001-04:002013-07-12T13:37:23.247-04:00Emotional storytelling in video games<br />
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Having played video games for most of the last 30 years, it never ceases to amaze me to see how they have evolved over that time. Looking back at my earliest gaming memories with simple games like Demon Attack on the Atari 2600, the fact that a game can stir deep emotions in me still blows me away. They've moved beyond the simple "bleep bloop" of those early games. Those kinds of games still exist, and they're still fun (albeit far prettier). Nowadays some games are emotional experiences, like watching your favorite movie or reading a classic book. It's hard to believe it's the same hobby I took up so long ago.<br />
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The first game to really move me was Final Fantasy 3 on the SNES (which is actually Final Fantasy 6 in the series). 3/4 of the way through the game a (literal) world shattering event changes the entire landscape of the world, and your entire party is scattered, and a single character wakes up alone on a deserted island. I sat stunned at what had just happened. Even a game of fairly simple sprites had moved me to silence.<br />
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Years later, I remember showing off Metal Gear Solid on the Playstation to my parents (who had always seen games as "for kids"). To them video games were Mario. I don't know if seeing MGS in action changed that, but it opened their eyes to see gaming wasn't just moving around a fat plumber and jumping on turtles (although you could still do that). Years later, after I was married and had a kid, I showed them the intro to Uncharted 2. I don't know if they were as blown away as I was, but they definitely seemed surprised that games had come that far.<br />
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Recently I played two games that, for me, are the pinnacle of what video games can deliver as a storytelling medium. In The Last of Us you play as Joel. After a very tragic and emotional prologue (which ironically is totally spoiled by the game's box art), the game fast forwards 20 years and we see Joel dealing with life after the apocalypse has wiped out much of humanity. He's clearly been shaped by the events 20 years ago and his life since then. He's not a very nice guy. Eventually he meets Ellie and agrees to take her across the country to a group trying to find a cure. Through the course of their journey together, and after many tense, terrifying, and emotional experiences, their relationship evolves. You don't need to be a parent to be moved by their relationship, but since I am one I couldn't help but be effected by it. I smiled at their banter more times than I can count, and I got angry at Joel when he belittled Ellie or discounted her ability to contribute. This world made Joel a hard man. And seeing Ellie try and break through that was great to witness in a video game. The whole game from beginning to end is one of the best gaming experiences I've ever had, and the story moved me in ways games rarely do.<br />
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After finishing The Last of Us I played last year's critically acclaimed series The Walking Dead. Like the TV show, it's based on the popular comic book. It has a cast of new characters (and a few from the comics have cameos), but it's an original story with all new characters. Even the art style has a graphic novel quality that looks amazing. The game spans 5 episodes in season 1 (season 2 is coming out this Fall), with the 400 Days episode, which just came out a few weeks ago, that acts as as a bridge to season 2.<br />
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At the start of The Walking Dead, your main character Lee stumbles across 9 year old Clementine, who's parents were out of town when the apocalypse broke out. Clementine had been left with a babysitter (who is now dead), and is all alone to fend for herself. Not wanting to leave her, Lee takes her with him. Over the 10 or so hours of season 1 (which spans a few months in the game world), the relationship between these two characters grows and deepens. Lee doesn't have children, but he tries his best to care for and protect Clem (as he lovingly calls her) the best way he knows how in this violent and deadly new world they live in. Since we're making choices for Lee, like whether to save one person over another, to show mercy to someone else, or to be truthful about Lee's past (or to lie), the relationship dynamics can change dramatically. It's fascinating to see that in a game.<br />
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Unlike The Last of Us, the zombies really only play a minor role (although there are plenty). They're more of a backdrop. In the foreground are the characters and how they react to the events around them. Some I was immediately drawn to. Others I was annoyed with and wanted to leave them behind. But even if someone I didn't like was bitten, it was heart-wrenching having to decide what to do. Even more so if it was someone I had grown fond of.<br />
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As season 1 was drawing to a close, I had become attached to Lee and Clem. And I had started to become anxious about what was going to happen to them. I hoped for a happy ending, but I feared it would end tragically. I won't say how it ended, but I will say when it ended I was completely satisfied. It was like finishing a good book. As the end credits rolled, I set the controller down, took a deep breath, and marveled at the experience I just had. <br />
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Games have come a long way in 30 years. The Last of Us and The Walking Dead are prime examples of how this medium can elicit the same emotional response as any other form of entertainment. And while games about the zombie apocalypse might not be for everyone, these games show what games can be as an art form. With the next generation of systems on the horizon, I think these kinds of experiences are what will set great games apart from mediocre ones. Graphics won't see as big a leap as in previous generations, but I think these games set the bar high for what games can be. I can't wait.</div>
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<br />JJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04804679311365980192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4809698372438588715.post-53328130912521954012013-03-24T19:01:00.000-04:002013-03-24T19:01:00.261-04:00Games are for Grown-ups tumblr<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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So I decided to start a tumblr. Since I've started collecting games I figured I'd start the tumblr to post pics of my collection and games that are added to it, like today's additions in the pic to the right. It should be easy enough to keep up with.<br />
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<a href="http://gamesareforgrownups.tumblr.com/">Games are for Grown-ups tumblr</a>JJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04804679311365980192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4809698372438588715.post-44329596438386056212013-03-22T15:18:00.001-04:002013-03-22T15:31:32.795-04:00Game collecting<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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With the exception of a few years in the mid 00s, I've played games for most of the last 30 years. I never really considered collecting as part of that hobby until recently. Thanks to Jason Jasicki (who has a great game blog at <a href="http://jsicktheslick.wordpress.com/">http://jsicktheslick.wordpress.com/</a>, and is a Splitckick.com contributor), Dan Tolin (also a Splitkick contributor), and an incredibly lucky snag on Freecycle a few months ago, I finally took the dive into collecting. <br />
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I don't collect for the sake of collecting. I don't have the money or the space for that. But I started to think of all the series of games that I've loved over the last 30 years and decided to focus on those. Final Fantasy, Metroid, Zelda, Castlevania, and Metal Gear are the big ones. I've recently thought of doing the PS1 Squaresoft games like Vagrant Story, Parasite Eve, etc.. Stuff like that.<br />
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When I stopped gaming around 2004 I thought I was done. I hadn't bought a console or a game in years and I hardly ever played games (except for long sessions of Everquest). So I sold all my games and consoles. They were in pristine condition and complete with boxes, manuals, maps, etc. Some of them are nearly impossible to find, and if you do they're outrageously expensive. I couldn't have anticipated getting into gaming again, let alone collecting. While the sale of those classic games was for a great cause (an engagement ring, and she said yes), when I decided to collect those were the very games I wanted.<br />
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Unfortunately I can't walk into most stores around town and expect to find the games I want. So I scour Freecycle and thrift stores for games. Any games. I don't often find the ones I want, but I'll if they're cheap I get them anyway. I found a handful of Dreamcast games at a Goodwill recently for $1 each. I posted them for trade on VGFive.com (a great game trading site). I'll use the points I get there to request games I want. And just this week I got an original XBox with 5 games off Freecycle. I didn't want an XBox, but the trade in value of the console and the games is around $40 at eStarland (an awesome local game store). That's plenty of money to pick up a more expensive classic game that I want for my collection. <br />
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I pretty much take any game or console I can find (and if anyone reading this has some to get rid of, please let me know!). The lucky snag from Freecycle that I mentioned above really got me in the collecting spirit. Someone posted having an NES, to which I quickly responded to claim. I was thrilled that I was soon going to have an NES in the house again, but when I picked it up I was surprised that the bag contained not only an NES (with 2 controllers, a Zapper, and all the cords except for the AC adapter), but also an SNES (with controllers and cords), 2 SNES games complete in their boxes w/ manuals, and 4 NES games, including a barely used copy of Super Mario Bros. 3 with the box and manual. It's worth a short trip across town for a surprise like that. And making connections with people on Freecycle has paid off. One person was giving away a bunch of old PC games. I wasn't fast enough to email her to get them, but she said if she found more she'd let me know. Well that same day she found more and I got them. Most of them were junk (an Italian copy of Diablo 2 for example), or CD-R copies of games, but some were great and I was able to trade a few for some games I really wanted. Then last week she emailed me after she found 5 Sega Genesis games and I got those too. <br />
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My collection isn't a big as some. But part of the fun is in the hunt, and in getting that last game to complete a series or a set. And getting my hands on a dozen games I couldn't care less about only to find a store will give me $10 in credit for one of them is a thrill.<br />
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If you have even the slightest inclination to start collecting, I highly recommend Jason's Game Hunter series of videos. They're on his blog above, and the first has recently been posted on <a href="http://splitkick.com/">Splitkick.com</a> (another favorite site of mine). And as I said before, if you're reading this and aren't a collector but have a bunch of old games to get rid of, let me know. I'll take em off your hands (or pay a reasonable price for them). <br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; height: 525px; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left; width: 584px;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh8q-nXOV7LYza_B9MIJgzVX2wYkjqddZvcaXoiNr_oRDCghpNIjamr4Y2RARPGAkCmt_IPph9tZvZBDlKy0TeoeAkWeUTd1xH1ygJnbIOwbOf7TZ2kLnK8hJqAAiZxuj7XzaEkE8TEQc/s1600/ffcollection.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh8q-nXOV7LYza_B9MIJgzVX2wYkjqddZvcaXoiNr_oRDCghpNIjamr4Y2RARPGAkCmt_IPph9tZvZBDlKy0TeoeAkWeUTd1xH1ygJnbIOwbOf7TZ2kLnK8hJqAAiZxuj7XzaEkE8TEQc/s400/ffcollection.PNG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My Final Fantasy collection as organized by Evernote.</td></tr>
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<br />JJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04804679311365980192noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4809698372438588715.post-78000374351368378562013-03-15T15:24:00.000-04:002013-03-15T15:30:16.600-04:00Gaming memory - Super Metroid<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Chris, one of my oldest friends (maybe the oldest friend I have), reminded me of one of my favorite gaming memories the other day. Way back in the SNES days we occasionally played games while talking on the phone.<br />
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We were (and still are) huge Metroid fans and happened to be playing Super Metroid around the same time. One day we managed to be on the phone when we reached Mother Brain. There was a lot of "Oh crap!" and "Dude!" back and forth as we battled her. Somehow we managed to beat her at about the same time. Then it was the mad rush to escape.<br />
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We started our escape, with more yelling and screaming at our TVs. As the timer ticked down, I made it to Samus' ship. Chris did not. As I yelled, "YES!", I heard an agonizing "NOOOO!" from the other end of the phone. Chris had gotten to the ship but overshot it when he jumped, with only seconds left. As I was flying away victorious, he was starting the escape over again. 2nd time was the charm.JJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04804679311365980192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4809698372438588715.post-54976213796301693302012-06-21T17:02:00.004-04:002012-06-21T17:04:37.590-04:00Game backlogs<span style="font-family: arial;">This is going to be a pretty long post. It's a pretty serious problem (first world problem anyway). I can't think of a time in recent memory when I've had a backlog of games so huge that I didn't know how to deal with it. I saw it coming last fall when so many must have games were coming out within 6 weeks of each other. It started with the Ico/Shadow of the Colossus collection and ended with Zelda: Skyward Sword (with Dark Souls, Uncharted 3, and Skyrim in between). Then some other games were on sale for dirt cheap between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I was doomed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial;">I have so many half finished games, some of which I want to play, others that I just don't feel like playing but still want to finish, and others that I started but don't care if I finish or don't plan on finishing (that last ground doesn't really count in my backlog). The list below will be primarily focused on the ones I want to finish, with brief mentions to those I'm not really set on finishing anytime soon (if at all).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial;">Red Dead Redemption: I don't know why I stopped playing this. But I won it on a website contest and started it Spring of 2011. I got to Mexico (in the game) and was quite a few hours into it. Another game probably came out and distracted me. I don't remember which one. But I really want to get back into it. It's a fantastic game. I haven't even touched Undead Nightmare, the big expansion.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial;">Ico/Shadow of the Colossus: I never played Ico, and I only ever got to the 5th colossi when I played it on the PS2. I loved SotC. But it came out at a bad time since another big game was coming out a week or two later...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial;">Dark Souls: I love this game. But it took me away from the Ico/SotC collection. So I guess it's fair that I've gotten sidetracked on it twice. I'm currently halfway through New Londo Ruins. Dark Souls was first sidetracked by Uncharted 3 (which I finished) and Skyrim (which broke in the main quest but I later finished, minus a ton of side content). But it's high on my list to finish.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial;">Zelda: Skyward Sword: This was the last big game last fall that I knew would be hard to juggle with the other ones. I started it, and was loving it. But the controls kept getting in the way. I felt like I was constantly fighting them. I eventually got sidetracked by the other games (Skyrim most likely, and maybe Dark Souls), and in January...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial;">Final Fantasy XIII-2: I was really enjoying how they structured this game. I loved FFXIII, but I enjoyed the freedom they gave you in XIII-2. I played a solid 25 hours before getting sidetracked...again...</span><br />
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Around the holidays I found a few great deals on some games I had missed that people said I should play. Enslaved and Vanquish. So I got those for dirt cheap, played them for an hour or two and they got put back on the shelf. They were a lot of fun (despite triggering some major motion sickness), so sadly they're very low on my "must finish" list. </div>
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After FFXIII-2, I grabbed Castlevania: Lords of Shadow. I loved that game and got maybe 6 hours into it. Then I got distracted again. I started craving something different (which seems to be the problem). So I grabbed another game I had wanted to check out. Darksiders. I played that for a few hours, then got sidetracked by Batman: Arkham Asylum (another huge game I had missed). I enjoyed that for probably 5 or 6 hours but distraction fell upon me again. I really want to finish Castlevania and Batman. Darksiders, not so much.</div>
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I think it was at that point that I went back to Dark Souls. I dabbled into Skyward Sword again briefly, which had me revisit a dungeon I had cleared already, and I went back to Dark Souls and was on that for a good while. Confident that I would finally finish it.</div>
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Then Diablo 3 came out.<br />
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And I haven't even talked about the PS Vita games in my backlog with Gravity Rush and the MGS HD Collection (which I also have for the PS3).</div>
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So you see there's quite a lot in my catalog that needs finishing. I don't know if I'll put them in a specific order and then tackle them that way. The GoW games are really tempting. Oh I didn't mention them yet? Well the HD Collection (PS2 games) and GoW3 arrived today. But that's my problem. I get a craving for a type of game, buy them, and set everything else aside even if I'm enjoying the heck out of them. I need to stay more focused. </div>
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Anyone else have a hard time staying focused like me?</div>JJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04804679311365980192noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4809698372438588715.post-2902405035197033562012-05-31T10:24:00.001-04:002012-05-31T10:48:43.238-04:00In Defense of Video GamesVideo games are, once again, getting a bad rap. But this time it's from an unexpected front (although I'm not too surprised). A few Christian leasers have come out saying porn and video games are ruining young men. I agree with the porn assessment. But I disagree on the video game part (which will come as no surprise if you've read this blog at all). As a Christian it's frustrating to see such legalistic perspectives on a hobby I enjoy. You probably won't hear them talk the same way about something they do to relax and unwind.<br />
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But instead of giving my own opinions (which I might at a later time), here is a great article by Stephen Altrogge. I think he gets to the real root of the problem.<br />
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<a href="http://www.theblazingcenter.com/2012/05/in-defense-of-video-games.html">In Defense of Video Games</a>JJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04804679311365980192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4809698372438588715.post-65789034590367831722012-05-27T19:29:00.002-04:002012-05-27T19:38:24.736-04:0030 Years of Gaming: My First RPG<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I'm going to skip ahead a few years from my last "30 Years of Gaming" post and fast forward to 1994. I was almost 2 years out of high school and neck deep in my 2nd (and last) semester at college. My good friend Chris had tried to introduce me for years to RPGs and fantasy books, which were his favorite genre if memory serves me right. But I was never interested. I liked games, and had been gaming for many years at that point. But RPGs just never appealed to me.<br />
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I had played a little Final Fantasy IV on the SNES, which was stupidly numbered II In the US. It was a lot of fun. But not enough to hold my attention to the end (I think it would now though). Give me Super Metroid any day. But that's a completely separate blog post (it deserves one).<br />
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The game that did it for me and made me an RPG fan for life was Final Fantasy VI (also stupidly numbered in the US, as III). I know a lot of articles have been written on the subject. And a lot of people tout Final Fantasy VII as their first, and favorite, RPG on a console. Some even say it's the greatest RPG ever. I'm not here to argue that point (although I disagree). It was a great game and blew everyone out of the water. Even non-RPG folks loved it (my brothers included). And the Sony Playstation was all the rage. Cartridges were dying (don't tell Nintendo). But I vowed to never buy one. I was a Nintendo guy. Until I saw FFVII. Then I bought a Playstation. But the only reason I was even remotely interested in FFVII was because of FFVI.<br />
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Final Fantasy has always been (for a good part of it's life anyway) about the story. I don't think the early games really had much of a story. They certainly didn't have the graphics to pick up the slack like games this generation do. And some would argue that the more recent games sacrificed story for spectacle. And while though I enjoyed XIII and XIII-2 a lot, I would have to agree. But for me no game in the series comes close in story and incredible characters to FFVI. Terra. Edgar. Celes. Locke. Sabin. Cyan. Relm. The list of great characters seemed to go on forever. You get to know these characters and their history. You find out why they're here. Long after I finished the game and played other RPGs, if they let you name your characters, I often changed them to the FFVI characters. My monk was always Sabin. My knight was Cyan. If there was a female character, she was Terra or Celes.<br />
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Not only were the heroes great, the villain was probably the best the series has ever had (in my opinion anyway). Kefka was insane. He was a madman in a clown makeup (literally). And he had no problem tearing the world apart (also literally) to achieve his goals.<br />
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And you were in an opera.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjExzyuCtoJTlsLVLNDiyQw9FUc6c1FNS3H5o_7xnFRoOQ4k2qywSbL-cHnCn-ZINI30sEAPp9Uh2vU1v1Pdem-l8I39dzBUZaYRGyyVEOrh3zrard61Py2FyzfWshDK8caiv5ecQJF3o/s1600/Final_Fantasy_VI_Final_Kefka.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjExzyuCtoJTlsLVLNDiyQw9FUc6c1FNS3H5o_7xnFRoOQ4k2qywSbL-cHnCn-ZINI30sEAPp9Uh2vU1v1Pdem-l8I39dzBUZaYRGyyVEOrh3zrard61Py2FyzfWshDK8caiv5ecQJF3o/s320/Final_Fantasy_VI_Final_Kefka.png" width="320" /></a><br />
At this point, I don't think anyone is going to be convinced what Final Fantasy is the best. Everyone has their favorite. Most will say VII. But this post isn't about that. For me FFVI introduced me to a genre I had pretty much ignored. Sadly because, in the minds of many people, if you liked RPGs you were probably weird. But if not for FFVI, I can almost safely say I wouldn't have played games like Skyrim or Dark Souls many years later (and loved every second of them). I'm glad I gave RPGs a chance 18 years ago. And I am grateful that FFVII brought them into the mainstream. Thanks to FFVI I'm an RPG fan for life. And probably a little weird.JJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04804679311365980192noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4809698372438588715.post-21705055418910986682012-05-23T09:15:00.000-04:002012-05-25T12:28:33.010-04:00Everquest<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr8z5garl7O0unPsI4lKZyUSMLD4Gfu-cXh1FREnGMskUPjtRa1Gxizha1Ru2mVD7l0tsTikOXll0Bei7d7ogw9HZoTCMVWy9XOCdVBqEzMG16bNhQfY8Aiy0Qmbs-S742pGXd9-6AitU/s1600/everquest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr8z5garl7O0unPsI4lKZyUSMLD4Gfu-cXh1FREnGMskUPjtRa1Gxizha1Ru2mVD7l0tsTikOXll0Bei7d7ogw9HZoTCMVWy9XOCdVBqEzMG16bNhQfY8Aiy0Qmbs-S742pGXd9-6AitU/s320/everquest.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>A few months ago Everquest went free to play. It's 13 years old with 18 expansions. My guess is that they made it free to play to try and get more money out of it before shutting it down. Everyone's doing FTP so why not? I don't blame them. I logged on to see if my level 49 monk was still there (he was), and wandered around the once densely populated zones that are now eerily empty of any life except for NPCs and spiders. Maybe enough people do play it to warrant another expansion (which also came out a few months ago). If they do, there weren't where I was.<br />
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When I started writing this post, which has sat in my blog drafts for a few weeks, I thought I'd play more. I didn't. That was pretty much it. But I do have really fond memories of this behemoth of the MMO world (until World of Warcraft destroyed it). I played a lot of Everquest. A ton actually. I would spend entire weekends, when my life was devoid of...well, anything really...playing this game. I would wake up Saturdays at 10am, play until lunch, go to Wendy's to get some lunch, eat in front of the computer while camped in Befallen or some place, then stop again to get dinner, and play until 1am or 2am Sunday morning. Then rinse and repeat on Sunday (unless I went to church, then I didn't start until after 12pm).<br />
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One of my best memories (and why it stands out I have no idea) I was nearing the end of a play session. I was easily after midnight. I was in Freeport, and having never been across the Ocean of Tears I decided to check it out. So I waited for the boat that would take me there (this was long before they introduced all the teleport/warp stones). I took the "long" 10 minute trip to the <a href="http://www.eqmacwiki.com/eqatlas/butcherblockmap.html">Butcherblock Mountains</a> on Faydwer. Since it was uncharted territory for me, I stuck mainly to the path (which was usually safe). I wandered around until I eventually reached <a href="http://www.eqmacwiki.com/eqatlas/greaterfaydarkmap.html">Greater Faydark</a>. This had the home of the Wood Elves (Kelethin), and led to the Orc fortress of Crushbone.<br />
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Now for some stupid reason I forgot to bind myself somewhere when I arrived on Faydwer. For those who don't remember, when you died in Everquest, you went back to the city you were bound to. But you could change that by casting a simple spell. But I didn't bind myself to the new continent I was on. I'm not sure why. I could have bound myself to the dwarf city of Kaladim (I'm looking all these names up online btw. I'm not THAT big of a dork.). But I didn't. But for some other, more stupid reason, once I reached the elf town (which was up in the trees) I left the main path which had kept me mostly safe up to this point. It wasn't long before I came face to face with an orc from Crushbone (it was closer than I realized). I really didn't stand a chance.<br />
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The next thing I knew I was back in Freeport, with all my gear gone. You see back in those days the Everquest folks thought it would be awesome to make it so when you died all your stuff stayed with your corpse. And you had 7 days to get it before POOF. It would just disappear. So I had 7 days. And it was 1am. But I couldn't leave my stuff out there. So I went back to the Freeport dock, waited 15 minutes for the next boat, took the 10 minute boat ride, then walked 20-30 more minutes back to where I died (hoping the orc wasn't still there). It wasn't. I got my stuff, and high tailed it outta there. I finally got to bed after 2am.<br />
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That was Everquest. And it was a blast.<br />
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JJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04804679311365980192noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4809698372438588715.post-17395285966869826942012-05-22T18:37:00.002-04:002012-05-22T18:44:08.397-04:00Currently playing: Diablo IIII'm currently playing Diablo III. I don't have much to say about it right now except that it's awesome and you should play it. I've heard people who weren't particularly taken with Diablo I and II are loving this game. So take that into consideration if you're doubting a purchase. It's great fun.<br />
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I started with a barbarian and it's been a total blast. There's just something satisfying about getting surrounded by 20+ monsters, slamming the ground and stunning all of them, then sending out a shock wave across half the screen that obliterates nearly all of them into a cloud of monster parts. I don't like gore, but it's pretty satisfying.<br />
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Oh, and the game is gorgeous. I started Act II over the weekend, which is in a desert. You can't really tell from this screenshot but there is a constant flow of sand moving around on screen here. And it looks amazing, even with my 6 year old Dell (but I did put a decent video card in it a few years ago). My barbarian is below (as of 5/21).</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1oCmgHvf5uNcn4xNAyjSPbuaKk2Ti0bw72qEWbNhyphenhyphenDjXimG6cNhLkMVYqX4ApRTK5ycxNIH7CyHk-r-oBePZTd61T1gRsAm_DjI7G9tULLfMi5Os3cRcPafkgkD-N_-ZDo0sAJignGpo/s1600/D3_barbarian.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1oCmgHvf5uNcn4xNAyjSPbuaKk2Ti0bw72qEWbNhyphenhyphenDjXimG6cNhLkMVYqX4ApRTK5ycxNIH7CyHk-r-oBePZTd61T1gRsAm_DjI7G9tULLfMi5Os3cRcPafkgkD-N_-ZDo0sAJignGpo/s400/D3_barbarian.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>JJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04804679311365980192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4809698372438588715.post-44637849159090843672012-05-21T17:23:00.003-04:002012-05-22T08:59:39.057-04:0030 Years of Gaming: The Beginning<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;">
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It's been more than 4 months since my last post, so I figured I should probably write something. I started a post on Everquest a few weeks ago (that will be coming soon), but today it randomly crossed my mind how long I've been playing video games. And if my math is correct (which is should be even though I was never very good at it), then I've been playing video games for 30 years. 30. Years. Wow. </div>
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For those who don't know, I'll be 38 this year. I have two younger brothers (35 and 31, I think). I'm married with a kid. So technically, I'm a grown up. Hence the name of this blog. The thought that came to me today might become a series of posts on various games I played in my youth. Games that made an impact and turned me into a lifetime gamer. I'll probably alternate a few of these posts with posts of games I'm currently playing (Diablo III!!). We'll see.</div>
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So the game that came to mind today was for the Atari 2600. It's the first system we got when I was a kid (maybe 8 or 9). I honestly don't remember the game that came with it (if it even came with one), or what the first game we got was, but the first game I remember was Demon Attack. There's really not much to it. The cover art on the box (see below) had robot looking space ships. Apparently they were actual demons or something. But it didn't matter. I spent hours and hours shooting these things from my mostly stationary ship. I remember getting to the last level, beating it, and the game starting over. The good old endless loop of old school games.</div>
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There's not really much to tell about it. It was a simple game, as most were in those days. We had more games, but I really don't remember what they were. I'm not sure why Demon Attack stands out in my mind. Some of my friends might have their theories.</div>
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In the years that followed a coworker of my Dad's gave us a Commodore 64. The only game I remember playing on that was called Black Magic. Which was okay because Harry Potter hadn't made Christian parents everywhere scared to death of fictional magic. But the best days in gaming for me were yet to come in the form of a little white box. The Nintendo Entertainment System.</div>
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<br /></div>JJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04804679311365980192noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4809698372438588715.post-65602499681112545392012-01-09T14:07:00.005-05:002012-01-09T14:16:11.394-05:00Happy New Year (Best of 2011)I figured I'd kick off 2012 with a brief summary of the games I loved in 2011 and end it with my game of the year, which means this will be a pretty long post. <br /><br />99% of my gaming was on the PS3, so unfortunately while I played a little of some great PC games (Bastion, Terraria, etc.), I didn't play them enough for them to rank on this list. I really hope to get into them in 2012 though cause they're pretty amazing.<br /><br />So without further ado, my favorite games of 2011, listed in the order of their release:<br /><br /><b>Ico/Shadow of the Colossus Collection (PS3)</b> - Sadly I didn't get into game as much as I wanted. It was followed with some pretty huge games. But I loved it on the PS2, and once I get a spare moment I will definitely get back to finishing at least Shadow of the Colossus (which I never finished on the PS2 either).<br /><br /><b>Dark Souls (PS3)</b> - I didn't finish Shadow of the Colossus because of this game. The spiritual successor to Demon's Souls is without a doubt one of the best games I've ever played. But it was also one of the darkest, most depressing games I've ever played. Peter Tell on the <a href="http://Splitkick.com/" detectors="true" result="0">Splitkick.com</a> Fall Damage podcast put it well in their year end Fallies Award show that the oppressive nature of the game increases the further you get. Unfortunately I haven't gotten around to finishing this either, but Blighttown has to be (lag aside) one of the darkest, most depressing areas of a game I've ever played (outside of pretty much any area in any Silent Hill game). I'm not claustrophobic, but I was while playing this game. Even so, I haven't had that much fun dying in a game as I did in Dark Souls.<br /><br /><b>Uncharted 3 (PS3)</b> - Want to know why I didn't finish Dark Souls? Look no further than Uncharted 3. Do you see a pattern? October through November was a crazy time for games. I love the Uncharted series. It's probably the best series of games of this generation. Uncharted 2 is still regarded as one of the best games on the PS3. I absolutely loved Uncharted 3. So much that I started it again on crushing difficulty immediately after finishing it. Some of the set pieces were absolutely incredible (although nothing tops the train sequence from Uncharted 2 for me). Still, it was an amazing game. One I look forward to playing through again and again, as I have with Uncharted 1 and 2. It's like watching a great action movie.<br /><br /><b>The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (PS3)</b> - What else can I say about Skyrim? The last time I posted about this game my main quest was broken (it still is), and I was frustrated and unmotivated because of it. But then I, reluctantly, started over. Thankfully it was almost more fun the 2nd time. I flew through the main quest, making sure not to trigger the same bug as before, and finished the main story in about 12 hours. While I still have my old save in the hopes of a fix for that bug, I plan on going through all the side quests now with my restarted character. The main quest is done and I still have a ton of content left. Some will be replays of quests I did the first time around, but with as much fun as I had redoing 95% of the main quest again (I was shocked how close to the end I was), I have no doubt I'll love replaying some quests (most of the Mage College), and loving the ones I didn't get to (Companions, Dark Brotherhood, Thieves Guild, etc.). A lot of websites gave this the Game of the Year. There's a reason for that.<br /><br /><b>The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Wii)</b>- I've had a hard time with some recent Zelda games. Twilight Princess was really good, but it felt stale, and it took far too long to really get going. Zelda has a certain formula that hasn't changed much in years. That's good I suppose but I needed and hoped for Skyward Sword to change it up enough to get me excited about a Zelda game again. Thankfully it did. The only problem it I was neck deep in Skyrim when it came out. I'm not good at multitasking games, especially with so many great ones. So while I tried to juggle Skyward Sword with Skyrim, Skyrim ultimately won that battle. But I did get to the first Silent Realm, and I really want to get back to it and go through the entire game. The changes they made to the traditional Zelda formula made it feel fresh and exciting to play. Unfortunately it still has all the annoying things about Zelda games, presumably from Nintendo thinking all of it's fans are perpetually 12 years old. But still, it's easy to look past being reminded nearly every time how many rupees you get with a red one (20) when the rest of the game is so great.<br /><br /><br /><b><span>Game of the Year</span> - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (PS3)</b><br />This was actually kind of tough. With so many amazing games out within weeks of each other I feel like I didn't really get adequate time with each one (even though I played Uncharted 3 almost 2 full times). But the fact is I keep coming back to Skyrim. And even though a main quest bug nearly did me in, when I restarted I was rejuvenated and excited about it all over again. The main quest, while pretty good, isn't even the best part of the game. There's just so much to do and you feel like your shaping the world you're in. All of the side quests, from the Companions to the Mage College, the Dark Brotherhood and the Thieves Guild are so deep, they could make entire games of their own. <div><br /></div><div>So while 2011 had a lot of great games, I'be got to give the edge to Skyrim. </div>JJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04804679311365980192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4809698372438588715.post-24712017165376553062011-12-20T17:06:00.010-05:002011-12-22T14:13:37.174-05:00The sky(rim) is fallingSo it's been awhile since my last post. And maybe the title is a little alarmist. It's not the end of the world here. <br /><br />I've been playing Skyrim (mostly) with a brief run back to Skyward Sword. Skyrim is a ton of fun and it deserves all the awards it's getting. Unfortunately for me I hit a main quest stopping bug last night that prevents me from moving forward in the story. Basically I gotta talk to a guy (which the game didn't seem to register) and he sent me to another guy who gave me a quest. I finished that quest but couldn't complete it because guy 2 keeps talking about guy 1. So I go to guy 1 and he sends me to talk to guy 2. And round and round we go. <br /><br />Apparently they fixed this bug for the PC, and patch 1.3 that came out last week obviously didn't fix it. Thankfully I am not at a loss of things to do. And I really, REALLY love this game. But it's disappointing that after over 40 hours of playtime the main quest is now off limits to me. And if for some reason they don't fix it, I would need to start over just to see the main storyline to its conclusion. And that would make me very sad. And a little T.O.'d.JJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04804679311365980192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4809698372438588715.post-10061595426067008862011-12-06T10:39:00.011-05:002011-12-06T10:55:36.612-05:00Dark Souls<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRIwCnFlpXEcYtEm7wo466pZy4gYSaM01HWTyj2lPixM2cu6ADXtUmPML5pYnRNG3ScCna6J3gmwMXoDs0c1Z3rmddgE8oT-dedKFjMVZ5Pqcd4CTqUsdSOVn-GfGD9BCwh7X_Sc6s12o/s912/dark+souls.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 456px; height: 257px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRIwCnFlpXEcYtEm7wo466pZy4gYSaM01HWTyj2lPixM2cu6ADXtUmPML5pYnRNG3ScCna6J3gmwMXoDs0c1Z3rmddgE8oT-dedKFjMVZ5Pqcd4CTqUsdSOVn-GfGD9BCwh7X_Sc6s12o/s912/dark+souls.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a>I won’t spend any time telling you what Dark Souls is (the spiritual successor to Demon’s Souls and all that). If you’re reading this blog you know what it is. You’ve probably played it. What I wanted to do in this post is explain a little of my experience with it. I don’t think there will be any major spoilers, but there might be so be forewarned.<br /><br />Dark Souls isn’t a casual game. I suspect that most (not all, but most) gamers who didn’t grow up on the tough games in the 80s (ie: Ninja Gaiden, Battletoads, etc.) might not last. It’s brutally difficult. But that’s something you can adjust to. It took me about 5 hours to get from the tutorial area (Undead Asylum) to the first boss (Taurus Demon) in the Undead Burg. But after 20+ hours I can breeze through most of the Burg in 5-10 minutes. Yes my character is stronger, but I know the game better. I know how the enemies fight. I know their patterns. Like the dragon near the end of Mega Man 2. Sure you were balancing on single blocks suspended above a bottomless pit, but you could learn its patterns and beat it easily. But the first few tries, forget it. Dark Souls is kind of like that.<br /><br />I’m not saying Dark Souls is like Mega Man. But the challenge and memorization of patterns reminds me a little of Mega Man. But the world it places you in is very different. You spend most of the game “hollow” (basically you’re dead). And the people you meet along the way are also hollow. And boy are they depressed. Not only that but the environment, especially once you get indoors and underground, is probably the most oppressive environment I’ve ever played. Yes it’s dark. Yes it can be hard to see two feet in front of your face. But the hopelessness and oppressive feeling you get while wandering this world is almost tangible.<br /><br />I haven’t finished the game yet. I’m in Sen’s Fortress right now. But having just gone through Blighttown and beaten the Chaos Witch Quelaag (basically a big, fiery spider woman), it took effort to keep going. Not that the game isn’t fun. It’s a total blast to play. But it takes a toll on you. It’s the only game in recent memory that if I played just before going to bed I laid awake for a few hours thinking about it. Not in a nightmarish way, but just some of the stuff I did and would be doing soon. “Remember those big guillotines on the narrow bridges in Sen’s Fortress that would knock you off into a pit of giant demons? Yeah, you’ll have to do that again next time. Remember how dark it was? And that snake soldier guy was shooting lightning at you from the floor above you while trying to cross that narrow bridge? And you could hardly see? Yeah. You’re doing it again because you died. Again.”<br /><br />So I love Dark Souls. But it really does take effort to play. The only reason I’m not playing it now is because of a few little games that came out since then (Uncharted 3, Skyrim and Skyward Sword). But I really hope to get back to it. It’s not often that a game is rewarding as this. When you get through an area, no matter how hard it is or how hopeless and helpless you feel, to finally come out alive on the other side is incredibly rewarding. To take on a dragon that towers over you and just happens to have a giant mouth on its underbelly full of razor sharp teeth (see the hideous beast below) and to beat him in one try is extremely gratifying. You might spend hours trying to get through one area and then take out the boss easily. You feel good. Then you get instantly humbled going to the next area and killed on the front steps.<br /><br />This is Dark Souls. Prepare to die.<br /><br />Btw, there is an excellent review on Splitkick.com by my friend Peter Tell. You should check it out.<br /><br />http://splitkick.com/dark-souls-review/<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgwMf5iAiZiAsxTkstSiB1Wy66dRbllPOv-62Ql3ASu866jgSYPyrrXnEXzaQMf9YKNzdrDr8T5jP_yNsViyCCw7D6W5UIZoTggnMoTQenRC3SUPxl66mFkQBsiSaC8ryA9pyT8Ew6X2U/s640/gaping+dragon.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float:left; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 480px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgwMf5iAiZiAsxTkstSiB1Wy66dRbllPOv-62Ql3ASu866jgSYPyrrXnEXzaQMf9YKNzdrDr8T5jP_yNsViyCCw7D6W5UIZoTggnMoTQenRC3SUPxl66mFkQBsiSaC8ryA9pyT8Ew6X2U/s640/gaping+dragon.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a>JJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04804679311365980192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4809698372438588715.post-80456497264696299812011-12-02T08:00:00.000-05:002011-12-02T19:46:56.866-05:00Doomed<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/89/Doom_darkness.png"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 325px; height: 244px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/89/Doom_darkness.png" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />First off, I promise I'm not going to cleverly title every post based on the game I talk about.<br /><br />Now that we've gotten that out of the way. In 93 or 94 I felt like I was late to the PC game (no pun intended). They were gaining popularity but were still outrageously expensive. I think our AT&T Globalyst (for its stunning specs, see Myst-ified post) cost around $2200. For that price nowadays you better be buying 3 laptops. Or one Macbook Pro.<br /><br />Still, I wasn't new to gaming. I had the NES for years then picked up the SNES at the toy store in the mall (I didn't even know it was out). But I was new to PC gaming, especially playing against other people via dial-up. But I was at a huge disadvantage. For all its high tech wizardry, our computer's modem was also its sound card. And for some reason, according to AT&T tech support, sound wouldn't work if I was "online". Who plays online anyway though right?<br /><br />So my aforementioned friend Chris, the one who introduced me to Myst, introduced me to Doom. And not only Doom, but multiplayer Doom. So here I was creeped out by the atmosphere and all the 2D blood and guts (which was awesome), but I had no sound. That actually made the game more terrifying. Not only that, I liked to hide in a mass of barrels. The kind that (unbeknownst to me) exploded when you shot them.<br /><br />So there I was in my first multiplayer game, backed into a corner because I couldn't hear a thing and was trying to see as much of my surroundings as possible. I thought I was hiding in a great spot. I had barrels all around me! So along comes my friend. He can't see me. Haha! I've got you! I start shooting. He turns and starts shooting. Then BOOM! The screen goes red as I die in a blaze of 20 exploding barrels.<br /><br />Lets play again.JJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04804679311365980192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4809698372438588715.post-41713968006930658072011-12-01T08:26:00.019-05:002011-12-01T17:13:11.795-05:00Skyrim vs Skyward Sword<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjksIaR_UsatJmFU06cZ4rnkMy6aCZ3Gbnq59chRTazrTMr5MKaBkF6_mTPtcvOxup8Vxj9H-bYZ3hMSEMMFcmCCeI8A72xOiYbwzWWCmjxeod052Y3Ao09OYKGuj-ZVBd1q81DIRfXljM/s639/Skyrim-Dragon-Battle.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 319px; height: 172px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjksIaR_UsatJmFU06cZ4rnkMy6aCZ3Gbnq59chRTazrTMr5MKaBkF6_mTPtcvOxup8Vxj9H-bYZ3hMSEMMFcmCCeI8A72xOiYbwzWWCmjxeod052Y3Ao09OYKGuj-ZVBd1q81DIRfXljM/s639/Skyrim-Dragon-Battle.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />I figured I should take a moment to talk about two games I'm playing right now. They will come as a shock to absolutely no one. Bethesda Games Studios Skyrim and Nintendo's Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword. <br /><br />In one sense these games couldn't be more different. One is a massive "sandbox" fantasy RPG set in a gritty and deadly world where you can do whatever you want, the other is set (10 hours into it anyway) in a bright and colorful world of talking plants and villains in unitards. With Skyrim my wife has asked me to stop and turn my character around so she could marvel at the world. She calls Skyward Sword "Candyland". But does that mean one game is for grown ups and one is for kids? By no means!<br /><br />Skyrim as you probably know is the 5th game in the long running Elder Scrolls series. I put many hours into Morrowind on the PC and only a handful of hours into Oblivion (which was my fault for waiting 5 years to play it). The original Legend of Zelda was probably the first RPG-like game I ever played. I've got stories about my 7th grade self trading secret locations with my classmates on our overworld maps. Skyward Sword is the latest entry in that long running series, and most likely the last game on the Wii. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/11/Zeldaskywardsword2010E3.png"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 180px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/11/Zeldaskywardsword2010E3.png" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />But I love both games. Skyrim, in all it's gritty, bloody, open world glory shows me how far games have come. I shape this world. I'm not just along for the ride. Those kinds of games are great too, but there's something about having impact on a world with your choices. Skyward Sword is just fun. Skyrim is fun too, and even though I feel like Nintendo is constantly holding my hand as if I were perpetually 11 years old, they know fun. And while I was starting to feel like Zelda had grown stale, Skyward Sword makes it feel fresh. It's still 100% Zelda, but it feels new, and I'm having a blast. The hardest part is finding time for both games. I'm over 20 hours into Skyrim and about 12 into Skyward Sword. I'm not tired of either one. <br /><br />I'll probably devote individual posts to these games soon. They deserve it. These games remind me why it's such a great time to be a gamer.JJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04804679311365980192noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4809698372438588715.post-41607501943535054472011-11-30T18:00:00.004-05:002011-11-30T19:29:09.731-05:00Myst-ified<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCiEjVtDvnJ-ekbbMjdcP8lW-ItxjQU6a1K9ZENxhUBoLA8xWi0ZY7fV2cbuko1rWWtIty-Ta0MUE-YSpQarrr8WbQA3pxD65b9Vgl3OfTk2yBNUQEv86j7iwuzN1ict97gQ0nqxFrKrw/s1600/Myst-library_and_ship.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 196px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCiEjVtDvnJ-ekbbMjdcP8lW-ItxjQU6a1K9ZENxhUBoLA8xWi0ZY7fV2cbuko1rWWtIty-Ta0MUE-YSpQarrr8WbQA3pxD65b9Vgl3OfTk2yBNUQEv86j7iwuzN1ict97gQ0nqxFrKrw/s320/Myst-library_and_ship.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5680927783663002642" /></a><br />I had a hard time trying to figure out where to start with this blog. I could go back to my Atari 2600 days playing Demon Attack until I finished the last level and it took me back to level one with different colored "demons". Or I could tell some tales of fighting the first racing level in Battletoads on the NES (I think I only got passed it once). But the first two games that come to mind were played when my childhood friend Chris got his first PC. It was a powerhouse 486/66 with a mindboggling 16MB of RAM. Yes, I'm not joking, 16MB. Fear that suckers. This was sometime in 1993. We had both graduated high school the year before. <br /><br />So anyway, he invited me over to see this amazing game he had just bought to play on his new fangled CD-ROM drive thing. A little game called Myst. For the next week I sat at his desk, staring at the most amazing slideshow I had ever seen. For my 2 hour play sessions he simply sat on the couch behind me silently, reading some gaming magazine I think, occasionally asking me, "Need a hint?" I took him up on that offer about half the time. I had never seen anything like it and it changed me forever. A game with an actual story and puzzles that really tested your wits. It was amazing. Eventually I reached the end, which ironically was right where you started. It was amazing to me that with the information I now had I could start up a new game and beat it in about 5 minutes. But without that information you had to go through multiple "ages", picking up clues to this mystery along the way. <br /><br />Shortly after that experience my family bought our first computer. An AT&T Globalyst Pentium 100 with 8MB of RAM (I begged for 16MB but it was far too expensive). That was the first time I experienced multiplayer over dial-up. The game: Doom. <br /><br />But I'll save that story for another day.JJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04804679311365980192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4809698372438588715.post-71003885751985899592011-11-29T19:31:00.003-05:002011-11-29T20:15:44.645-05:00Games are for grown-upsAs a pretty avid gamer I was inspired by the <a href="http://vomitingunicorngazette.blogspot.com/">Vomiting Unicorn Gazette</a> to blog about my experiences as an adult gamer (and quite a few old timey stories). I just turned 37 and its hard to believe I've been playing video games for nearly 30 years. So this blog will contain stories of my current (and past) gaming exploits. I'll try and keep spoilers to a minimum. But I can't promise I won't spoil an old game (although I will mark spoilers appropriately).<br /><br />For some of you, which may be absolutely no one, this will be a trip down memory lane. For others I hope it spurs you on to play a classic you might have missed. Either way, I hope you findbit entertaining.JJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04804679311365980192noreply@blogger.com0